What is the reason for changing to a jeep steering box and how exactly do you do it?

Faster steering ratio: gets rid of the feeling that you are steering a barge down the road. Makes the steering more responsive. A very good upgrade, mainly nuts and bolts procedure - a few twists. Do a search on Grand Cherokee, there is TONS of info.

John

Just finished mine yesterday. Jeep Grand Cherokee rebuilt box, A-Zone $139.00, " O " ring eliminators " $15.00 ( Lee Mfg. Calif. ). Rag-joint ( To fit Jeep box $25.00 (Advance Auto)
Remove Chevelle Steering box , Remove pitman arm.
Install Alum. inserts in Jeep box, Install new rag joint, Install your old Chevelle pitman arm on Jeep box & Torque. Attach Jeep box to Chevelle & torque, Attach tie rod, Attach two bolts in rag joint. Fill and bleed off air. You will need about a Qt. of P.S. Fluid. The Jeep box is a DIRECT bolt on, NO screwing around. Piece of Cake. My I.Q. is " 2 " points above an Turnip. If I can do it, It has to be E-Z.
NOTE: The rag joint for the JEEP box, is Advance Auto pt. # 200,
The rag joint for a 70 SS Chevelle is Advance Auto # 201= $25.00
CHECK THIS OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!! Last " YEAR " I bought " ONE " from a major name Reproduction outlet. COST $ 54.00 WOW ! And GUESS WHAT ! The same Tan box and the part # was 201 !!!!! DAAAA !!!! You do the MATH !

Bob ACES--AACA

Thanks for the rag joint p/n. The cheapest I found was the Dorman 31011 from the rock for $45.

Please share the application for rag joint you mentioned.

Even more important IMHO than the faster steering ratio in the Jeep GC steering box is the larger T-bar in the hydraulic control valve. The Chevelles typically had around a .165" or .175" T-bar in them while the Jeep has a .195" T-bar. The reason this is SOOO important is this regulates how much force you put into the steering wheel before power boost kicks in. The bigger bar makes for a bigger torsion spring and much more steering feel. Lose that overly soft pinky steering and make it feel like a modern sports car.

Just finished mine yesterday. Jeep Grand Cherokee rebuilt box, A-Zone $139.00, " O " ring eliminators " $15.00 ( Lee Mfg. Calif. ). Rag-joint ( To fit Jeep box $25.00 (Advance Auto)
Remove Chevelle Steering box , Remove pitman arm.
Install Alum. inserts in Jeep box, Install new rag joint, Install your old Chevelle pitman arm on Jeep box & Torque. Attach Jeep box to Chevelle & torque, Attach tie rod, Attach two bolts in rag joint. Fill and bleed off air. You will need about a Qt. of P.S. Fluid. The Jeep box is a DIRECT bolt on, NO screwing around. Piece of Cake. My I.Q. is " 2 " points above an Turnip. If I can do it, It has to be E-Z.
NOTE: The rag joint for the JEEP box, is Advance Auto pt. # 200,
The rag joint for a 70 SS Chevelle is Advance Auto # 201= $25.00
CHECK THIS OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!! Last " YEAR " I bought " ONE " from a major name Reproduction outlet. COST $ 54.00 WOW ! And GUESS WHAT ! The same Tan box and the part # was 201 !!!!! DAAAA !!!! You do the MATH !

Bob ACES--AACA
Bob, So is it the Jeep rag joint #200 we need to mate the Jeep box to a '70 Chevelle SS? I feel dumb after paying Lee Mfg about $85 for a GM rag joint a couple years ago to make this conversion (Monte SS box to '69 Chevelle).

I love my GC box on my 70, I'm running a GM pickup serp setup so I was able to use the PU lines with the o ring fittings. Used a rag joint off of an older chevy pickup.
Good info on the AA rag joint.

LK

My I.Q. is " 2 " points above an Turnip. Bob ACES--AACA


I dunno Bob, I know some pretty bright turnips!
You do the wagon?

John

Rag joint part numbers......
Jeep Grand Cherokee Box to a Chevelle Pt. # 200
Chevelle Box to Chevelle -------------Pt. # 201
At Advance Auto $ 25.00 or Buy one from a Resto. Supply house for $ 54.00 like I did last year for my STOCK 70-SS 454 AND it is "NOT" like an Org. with the different size nuts. The one I bought last year, Pt. # 201 for $54.00 is a friggen fits all, Advance Auto sells the same Pt. # 201 for half the price.... My question is???? Do you need to make a " 100% " profit from a little guy that has a car hobby?????????
Bob ACES--AACA :noway:

I did the conversion a couple of weeks ago and i have to say i was a little disappointed in the feel, don't get me wrong its a lot better then stock but it is still not like a new car feel.I am thinking maybe it is the stock steering wheel being larger.

ok so another noob question..... Do you have to have Power Steering to do this or does doing this provide you with power steering?

You have to have power steering. You could do as part of converting to power steering but would still need the PS pittman arm.

BTW, if you paid $25 for a flexible coupling, the supplier either made a pricing mistake or the part comes from the Far East. I realize that obtaining US manufactured service parts is becoming harder and harder.

Just one additional point: Some of the earlier Far East manufactured flexible couplings had the machining of the flange copied incorrectly. The flat inside the flange was machined on the wrong side. This resulted in your steering wheel being upside down when you attached everything together. Hopefully that manufacturing problem has been resolved.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/JIML82/BackwardsFlexCplg.jpg

Jim

Isn't there a "sticky" thread on this Grand Cherokee box conversion somewhere???