48 chevy truck

[jaybee]

You wouldn't by chance have the hub to hub width for that Mustang IRS, would you? Those seem to have decent availability out there.

[kb426]

It's very close to the last gen of crown vic which means it's wide. If you need an exact measurement, I will go digging.

[jaybee]

No, I won't trouble you to go to that level. I've seen numbers all over the board online for it, anywhere from 57", which I don't believe, to 69" which I also don't believe. Close to the Crown Vic is about what I expected. Thanks.

Looks like the most likely number is right at 67" across the axle flanges, which is crazy wide. My research says 65" rear track, again, very wide. I'm surprised the rear track on these cars is almost 3" wider than the front, and the wheel mounting faces are shoved way to the outside.

[kb426]

Jaybee, 69" flange to flange is close.That was measuring inside of flange on the wheel to the other wheel and adding the wheel backspace.

[kb426]

Day 1 on the "who's idea was this" project. Not show quality, just better.

[kb426]

Day 2 of sanding. Not much progress. 2nd item. I'm using a Ford pump with a GM rack and pinion. The GM unit needs about 600psi more than a Ford unit to operate easily. This means that unless the engine is running around 1500 rpm, the power steering is not that good. On a Bronco forum, they had talked about using the explorer 5.0 engine for a conversion often. With 35" tires, the power steering wasn't good. Someone had mentioned using a 2004 power stroke diesel pump and swapping the internals with the explorer housing and doubling the capacity. Numerous people said they did this and most said it worked. I purchased an explorer pump and a power stroke pump. I have disassembled and measured and can't see any reason for it to work any different. The explorer housing has a support on both sides of the housing where the power stroke has one. Could that possibly make the difference between 1.5 and 3 gallon per minute??? All of my measuring shows the rotor and internals to be the same size. Even the pressure relief spring is the same length and wire diameter. Did I miss something??

[kb426]

More sanding. I'm not attacking like I have in the past. Caution and less pain are the goals. I clamped the ps housing in the vise in the mill and used a boring bar to remove the rib that others thought were important. I have the pump assembled and am going to make an adapter to connect a pressure gauge to see if the results are good enough to install it and give it a try.

[enjenjo]

If it helps The E150 vans used a GM style Saginaw PS pump well into the 90s with the 351 engine and a serpentine belt

[kb426]

Thank you, Frank.

[kb426]

O&S got back to sanding and did a little buffing. Plenty more to come.

[kb426]

Today's stopping point. Not sure what or if will be next.

[kb426]

O&S is sad but not surprised to report that the explorer/ power stroke power steering pump was a failure. It didn't work as well as the new pump on the 48. After comparing all of the internals of the 2 pumps, I'm not surprised that it wasn't better. After that, I spent some time with 2000 grit sand paper working on the hood. It's not great but better than it was. Unless I decide to flow coat the buffed panels, I think I'm limited on results.

[idrivejunk]

I sure do like that color. 

[chimp koose]

x2 on the colour

[kb426]

I know this won't be a surprise to many but I needed a bump guard in the bed. I had some 2" x 1/8" alum angle left over from the trailer building days. I cut the 4 pieces and screwed them to the wood floor. Life will be better now.