Aeronose steering column into older truck?

Our Bullys have weak steering column tilt mechanisms. Many of us have had to rebuild that part.  The Brickys seem to have stronger columns, as do Aeronose trucks. UPDATE: Read this thread and you'll see that I was wrong...Aeronose columns are weaker!

We purchased a 93 F350 for a parts truck. We need its pedal box for the 1989 Farm Truck C6 to ZF5 conversion project click here. 

A peek at the 93 pedal box reveals it's hidden behind that massive aluminum structure that appears to be part of the late years steering column.  Here's an exploded view of the 93 column. That casting on the left is huge. click here

Has anybody grafted an Aeronose steering column into a Bully or Bricky?  I reckon you might have to transfer the entire dash.

Anybody know if the Aeronose steering column is stronger for the sake of strength? Or is it some gubbmint-mandated crash test hoohaw that came into effect in those years?

I think Bill/85lebaront2 did, but he also changed out the whole dash.  Let's see if he'll come and explain.

Bill - Sorry for paging you again, but you seem to have a whole lot of knowledge, so...  

The firewall opening is different.
When you get to the aeronose trucks there is a universal joint inside the cab.
I can't say if the Bullnose harness will plug into an Aeronose column. (there are a lot more grounds '87-->)

I’ve run into several guys at the junkyards trying to find a good Aeronose column. They say it is a weak point, but I don’t know what fails. The column was also used in Ford passenger cars. They seem quite different to me, with the headlight switch being moved to the turn signal switch etc., and the big aluminum box mounts to the cab/firewall sheet metal in a way that is quite different than bullnose or Bricknose. I think it would be a huge undertaking as far as fabrication and perhaps no improvement in strength. I believe you would need to swap the whole dash which opens up other worm cans like needing the truncated wing windows in the doors and different fuel sending units and electric speedometer signal to run the newer gauges…

Aren't Bricknose and Bullnose columns the same? I've had two bricknose columns and one bullnose column apart and they both seemed to be just as bad as the other. The aeronose column is similar to what I have in my Rangers, and I can guarantee it's not any stronger than the columns in our trucks.

My '87 definitely doesn't have the U-joint in the cab.
And the pedal pivot casting iso not the same as Aeronose trucks I've seen.

Of course my lower column is hacked from a '14 universal joint telescoping shaft to do away with the rotten rubber rag joint at the steering box end, but I've shared that before.   😉

I will collect the pictures of what I did. First to go from a bullnose dash to even a bricknose requires a bit of work due to the completely different mounting system.

Ok, dash has to be first as there is no way to mount the Aeronose stub column to an older truck. I will start with the top portion. On the Bricknose and Aeronose cabs, the top of the dash is attached with 4 self tapping screws into plastic cups. These cups are in slots that allow side to side movement. The dash is located by a plastic pin that goes next to the left of center mounting point.


This supports the dash across the top. When doing this you will find that the VIN location will be covered by the dash top. Two options, leave it where it is and cut the dash leaving a gap to the left of the original location or relocate the VIN tab to the left where the later trucks have it. I did this on Darth.

Next is the left end support structure, here is a picture on a 1995 F450 Dash, column and HVAC system Jim (ArdWrknTrk) obtained for me.

The large aluminum casting supports the dash left end, steering column and parking brake pedal assembly. Ford says to R&R the dash with this and the column as an assembly and it is installed that way on the assembly line. The casting is attached to the left side of the cab with four M10X1.5 bolts, two into the door post and two into a bracket welded to the inner wall of the cab (about where the air vent would go). I was able to take two M10X1.5 hex nuts, weld them to a plate and insert it inside the left door post The forward portions I made from some fairly stiff flat bar with nuts welded on. Here are pictures of the original (measured and taken at Pick-n-Pull in Virginia Beach).


This gave me the needed location for the dash left end, steering column and parking brake pedal assembly.

The right end was much simpler, the dash is actually made of two components, the air ducts and the skin. The skin attaches to the air ducts with a load of self tapping screws and is only directly attached to the body at the top with the previously mentioned four screws. The duct assembly has a small tab on the right side, originally a plastic one, several suppliers provide a metal service part as did Ford for when it breaks off. This is attached to the right door post with an M6X1.0 bolt and clip nut.

There are two braces on the bottom, one near the center, the other under the HVAC case, this one is very flimsy and I never installed it, other is angled near the center from the back of the engine "hump" area to the bottom of the dash. It is a roughly 1/2" OD tube with the ends flattened and a hole at the firewall end and a clip nut at the dash end.

Wiring, all the inside cab wiring is in the dash except the power windows and locks and dome light. There are two rectangular plugs on the left side, a 76 pin for the front harness and a 24 pin for the rear chassis harness. The EEC is mounted to the far left against the left inner wall, so you end up with three plugs through the firewall. I opted for fabricating a new piece from a rear access cover off a Kenmore washer, then cutting the firewall and mounting this plate with self drilling and tapping hex head screws. This did away with dealing with the stamped portion where the parking brake mounted.


Steering column mounts to the inner portion of the aluminum casting and is attached with four M8X1.25 studs, nuts and washers. AT shifter is a cable, MT is on the floor only and no interlock. Steering shaft has two universals, one at the gear and one at the bottom of the stub column. The collapsible portion is the shaft between these which has a bushing/seal where it goes through the firewall.



If you need more, let me know.

Well done, Bill!  

At some point we may want to add that to a page on the website.

No problem, if you do I have more pictures, I just chose the most applicable ones.

Absolutely astonishing what you've done.  We have so many balls in the air right now. 3 projects going including Farm Truck the Bricky ZF5 conversion and the subject of this query, Poncho Loco the Bully who has his own thread here, and Spartacus which is a Bullnose front clip onto a 97 Aeronose, a project that will kick off soon (just remembered, the PO already had to replace its steering column). We are just three men who also have jobs.  But man I admire what you did there. Especially the wiring.

I think we'll just go to the junkyard and raid a Bricky for its pedal box.

The column in the 1992 and newer trucks is a Taurus column adapted to fit trucks. Ford did it because it's an airbag compliant column for the F150s and Broncos that needed it.
It is truly a trouble prone POS in a truck. I've sold more parts for those since 1990 than any other component part. If you gotta put one in your truck - do not, do not, do not EVER (can I stress this enough?) use the steering wheel as a grab handle to hoist yourself into your truck!
There's nothing wrong with the original columns, except for three on the tree linkage... Brick columns are exactly the same as bullnose columns except for the bent black shifter and a black signal switch handle.