KEVIN H. - The steering gear boxes were purchased complete as a whole assembly by IH, and JD, probably WH, Economy, and maybe others like Simplicity/Allis Chalmers, etc. They're a ROSS gear box, now part of TRW. Not sure if they were a stand-alone company before that or owned by someone else. Maybe ROSS was an AMF company! AMF got into LOTS of other businesses, I know they owned Harley-Davidson back in the late 1960's, until about 1975. You could buy an AMF bowling alley, or golf cart, or an AMF Harley!
All IHC did at LVL with them was install the two cap screws into the gearbox thru the frame cross member and attach the steering wheel & tie rod to the pitman arm.
The company mentioned frequently in that article, American Friction Welding, is the same company I mentioned in my earlier post. I worked down the street a block on the "Other" side of the road for nine years from them.
I've never been lucky enough in my purchasing career to ever buy anything really NEAT, like friction welded parts. But I have bought HUGE Hastalloy centrifugal castings over four feet in diameter, almost five feet tall. And a LOT of stellite investment cast parts for valves in extremely high pressure piston pumps. And some other kinda neat stuff. I had to find someone who could drill a 2-1/4" dia. hole thru an 8" dia. machine tool spindle about seven feet long, then a 1-1/2 in. dia. hole the rest of the way thru the forging which was just a hair over fifteen feet in total length.
FUNNY, but actually SAD story, One of SON's professor's at college wrote a sizable amount of "The Machinist Handbook" something over a third of the thing. Son had a "story problem" where the Prof. wanted a box made with two shafts sticking out the sides for the box to pivot or swing on. SON suggested "Friction Welding" the studs or shafts onto the box and the PROF claims he NEVER heard of the process. REALLY sad because the University used to be the foremost Engineering School in the country. Several Astronauts graduated from the place. Now their most talented Prof's are thirty years BEHIND current manufacturing technology.
ANYHOW, To keep this post ON TOPIC, I did push my CC 70 out of the shop and BACK into the shop today. I would have started it but I had other work to do.
