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Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:07 pm

How high do you have to get the bus off the ground to remove the steering box in a 63 bus?

Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:41 pm

I used steel drive up ramps....I guess about 10-12"

Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:50 pm

Also, MUCH easier with two people, one inside the bus, one underneath.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:11 am

10-12" sounds low, any others would like to give there imput.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:38 am

Oh, my bus is stock height too.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:21 am

My bus is 3.5-in lowered all around (flipped spindles, no RGBs). When I pulled the column, I used these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/magnum-16000-auto-ramp-set-with-built-in-safety-chock-67722.html

and a couple of these:

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-3-ton-high-lift...ockType=G6

The plastic block/ramps were really just for added safety -- plus, I had a floor jack under the beam, ALSO.

The jacks were way high -- like, maybe I've got 18-in or thereabouts to move around under there. Even at that, there was still a bit of 'angling' involved after disconnecting everything and lowering it. Did it all by myself.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:17 pm

In a pinch I used a set of ramps and dug a hole in the ground.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:00 pm

My bus is lowered too, So I guest I will start the work this weekend.
Thanks for the info.

Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:23 am

Removing the driver's seat will give you more room and need less lift of the bus! :wink:

Mon Jun 02, 2025 7:26 pm

Gonna ask here to keep info in one place... so consensus from a few threads is you need about 22 - 24" off the ground to remove steering column; take out seat first and have a helper - but how far do you need clearance at the FRONT of the bus? Or can you slide it out from the side once it clears the body?

My garage is, uh, small, and I have maybe 10" at front and 8" at back leeway; after that, I am out on a sloped sidewalk that I can't leave blocked for long. I'm mostly worried that the front jacked way up and the rears on an angled surface will be bad juju.

Street is also sloped and a bit crowded, tho if I use it I do have a sewer grate across from garage I can drop the box into!

Tue Jun 03, 2025 7:05 am

I think you will find the the distance in front of the bus is proportional to how high you lift it. At some point you can tilt the box but the hole in the floor pan does not allow that much tilt. My recollection is that it did not matter going straight out the front or to the side. I just needed height.

Also wrap your column as your going to scratch it up unless as a kit your were the expert at the game operation.

Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:24 pm

Distance from bottom of valence to floor - 20"
Distance from front of valence to wall - 20"

Column just squeaked out of the floor with those distances. Getting it in might be a bit harder, as i won't want to scrape freshly- painted box along floor!

Thu Jun 12, 2025 6:13 pm

70bus wrote: Distance from bottom of valence to floor - 20"
Is that raised to that height or what-you-see-is-what-you-get?

Thu Jun 12, 2025 8:40 pm

I measured from the floor of garage to bottom of the valence, right behind the bumper. Same with distance from garage wall. This was with truck jacked up using the front axle; I was using the hypotenuse to get a few extra inches of travel. Bare minimum, if you can safely get 22" height go for it.