steering geometry and faze

ranger dude · Jan 29, 2009

I know this subject keeps coming up bump steer!! but I need some feed back about different approaches a correcting steering geometry and faze I have a 93 4x4 ranger with a 6'' skyjacker class 2 lift and 4'' drop pitman arm that was supplied with the kit I add a 1'' spacer under the coils now the geometries off so I measured the drivers side tie rod assembly from the center of the ball and socket area of outer tie rod (wheel side) to the ground and then from the center of the stud of the inner tie rod to the ground there is a 3'' difference so if I am calculating correct I need to at least 2'' more inches of drop in the steering to get it good enough not perfect 3'' would be perfect I saw in the tech library a skyjacker 6''extreme drop pitman arm that would give me my 2'' I need but it seems like a lot of pressure on the gear box I like the idea of the superrunner steering by superlift but I can not find any specs on the amount of drop it gives I know others have encounter this problem any ideas or pics

4x4junkie · Jan 29, 2009

Sat here for a moment and then it finally clicked: "Phase".

I have not heard many reports of box issues with the longer "extreme" arm, although the number isn't zero. A few here have braced their box to the opposite framerail to help support it better though (similar to the brace Jeep owners can buy for theirs). If you rockcrawl a lot (or generally push your truck hard offroad), a brace probably wouldn't be a bad idea. If it's just a street queen, then no worries.

As for the Superlift steering kit, they f**ked up by putting the centerlink up too high, so it doesn't really help much unless you modify the thing to bring the centerlink down another 2" or so. But after doing so, it truly brings a wonderful improvement in handling, along with reducing the wear on your tires.

P.S., Keep your eyes peeled on the TRS Mag, I just submitted a nice detailed article on this very topic, I'm thinking it should be up any day now...

Also, please don't make multiple posts throughout the forum, only one in an appropriate section is needed.
Thanks

dusto2 · Jan 29, 2009

4x4junkie said:
P.S., Keep your eyes peeled on the TRS Mag, I just submitted a nice detailed article on this very topic, I'm thinking it should be up any day now...

cool i have been waiting for the next issue, i look forward to reading your article junkie you do good write ups :icon_thumby:

also i just now see you are from southern cal where abouts

4x4junkie · Jan 30, 2009

Well, here it is:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm :icon_thumby:

dusto2 said:
:
also i just now see you are from southern cal where abouts

San Fernando Valley area.
SCV = Santa Clarita valley?

fx2prerunner · Jan 30, 2009

Do you know the ride hight measurements for a lifted 2wd setup

Hardwareman · Jan 30, 2009

I just read the article "thouroughly" and it appears it only applies to 4 wheel drive beamed RBV's.

I just went and looked at my 2wd Ranger's front end because I'm getting some pretty bad handling, wandering, shaking, vibrating in my steering wheel, problems. It seems like in order for me to bring my tie rods closer into alignment with the axle pivot I would actually need to decrease the dropped pitman arm I already have. Makes no sense there!

I just replaced both axle pivot "AND" radius arm bushings this past weekend. Along with "NEW" rotors, pads, wheel bearings, and spindle nut set......TO NO AVAIL! I still have a horrible feeling Ranger when driving. Mostly shaking in the steering wheel while driving over 50-60 mph.

I had "ALL FOUR" tires balanced as well so my next task will be to buy shocks and new coils to try and fix this problem. The drivers side coil has become slightly shorter for some reason over the years as I evidenced when they were out during the bushing exchange. I never had this driveability problem a few years ago when I first installed this setup.

Allen

ranger dude · Jan 31, 2009

4x4junkie great article it looks like you nailed on the head it uncovers the mystery

hardwareman have you check your ball joints

Hardwareman · Jan 31, 2009

Well yes, I mean I've looked at them and tried to move them to see if they were loose. They don't appear to be. After the coil/shock swap that's going to be the next thing to replace you know?

I figure with new balljoints and tie rod ends, plus all the other stuff swapped out to new, what else could it be? Thanks.

Allen

dusto2 · Jan 31, 2009

4x4junkie said:
Well, here it is:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm

San Fernando Valley area.
SCV = Santa Clarita valley?

yup thats it, man you are a hop skip and a jump away from me where to you go wheel at

4x4junkie · Jan 31, 2009

Thanks, anything that might help another fellow RBV owner :beer:

TTB steering does seem to remain one of the great mysteries of our trucks, so I want to get it out there that it's really not such a hard thing to understand.

And it does fully apply to 2WD setups too, the lack of a differential doesn't change the geometry at all.
Find the straight line that runs from the beam pivot bolt to the TRE's ball socket on the knuckle (don't pay any attention to the shape of the beam, it's not relevant). When viewed from the front, your tierods should be matched up with this line on both sides.

fx2prerunner said:
Do you know the ride hight measurements for a lifted 2wd setup

Unfortunately I don't have that measurement, sorry (I actually wanted to include it in the article too, but wasn't able to acquire access to a 2WD to verify it).
A way to find it however is to install zero degree camber bushings in your frontend, and then play with your coil spring height (using washers, etc) until you reach the point of where your tires are vertical. Once you have that, then you can measure for the positioning of your steering linkage.

Hope that helps.

rmn42689 · Feb 1, 2009

How do u modify the superrunner ?

4x4junkie · Feb 2, 2009

If you look closely at the pics in the article, you can see it's mostly just a matter of dropping down the block that the tierods attach to a bit.

Here's a pic showing it step-by-step.

Can't hurt to beef up the idler arm and it's bracket a bit as well if you do this so it can better handle the added leverage on it.

dusto2, you have a PM.

rmn42689 · Feb 8, 2009

oic, that dont look bad at all, how much did u drop that? the drop pitman arm and amount of lift come into play on how much the centerlink modified?

4x4junkie · Feb 8, 2009

No the pitman arm requirement doesn't change when modifying it (the main centerlink tube is not moved at all from it's original position). Any standard drop pitman arm should work.

Amount of drop that's needed on the tierod block depends on your lift height. 2" would be the amount needed to line it up for a 4" lift.

rmn42689 · Feb 10, 2009

wat bout a 6 inch lift?

steering geometry and faze

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