Stonecrusher type steering

[The_Dealer]

I'm thinkn of cutting the stock tube and sliding it into a dom tube big enough and welding them in like bungs, so. I can use stock tre's and making a cradle and using a heim to attach both tubes in front of the pivot drop, good idea? I'm not going for strength(although I don't want it to fall apart going down the road) I'm just looking to get ride of all the toe change and bumpsteer without spending a small fortune. I want swingset steering later on down the road

 

[legoms013]

Is there anyway to tap dom and use explorer tre's and use a heim to connect the two rods? What size tube and taps would I need to go that route?

Answer is yes, look here for some tubing sizes and thread pitches for RBV TRE's:

http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96946&highlight=k-link

I'm thinkn of cutting the stock tube and sliding it into a dom tube big enough and welding them in like bungs, so. I can use stock tre's and making a cradle and using a heim to attach both tubes in front of the pivot drop, good idea? I'm not going for strength(although I don't want it to fall apart going down the road) I'm just looking to get ride of all the toe change and bumpsteer without spending a small fortune. I want swingset steering later on down the road

You can't get rid of both bumpsteering and toe change. Its a trade off, pick one and build a steering setup from there. Most would rather live with more toe change than bumpsteer, and this is how Ford designed it from the factory.


Doing this isn't going to gain you any better steering/driving characteristics than the stock setup already provides for you at your amount of lift. Plus you run the risk of not enough clearance in front of the drop bracket pivot bolt by running a saddle. Before you know it, no matter how much you plan it out, chances are you will end up spending more than you'd like.

Your current lift hight doesn't really require any other type of steering setup other than stock with a correct pitman arm, which will eliminate most if not all of the funny driving characteristics problematic with lifted TTB. My advice is to just get the right pitman arm unless you already have one, that matches how much you are lifted (FA400 for 0-2" of lift, or FA600 for 2-4" of lift). You will be hard pressed to notice the difference in drivability between the stock stuff setup right, and a stonecrusher imitation.

If this is already the case, yet it still drives like crap, check for play in your TRE's, the draglink to pitman arm connection, steering box loose bolts ect ect until you find the REAL problem.

 

[4x4junkie]

Toe change = bumpsteer = same thing

Though bumpsteer does come in different forms (may or may not cause fluctuations in toe alignment).

The FA600 drop arm is best suited for 4-6" lifts on a RBV. I would agree, at 4" of lift, nothing overly elaborate is really needed unless you're thinking of running Jeep coils on it maybe (though the FA600 should still be quite acceptable at 4" lift).

 

[The_Dealer]

Guess its time for a extreme drop pitman, and check out my current tre's

I do want to run some softer coils, which was part of my reasoning behind the steering. That and the waddleing of the front when I hit uneven bumps. Feels like a stiff coil on one side and soft on the other

 

[4.0B2]

i still dont understand why 4" lift kits come w/ 2" drop pitman arms..
i think i'd just get the extreme drop pitman in your situation.

now if you ever sas, you can do some good thick dom steering!

 

[The_Dealer]

I thought I could get by with a std drop with my 2.5" pivot drops and camber bushings

 

[legoms013]

I thought I could get by with a std drop with my 2.5" pivot drops and camber bushings

You should be able to it should be real close.

You should put a picture up showing your tie rod angles so we can visualize what's being dealt with here.

 

[The_Dealer]

Here's a crappy cell pic of my steering. Checked everything and the tre's are nice and tight. Everything is tight until it gets to the steering box and it has a lot of wheel play before there is any output from the pitman. Like 1-2" back and forth wheel movement before the pitman moves. Any ideas? This steering angle is better then it was with stock pitman and 2" lift

 

[The_Dealer]

 

[The_Dealer]

 

[4x4junkie]

That's not the worst I've seen, though it does appear the FA600 arm would be an improvement without going too far... (I didn't realize you only had 2.5" drops. Looks like you're up a ways with fairly large-offset camber bushings on it).

However if you have free-play in your steering where you can turn the wheel some amount before the steering box responds, I suspect that's where your main issue is.

Check your rag joints on your column. It's also possible the box itself may need to be readjusted or replaced.

 

[The_Dealer]

Rag joints look new how do u adjust the box?

 

[legoms013]

Your picture reveals to me memories when my suspension was *similar* in terms of tie-rod angles. There was bump steer, but drivability wasn't all that bad. But a FA600 should suit you nicely (it did for me, and was very happy with how it drove).

 

[Bent Bolt]

This is mine. Not saying its better than anything else but it is all TRE and NO WELDING.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83547

 

[4.0B2]

This is mine. Not saying its better than anything else but it is all TRE and NO WELDING.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83547

its a nice system that seems easy to piece together.. still no flex pics? does it hit?