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Single swing steering on my 1994 ford ranger


Mackhedq

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I turn wrenches not words so expect spelling and grammar errors.

So I have my 1994 ford ranger lifted 6" on the suspension and 1" on the body. Even with the sky-jacker dripped pitman arm driving this thing just plain sucks on the road. Bumpsteer like crazy and just not what I want. I have a welder and for how much people want for a kit that may or may not work i said **** it im buying a tube bender and building my own.

First thing i did was pick up a heim kit from barnes 4x4. 4 3/4 heims with weldable bungs and spacers. Next up I went and looked at 100s of photos online of the steering to figure out what i wanted to do. I emailed and asked some companies about how to design it and never got anything back from them besides buy our kit.
45480


Here is day one of my build i welded the knuckles in place so they wouldn't move at all to keep everything straight. Since this is a single swing set up the lower heim coming off the pitman sets the hight for the idle swinger. This is going to be 22 1/2" from the floor in my case. Next i measured the distance of the pitman from one hole to the other which is 6.5", this sets up i designed my idle swinger to have the same turning radius as the pitman arm.
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Two different ideas i was looking at. i went with a mixture of them both in the end youll see.

45483


Here with the idle swinger starting to get roughed in. On that link from the pitman to swinger its 22" long with one adjustment. The photo is a little warped looking but the heim off the pitman arm and the heim on the idle swinger are the same height off the ground.
45484


Here is the first Tierod end getting roughed in now. I am using the stock ends so i can still get alignments at any shop and they are replaceable. When i do the 44 knuckle swap in the future it will get heim joints.

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45489


Once I figured out which tierod goes where i was able to weld this idle swinger all together. The entire thing is 1/4 steel.

Its late now and i have to work in the morning so ill continue this write up when i get more time.
 

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Mackhedq

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This thread continued. All my spelling and grammar is going to get ten times worst since I started school again.

Anyways Ive done some more looking at my set up and I need to push out my drivers side tie-rod even more. If you plan on making your own you will need this diagram here. You NEED to have your steering in line with the RED lines, my driver side tie-rod need to be longer to help with bump steer.
45531


Back to my build now
45532

This is just the passenger side done up. My old tie-rod is the same side as the tube ID of 1.25", I just cleaned it and measure where to cut and boom. It slides right into the tube and i just welded it hot as ****. I don't plug weld even though i should but i have yet to break any of my welds yet.
45533

'
A second angle on this madness. As you can see i haven't decided where im going to put the idle swinger exactly to clear everything and also how im going to mount it in the swinger to the frame. I could weld it but i want to be able to remove it. There is a big square hole in the frame I could use to finger the nuts through..... but that also means i have to drill the thickest part of the frame.

45534

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This is where i am at now. I have the passenger side fully welded up and I am fine tuning the drivers side. Everything clears each other right now but I need to stretch the center tube to make the drivers side tie-rod longer. That will put it more on its red axis and help eliminate bump steer even more.

This is all for today. 6 am to 9 pm on my feet between work and school will take the fight out of you.
 

JOLENE_THE_RANGER

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random question/ thought... why didnt you just get rid of those stock ends and built the tie rods to go all the way to the knuckle and attach with a heim like everything else?

also, have you accounted for any ackerman angle?
 
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Mackhedq

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If youre gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
random question/ thought... why didnt you just get rid of those stock ends and built the tie rods to go all the way to the knuckle and attach with a heim like everything else?

also, have you accounted for any ackerman angle?
For reusing the stock ends it makes it so I will be able to still bring it any shop and they will still do an alignment. Also I can get off the shelf part too still. Once I get my 44 knuckles prepped and ready I will do double sheer heims.

I'm no genius but for Ackerman angle it should still be close to stock. Once I get my driver's side beam done up I'm going to cut the knuckles loose and see how bad it is.
 

Mackhedq

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So I extended the center link that ties the idle swinger to the pitman arm 1/2 an inch. Should push the drivers tie-rod out more.

Here's a video of the passenger side working
 

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Mackhedq

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Nearly done here. Ive got about 95% up and ready but i just need to tie up a few loose ends.
45849


Lock to lock here

45850


Tucked on one side and drooped on the other side. I had an issue with the extra hanging off the swinger hitting the bottom so i chopped it down about an 1 1/2 inches.
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45851


And here is a video of it in action

I currently have everything apart right now and am etching in so i can paint. Next up the beams are coming off and theyre getting plated. I think i bent the drivers side drop bracket because the passanger side beam hits it on full tuck.
 

Mackhedq

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If youre gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
46391


Heres how it sits right now. The axles are plated and everything is painted to match the truck. All new bushings, bolts, and resealed my diff that was leaking and checked my gears/locker.
46395


Ive gotta pull the transmission and rebuild it so that sucks but once its done Ill finally be happy.

46393
 

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Mackhedq

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If youre gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
So here is what is looks like done. Don,t mid the alignment that's just ttb being weird for ya but the steering works amazing. Just with my few laps around the neighborhood, some curvy roads and hopping up and down curbs its beautiful. No bumpsteer or weird pulling on the steering wheel.... It drives like a 10 year old truck instead of a 30 year old truck.
48227


I ended up straightening out the drivers side tie rod because it just didn't need so much bend to it. Ill have to get another chunk of dom and some more weld in inserts to redo it right. I also added a small drain plug to the bottom of the front diff to make my life easier. Ive gotten some interest online about making this to sell but I don't think that will ever happen, Although i was thinking about making a video online about how to design your own single swing steering.

Anyways im going to try to break this now and see where i can make it better. Also time to start working on a 44 knuckle swap.
 

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4x4junkie

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I apologize, somehow I must've missed this post before...

Looks like some nice workmanship here, but to have the least amount of bumpsteer, your tie rods need to not just be on the red lines in that diagram, they also need to be on the same horizontal plane as the axle beam pivots (you have yours mounted much higher up than the beam pivots). I don't think it will be possible to do this on a single-swing setup with a 6" lift, you may need to go to a double-swing setup.
(you'll easily be able to see the knuckles steer themselves left & right as you cycle the suspension up/down if you have the truck supported by the frame and remove the front springs)

IMO, I wouldn't suggest you get too caught up on matching things up with the red axis lines... The tierods being on the same horizontal plane is much more important than them being on the red lines.
Perhaps you also came across my K-link steering setup in your research... The tie rods on mine indeed are somewhat short to match with the red lines, but they are on the same horizontal plane as the beam pivots. I've been running this setup for a couple decades now and have never had complaints as far as handling or tire wear, both for street and off road (I helped a friend build a similar setup for his, and same thing, he says it handles exceptionally well, and he's been driving it for a couple years now). I've always liked the K-link because of the simple packaging of it (there's no need for large bends in the tie rods in order for everything to clear everything). Whether converting to a double-swing or starting over with a K-link is less work, I'm not sure, though it's possible you may be able to use the swinger you already built to handle the opposite end of the centerlink needed for a K-link (the bushings on your idler arm swinger, as well as on the centerlink itself I'm thinking should be able to absorb the slight difference in angle of movement due to the axes of your sector shaft and the swinger being different).


It's always great to see people still working with these suspensions. It's a shame though that the aftermarket has always been of little help on them.


 

Mackhedq

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Looks like some nice workmanship here, but to have the least amount of bumpsteer, your tie rods need to not just be on the red lines in that diagram, they also need to be on the same horizontal plane as the axle beam pivots (you have yours mounted much higher up than the beam pivots). I don't think it will be possible to do this on a single-swing setup with a 6" lift, you may need to go to a double-swing setup.
(you'll easily be able to see the knuckles steer themselves left & right as you cycle the suspension up/down if you have the truck supported by the frame and remove the front springs)
Yeah this set up definitely has its issues. The only was to do this right is either get rid the drop brackets and cut n turn the beams or double swing steering. Ive only been able to drive my truck a little bit since I finished. Its light years better than the stock steering with a 6" lift drop bracket. Id love to drive your truck with k-style and compare it to my single swing set up.
 

scotts90ranger

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The K link definitely looks interesting, I think I might go that route on my Explorer project, or maybe a cross... Junkie, any downside to keeping the links flat but putting one in front of the other to get longer links? I know they can't be straight then and it would have some complications, but as long as it's flat I can't see that it would be a bad thing.

Now that my shop is closer to being done, I gotta get back on remembering and figuring out what I want to do with the D54 TTB V8 Explorer...
 

4x4junkie

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Yeah this set up definitely has its issues. The only was to do this right is either get rid the drop brackets and cut n turn the beams or double swing steering. Ive only been able to drive my truck a little bit since I finished. Its light years better than the stock steering with a 6" lift drop bracket. Id love to drive your truck with k-style and compare it to my single swing set up.
Well, hit me up then if you're ever out here in the southern part of California... :) I could even show you around a few of the trails the west coast has to offer too.


As for cutting and turning the beams, that certainly is a great way to go if you do a good amount of high-speed off-road driving (prerunning, for example)... However that big front bumper & winch tells me your truck might be a trail truck rather than a race build. I'm not a fan of c&t beams in a crawling and/or trail environment. Reason is modifying the beams in this manner increases the jacking moment created by lateral forces against the suspension during steep off-camber climbs / sidehills, trying to "sidewall" the tire up a big rock / out of a rut, etc., which can make the truck unstable in some situations. This happens because the beam pivot points are higher up in the chassis relative to where the tire contacts the ground. With higher-speed driving, you're generally riding over much flatter ground (catching a little airtime here & there of course).

I'd probably suggest keep the lift as it is and go to double-swing steering or a K-linkage if trails or farm use are it's primary purpose.

I might also add, reinforcement of the lift bracket holding the driverside beam can boost it's durability a good bit (as well as the suspension's ability to hold a wheel alignment). That looks to me like an early-style Class-1 Skyjacker bracket, on which some of the mounting tabs where it attaches to the frame are known to break.

It's a bit hard to see in the pic I posted above, but I added a plate against the inner edge of mine to give it a larger mounting footprint that extends further down the front of the engine crossmember. All of the mount tabs have been gusseted as well.

The K link definitely looks interesting, I think I might go that route on my Explorer project, or maybe a cross... Junkie, any downside to keeping the links flat but putting one in front of the other to get longer links? I know they can't be straight then and it would have some complications, but as long as it's flat I can't see that it would be a bad thing.

Now that my shop is closer to being done, I gotta get back on remembering and figuring out what I want to do with the D54 TTB V8 Explorer...
I think someone here did try that once... I can't remember who. I think he might've said it drove OK in a straight line, but had some handling weirdness otherwise. I suspect due to the different angles of the links creating some oddball ackerman behavior. But again, this was probably over a decade ago.

As long as the rods are at the same height as the beam pivots, you should be completely fine up to maybe 12-14" or so of travel before you can tell anything (at least that has been my experience, it's only if you cycle the suspension to travel extremes past that that anything would be noticeable from the driver's seat, and just barely at that).
 
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scotts90ranger

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Fair enough, I've got some thinking time before I get there, just got the shell of the shop done, still a lot to do before I get to building something complicated, have some maintenance to do that I've been putting off since the build started... my goals are for a fair amount of suspension travel to handle dunes and rough roads at speed, the Ranger with no rear weight gets goofy... and torque will be nice, and not stuffing front tires into fenders...
 

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I feel that cut & turned beams are weaker unless you really spend a lot of time reinforcing them. My buddy had a Dana 44 set made by Solo Motorsports plus their extended radius arms for a full size Bronco. He was primarily using it for timed mud races but he did two or three Baja style offroad races here locally too. The beams were bent at the end of each season, as were the radius arms. They seemed to twist right where the arms are bolted onto the beams and also where the pivot bolts are. He did a lot of reinforcing and plating and they still bent. I can't imagine a smaller D35 being much better. We raced a similar truck with stock beams and arms for a couple years and had no issues with it - same race track even.

Not that I have anything against cut & turned beams, they really shine in certain areas, I just think you really have to have your suspension dialed in (and probably use something other than coil springs with them.........) plus a LOT of reinforcing.
 

Mackhedq

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Well so far this truck handles amazing now. Almost no bump-steer at all for regular driving, not even going around corners three wheeling. It just pulls like a regular car which is exactly what i wanted. I haven't yet taken it off road but after deer hunting is over ill be able to take it out snow wheeling. The only thing i have to complain about it the rag joints in my steer shaft which are on their way. Another thing i found is the bushings I used in the idle swinger are too soft and lead to some unpredictability in heavy winds. I went ahead and ordered some sealed double row bearings and am going to swap the 9/16th bolt out with a 5/8th bolt. Way overkill but no chance of them fucking up.. ever. Here is some more photos of the mess. I started a new bumper project too so I can bring the front end weight down.


I might also add, reinforcement of the lift bracket holding the driver side beam can boost it's durability a good bit (as well as the suspension's ability to hold a wheel alignment). That looks to me like an early-style Class-1 Skyjacker bracket, on which some of the mounting tabs where it attaches to the frame are known to break.
I was most worried about this I wasn't sure what kinda of kit these drop bracket came out of. I am going to get to re-enforcing them now since I got bigger tires.

As the guys above me are saying about cut and turn beams they have their ups and down. Thank god to the internet people are massively innovating with every kinda of set up. I know a couple of guys who are building heavy duty rock crawling ttb set ups out of 44 inners and 50 outers. The main issue in find with ttb are the u-joints being small and weak. They spin caps and then sheer the ears off of axles and because of that I have a few sets of axle shafts I keep in the bed box with the caps welded in place.
 

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