- Joined
- Sep 6, 2018
- Messages
- 88
- Reaction score
- 146
- Points
- 33
- Location
- minnesota
- Vehicle Year
- 1994
- Make / Model
- Ranger
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- My credo
- If youre gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
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.
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.
Two different ideas i was looking at. i went with a mixture of them both in the end youll see.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Two different ideas i was looking at. i went with a mixture of them both in the end youll see.
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.
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.
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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