a thaught about drop brackets....

[_BEYONDER_]

So i wasn't sure where to put this, but I've been watching the threads here and I noticed a lot of talk about drop brackets,etc for pitman arms ( correct me if I'm wrong here ), but why do you need drop brackets? Or even new ones for that matter, why cant a spacer be made either welded 1/4plates together or a solid cast spacer piece, remove the mount put in the spacer of the desired thickness and rebolt the stock piece back on? Most I can see is may need some longer bolts?

Any thaughts on this?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm not sure what exactly you're talking about, it sounds like you're confusing a couple things.

When you lift a ttb front suspension using springs or spacers, at some point you can no longer adjust the ball joints enough to get the wheels aligned. At that point you have to lower the axle pivot point. Some people have fabbed brackets, but most find it easier to just buy them. Some of the cheaper lifts use a steel plate to lower the axle pivot for the passenger side beam, but the often negative side effect is the bracket puts a hole in the top of the front differential.

Now that you've added a lift springs/spacers and lowered the axle pivots enough to get everything lined up, the steering geometry is all wrong. With the inverted Y that was used on TTB suspensions if you do not have this corrected enough you either have problems with toe-in on the alignment or horrible bump-steer... or both. So you need to either lower the steering box or use a drop pitman to flatten the steering back out. The stock pitman arm is cast iron, which is hard to cut and weld properly. An improper cut and weld means it will likely fail when you need it the most. Murphy's law. And if that happens on the road and you take out some minivan full of kids, some lawyer is going to roast you on a spit.

 

[_BEYONDER_]

ok...i had it wrong. Its the axle pivot points i was refering to. How does the steel plate put a hole in the passenger side beam? The stock bracket is just bolted in right? ( bear with me here ) my thinking is if you put a spacer plate inbetween the stock bracket and the frame/crossmember, using the same bolt if possible or a longer one that does not stick out any more than the stock one does now. So i guess my questions are better stated as :
Will this work? ( lowering the stock bracket with a spacer )
What are the negative effects and how do they happen?
Is there a way to do something like this and avoid these negative effects?

Just for the record tho, this isn't something I plan on doing, I was under my explorer the other day and this was just a thaught i had so I figured I'd post on here and see what others think.

 

[BlackBII]

Will this work? ( lowering the stock bracket with a spacer)
That is exactly what the aftermarket lift kits do (essentially), so yes. Is it a good idea?? Hardly.

What are the negative effects and how do they happen?
The drop plate for the passenger beam can punch a hole in the top of the diff

Is there a way to do something like this and avoid these negative effects?
See this picture. Notice how the drop plate is already really close to hitting the diff? Just imagine what happens when the drivers side beam flexes upwords...
(The higher quality kits come with a whole new bracket, rather than just a drop plate, eliminating the problem)

 

[Original_Ranger84]

I'm still confused... are you asking why don't you just make a spacer plate to drop the stock bracket down more?

I guess you could but it definately wouldn't be a strong a a solid drop bracket that just replaces it.

 

[nate09]

not all of the holes bolt to the truck on a horizontal surface, some are on a vertical surface. putting a spacer between the bracket and the frame would leave those holes with nothing to bolt to. also, most of the aftermarket kits are built heavier than the factory brackets.

 

[_BEYONDER_]

hey guys, thankyou. especially for the pic, I completely understand why the spacer is a bad idea now.

What about fabbing this bracket rather than buying? anyone have pics or links where i could read on that?

Again, not planning to do this, just curious

 

[BlackBII]

hey guys, thankyou. especially for the pic, I completely understand why the spacer is a bad idea now.

What about fabbing this bracket rather than buying? anyone have pics or links where i could read on that?

Again, not planning to do this, just curious

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2003/DesignYourOwnLiftBrackets.htm

 

[_BEYONDER_]

hey thanks, I"m gonna go look at that now