full width sas steering question.

[1985Ranger124]

Hello, I was looking for steering kits for a full width dana 44 swap and found a very limited amount. The one i did find is from ballistic fab. I was wondering if I should buy a 3/4 inch kit or 7/8 inch kit and also is there any other place that makes kits cause i have heard some very bad stuff about ballistic.

 

[RangerSVT]

7/8 kit, the 3/4 kit's ends are very thin in material around the ball....Ruffstuff Also sells a similar kit
SVT

 

[legoms013]

Go with 7/8" stuff.

RuffStuff, polyperformance, or WFO-Concepts.

 

[1985Ranger124]

ok thanks guys.

 

[59bisquik]

I run the 7/8 Ballistic Kit. You will need to get the 7/8 kit because it uses 3/4" bolts. Once you drill out the knuckles and pitman, the 3/4 bolt works great. The 3/4" kit used a smaller bolt and the taper hole was already that big.

 

[The Jester Race]

PartsMike set me up. Great guy to deal with.

Machined knuckle(flat top for high steer), high steer arms, rod ends, and links were $543.

http://www.partsmike.com/

-Jester

 

[legoms013]

That's exactly what my dad is gonna run on his narrowed D44. We've bought stuff through PartsMike as well, good knowledgeable people to work with and pretty good prices too.

 

[1985Ranger124]

59bisquik I noticed how you ran your steering was different than in the picture on ballistic fabs site, , The setup on your passenger side is stacked on top of the knuckle rather than just the drag link on top. Just wanted to know what the reason was for this cause im trying to think how im doing my setup.

 

[59bisquik]

I put them both on the top for better ground clearance and a better steering angle. I also added an extra bracket to the knuckle to make it a double shear.
And yes, before the peanut gallery chimes in, I have the correct specialty rod to weld mild steel to cast steel.

 

[legoms013]

I put them both on the top for better ground clearance and a better steering angle. I also added an extra bracket to the knuckle to make it a double shear.
And yes, before the peanut gallery chimes in, I have the correct specialty rod to weld mild steel to cast steel.

1.25" OD tubing or 1.5"? Looks beefy.

Do the heims there in double shear on the passenger knuckle ever have any clearance issues with each other as the suspension cycles and the draglink becomes more parallel to the tie-rod? Just curious...

 

[59bisquik]

Lego...
Sorry for taking so long to get back to this. Its .250 wall 1.5" DOM tubing. As for interference, both joints have the misalignment bushings in them and there is actually plenty of room all thru the flex cycle. There are not rub marks on any of the parts. In the pic, it looks a little tighter than it actually is. I am very happy with how it works!

 

[crazywhiteboy]

I put them both on the top for better ground clearance and a better steering angle. I also added an extra bracket to the knuckle to make it a double shear.
And yes, before the peanut gallery chimes in, I have the correct specialty rod to weld mild steel to cast steel.

stock pitman arm? i would like to bring my tie rod to the bottom of the pitman arm because i my steering has some bind at full droop, even with the high misalignments. but then id have to move my trackbar mount on the axle, not looking forward to that, more like im tooo lazy, lol. any problems with the diff/drag link being to close to the pitman arm/tie rod at full bump? maybe ill just wait until i get the d60 to move the steering/trackbar.

 

[59bisquik]

Im sorry, thats a 4" Skyjacker pitman arm. I totally forgot I switched that out years ago.

As you can see, I did relocate my trac-bar to the top of the axle for better angle. As for binding, I have no issues, I am very happy with the way it performs.

 

[1freaky1]

I just ordered the 1 ton crossover kit from RuffStuff last Friday, waiting to see how it works out. Was not a bad deal since the ranger is a DD ride and wanted to stay with TREs. It cost $265 shipped.

 

[GrnRanger94]

i'm sure the OP has ordered a kit by now, but ECGS has a good kit. Same thing I'm using except i put a kit together myself.
http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-4272428-1-ton-hd-steering-kit.html