Is this the easy fix for TTB alignment/tire wear nightmares?

[Boggin]

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm

So after i read through this page, i was thinking there gotta be another way to simplify all this. then one day i was working on my 79 (straight dana 44 for those who dont know) and was thinking, if that steering setup was used on a TTB, then the wheels wouldnt turn inwards(pointing together) when flexed out, so would this just be an easy fix to avoid this problem? heres a pic of the setup im talking abuot

I know you could just go buy a longer pitman arm to match up the lines like in the diagrams in the above tech article, but making that steering linkage would be cooler/funner. i know messing with steering isnt something that anybody should just go play around with but if you got it all figured out it shouldnt be too bad should it? would heims be any kind of upgrade if i were to do this? i heard they wear out pretty fast, and theyre expensive as hell

 

[gwaii]

it would be worse.when the ttb moves up and down,it swings in an arc,so it also moves in and out.a solid tie rod would have no allowance for this,so bump steer would be horrendous.

 

[Boggin]

ok that makes sense tom,, thanks

 

[gwaii]

you're not the first person that got caught by that.some actually put it together.

 

[Boggin]

lol, good thing i asked

 

[Boggin]

well this one would work though wouldnt it?

edit; but thats pretty much the same as stock. oh well lol this threads over

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

it would be worse.when the ttb moves up and down,it swings in an arc,so it also moves in and out.a solid tie rod would have no allowance for this,so bump steer would be horrendous.

No, it would just want to bend it in a U or pull it apart. As the wheels travel up and down, they get closer and go further apart.

 

[Yellowsplash]

You have the idea in your last drawing. You still want your steering to be level horizontally with the least amount of angle possible, so you'll still need a drop pitman arm. The drivers side tie rod needs to connect to the passenger tie rod near where the axle beam pivot bolt is located. Having your tie rod the same length as the axle beam reduces alot of toe changes and therefore road wander. While this setup works better than the factory setup, you will still experience some bumpsteer because of the passenger tie rod moving along with the pass axle beam as the suspension articulates.

The best setup would be a crossover system, something similar to the superrunner steering that uses a middle link and idler arm with tie rods equal length to their respective axle beam.

 

[gwaii]

this is how you need to look at it.if you pivot the tie rod to intersect the pivot line of the arm bushings,and at the same level vertically there will be negligible bump steer.caster and camber will still be affected,but toe change will be pretty much eliminated.as you can see,these points don't actually line up directly with the beam pivots when viewed from the front.

 

[gwaii]

No, it would just want to bend it in a U or pull it apart. As the wheels travel up and down, they get closer and go further apart.

bend what-the tie rod?don't you think that the force of the diff effectively getting shorter would be taken up by steering the wheels apart from each other(rotating the knuckles on the ball joints)rather than bending the rod?

 

[nate09]

so the length radius arms are extended should be taken into account when considering steering setup. which is why those that reuse the stock radius arms with the drop brackets have steering issues, correct?

 

[gwaii]

yup.....that's an area that too many fail to consider when dealing with ttb.they look at the beams and the radius arms like they are two different components in the suspension system,when they are actually two pieces that make up one component.

 

[ThatGuy]

2 words.

StoneCrusher Steering.

Search it.

 

[gwaii]

while the stonecrusher is an improvement over stock,it still does not put the tie rod pivots in the optimum location,nor does the superlift system.for this a drag link with idler arm must be used(as with the superlift),and the tie rods pass each other.the superlift system would be better if the left tie rod bolted to the right mount on the drag link,and vice versa,thought to optimise it those mounts would need to be relocated too.

 

[Ranger44]

This is what needs to happen.