what could i possibly be doing with all those heims..?


and heres my intermediate shaft, we'll see how that goes

 

for the drag link and tierod?

 

does your intermediate shaft collapse? if not good luck. it needs to slide. the body and frame shift way different from each other when driving

 

Also complete steering kits...

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/...s_c_113-1.html

 

the kid who made those shackles i had, destroyed them so i tossed on the 3/8" ones that are about 4-5" eye to eye.. it made the truck a little lower, which concerns me because now idk if i can run the steering linkage with out it binding up. we'll see, worst case i get bigger shackles again

 

done. ish

just need to add the fluids and get 'er runnin..

oh yea, i need some high mis alignment spacers for the heim on the pitman arm.. but that can wait, for now it'll drive and i can droop the driver tire all i want... bring on the bump steer.


this is all full lock, i left some room so i can box it in and still clear the spring, all the joints are fully welded as well





i bought about this much too much of this 1.5"x.250" DOM.

i had to shave the top edge of that bolt down ~1/16" to fully clear the frame.. heh



dont worry, i'm saving 3 spots for my SAO stickers that should be here shortly





i know thats not the most ideal steering setup, but it'll work. soon i'll get a high steer knuckle and a high steer arm, then run the drag link clear across to the pass. knuckle and leave the tie rod where it is.

 

whoa, flat leafs.

is it any higher then it was before?

 

i was going to ask about that. they aren't suppose to be that flat are they?

 

Some are, it depends on the setup.

 

I forsee spring problems on his setup, they already look to have a slight "S" bend.

 

yep, they're already fawked.. but $80 for the set :shrugs:

when i get the money I'm gonna swap them out with some of the HD Trail gear 5" springs.

my goal is to have it about that high.. without the body lift so i need ~3-5" more lift and just run 35s/36s


and no, its not any higher, infact i think its lower than it was when the RCD was fresh.

 

as for the steering stabilizer(s)..


can i just use a regular shock and build brackets for that or no?

 

No.

I'm sure you can find some kind of kit or make something using a jeep steering stabilizer.

A normal gas shock will not work, a hydraulic shock might but idk. I wouldn't risk it on your life, do it right the first time.

 

yea i didnt think it would.. the one from trail gear is $80

i didnt think to look for jeeps lol

 

Matt go to napa and buy one for an F150/F250 from the 70s. they are like 30 bucks

 

question bout your steering... with the bolt going throught the nuckle... did you drill it out or just find a bolt that fit in there? Just curious since it's a tapered hole...

 

I would strongly suggest converting to hi-steer at some point.

 

Matt i've wondered why i haven't seen u postin lately! Looks good man u're makein good progress

 

dang matt. You're going for it. you gonna be in texas anytime soon?

 

*was* tapered.. i drilled it out to a 3/4" hole

meh, just one knuckle and one arm.. i'm gonna keep the drag link down there for now.
send me the money and it'll be done by next week

yep, thanks






ok onto the progress.


i drove it finally!! i put the new longer 3/8" shackles on, put bushings in the rear of the springs, cut away at the AC condenser bracket until it cleared the shackles, put everything back in, filled it up, bled the brakes 100 times.. and pulled it out, then the p/s decided it had air in it still, so i turned the wheels back and forth on jack stands for ~10 minutes... nothing, so i drove it w/o the power assist, then all of a sudden it started working again


it really doesn't drive THAT bad for not having any sway bars, no front shocks, a bed full of steel and a REALLY short drag link..









here it is next to a stock exploder with some MTs


sorry the plate messed it up

 

haha yea, i was gonna build a cage for my project, thought i didnt have time

so i started drawing up bumpers..

then i said screw it, lets SAS it.. and so i've been living on ramen and bumming rides for the last month.. until now (see above)


but yea, October 16th i'll be getting home late in the afternoon hopefully. i was going to look for jobs in Colorado but i missed Texas so i'm coming back for a while. i'll make my way up there at some point after i get to trusting it enough to make a drive longer than 30 minutes lol

 

You need at least crossover steering, you're going to have bumpsteer like a muuuufukka.

 

front shackle mount or whatever, did you just drill it through the frame? or have a mount welded onto the frame, can't really see... most of the SAS i've seen use a crossmember with a mount welded onto it..

 

x1,000,000

99ranger4x4, you might not have the $$ right now, but it something that definitely needs to be done at some point. That short drag link is gonna kill ya.

FYI, Hi-steer is just another term for crossover.

 

FYI, Cross over and highsteer are not the same thing. crossover the tie rod is left in the stock location and the draglink is run a to a single highsteer arm, highsteer is where both the draglink and tierod are raised. Just to clear that up.