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Crossover and Frame Flex

stockk5

stockk5

1/2 ton status
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Apr 13, 2004
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Cromwell, CT
Hey guys i did a search but didnt find anything. My k5 has 6" lift springs and a dana 60 with cross over steering and ORD steering box brace on 37" ssr's. When i was in the garage last night fixing my steering.. i noticed how much frame flex there is. Its down right scary. And to imagine what hydro assist would do to it scares me more. Is there another way other than boxing the frame to fix this? can i add another cross member to the front of the frame, where i'd make a winch plate? is that normal to flex a ton?
 
Ya, Hydro assist will make the ram on the axle do most of the work to turn your tires instead of the steering box (which flexes the frame).

Make sure all your rivets on the frame crossmembers are still holding well and you can add alot of front frame support by having a strong bumper that will help keep th frame horns from flexing as much up front.

Harley
 
That's one of my prime motivators for doing hydro-assist. I want to take as much stress off the frame as possible. Also crossover robs up to 30% of your steering "power" so that's the other reason I want to do assist.
 
readymix said:
Where did you get the 30% number?
Click to expand...


From another site:
gmc4cw said:
f you can hardly turn now, when you go to crossover you will not be able to turn at all at idle without moving. crossover helps with bumpsteer but it decreases the boxes leverage on the axle. I had a conversation with Stephen at ORD where he said it could be as much as a 30% loss of power.

Don't get me wrong, crossover is great and will solve some problems but it will not make your turning ability better on flat ground.
Click to expand...
I can also tell from personal experience with my truck. Obviously I have no way to measure the difference tho. :dunno:
 
hmm guess that makes sense about the hydro assist.. the list never stops growing!!
 
Even if you loose 30% power with crossover you gain the ability to turn left which is more then worth 30%.

Harley
 
turning radius would be more a factor of what crossover arms, and or pitman arms you have. the longer the pitman arm, or shorter the crossover arm, the more your tire will turn with the same amount in the steering wheel. if you use a long pitman arm, and a short crossover arm, you can easily turn to the knuckle stops. in the case of my old k5, i had a hugh crossover arm, and a relatively short pitman arm. the best i could do was like 1" from the knuckle stops.
 
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