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How far can I move my front axle without moving the steering box?

Joshinator said:
I had my front axle moved a total of 6 inches forward with leafs, springs re-drilled 4.5" and a zero rate in the 1.5" hole. I had a 90 degree approach angle with 44's. I ended up taking the zero rate out because i messed up on measuring on the driveshaft and it was an 1.5" too short. I'm running ORD cross over with what ever lift the 52's give me. I turned the offset in the Drag link forward so it would clear the cross memeber. No issues yet, but i do have the suspension limited on up travel to keep the steering arm out of the leaf springs.
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pictures.....:D :bow:
 
No pictures as of yet. And it was early this morning when i was adding in my head the number of inches i moved the axle forward. 52's gave me 2" and then i moved it 4.5", plus the zero rate at 1.5... so, thats 8, now its 6.5"
Some pictures are at www.myspace.com/BlazerJosh
 
brining this one back up....if you move the axle 5 to 6 inches foward and your not running high steer will there be a problem there???also will you need to move the box for the crossover only???
 
twoslo4five0 said:
brining this one back up....if you move the axle 5 to 6 inches forward and your not running high steer will there be a problem there???also will you need to move the box for the crossover only???
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that much distance is going to put strain on the steering components. your pitman arm and steering arm travel in arc's. ideally you should be able to draw a line from full lock on the box to full lock that is in plane to the line from full lock on the axle to full lock. if you don't understand that its because I'm not sure how to word it the easiest.

basically as you turn the wheel to one side the pitman arm is arcing forward and to the side but the steering arm is arcing to the side and back. now if you move the axle really far forward you will lose the ability to turn to full lock because the box will be pushing the drag link more forward then to the side.

also keep in mind as you move the box forward on the frame you will need to move it down unless you do some modifications to the frame. just to move it forward you are getting into serious mods since the frame bumps out where the box mounts.
 
gmc4cw said:
that much distance is going to put strain on the steering components. your pitman arm and steering arm travel in arc's. ideally you should be able to draw a line from full lock on the box to full lock that is in plane to the line from full lock on the axle to full lock. if you don't understand that its because I'm not sure how to word it the easiest.

basically as you turn the wheel to one side the pitman arm is arcing forward and to the side but the steering arm is arcing to the side and back. now if you move the axle really far forward you will lose the ability to turn to full lock because the box will be pushing the drag link more forward then to the side.

also keep in mind as you move the box forward on the frame you will need to move it down unless you do some modifications to the frame. just to move it forward you are getting into serious mods since the frame bumps out where the box mounts.
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yeah i was looking at it today and i dont want to move it foward....im just gonna move it foward as far as can without moving the box....so exactly how far can i go foward???i will prolly just hack off the frame right before the hangers are...
 
Check out SCOOBYDAN's 56" swap.

The guy after him did it opposite from him and moved it 4" fwd. Stephen at ORD told me about 6"-7" :eek1: is possible. I'm gonna try the 56"s springs short end fwd and I'll let you know what I get.
 
K10A'sBROinSLO said:
Check out SCOOBYDAN's 56" swap.

The guy after him did it opposite from him and moved it 4" fwd. Stephen at ORD told me about 6"-7" :eek1: is possible. I'm gonna try the 56"s springs short end fwd and I'll let you know what I get.
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when I spoke with Stephen about this subject (2 years ago) he said 4" was the limit. he may have moved one further since then, but 4" forward is a lot.
 
gmc4cw said:
when I spoke with Stephen about this subject (2 years ago) he said 4" was the limit. he may have moved one further since then, but 4" forward is a lot.
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Agreed. I intend to try it in the next couple days.
 
I currently have mine moved forward about 6-7". I have zero problems steering with basic crossover from ORD. I'm running 52's up front, center pin drilled 4.5" forward, and instead of having the offset in the drag link going down, away from the crossmember, i have it turned forward to line back up with the pass. side steering arm. No, its not perfect. But i got it where i wanted it for now until i go full hydro.
I just realized i have said this already. My bad for being so repeatitive. Sorry
 
heres some pics of where I put the steering box after the fact. my problem was the tie rod would come up and hit the TRE that was attached to the pitman arm, hence putting alot of pressure on the frame cause it was acting as the bumpstop. I also moved mine up which required a custom radiator mount.

steering detail.jpg

steering detail 1.jpg
 
blazinzuk said:
heres some pics of where I put the steering box after the fact. my problem was the tie rod would come up and hit the TRE that was attached to the pitman arm, hence putting alot of pressure on the frame cause it was acting as the bumpstop. I also moved mine up which required a custom radiator mount.
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how far forward did you move the box? how far forward is the axle?
 
blazinzuk said:
heres some pics of where I put the steering box after the fact. my problem was the tie rod would come up and hit the TRE that was attached to the pitman arm, hence putting alot of pressure on the frame cause it was acting as the bumpstop. I also moved mine up which required a custom radiator mount.
Click to expand...
that looks like a $hitload of work right there...
 
It was. In fact I have a whole nother blazer I am putting my suspension and stuff under ( its newer like a 91) that section of frame is getting cut off and welded onto the newer stuff, fortunately thats still a long way off and I never have to worry about my steering box coming off again
 
Blazinzuk said:
It was. In fact I have a whole nother blazer I am putting my suspension and stuff under ( its newer like a 91) that section of frame is getting cut off and welded onto the newer stuff, fortunately thats still a long way off and I never have to worry about my steering box coming off again.
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That's where it's nice if you can go full hydro, but I assume you still want to drive yours on the street. :doah:
 
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