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

You can do it for around $350-400 if ya know what your looking for and can look in the right places.

That being said, an interesting side effect of anybody thinking full hydro for on road usage. Mine and that is all I can speak for, I am constantly turning left on the road. I attribute this to the crown of the road and the fact that the orbitrol allows a "Bypass" when centered causing a constant counterclockwise rotation of the steering wheel to counter the crown. 15 miles I made an approx. 5 rotations of the steering wheel. Kinda weird and just thought I'd throw that out there.
 
Wow...I expected a lot more. I assume that's not the price I get if I call and have PSC send me everything I need?
 
cybrfire said:
You can do it for around $350-400 if ya know what your looking for and can look in the right places.

That being said, an interesting side effect of anybody thinking full hydro for on road usage. Mine and that is all I can speak for, I am constantly turning left on the road. I attribute this to the crown of the road and the fact that the orbitrol allows a "Bypass" when centered causing a constant counterclockwise rotation of the steering wheel to counter the crown. 15 miles I made an approx. 5 rotations of the steering wheel. Kinda weird and just thought I'd throw that out there.
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you cant drive in my state with full hydro...big no-no..
 
K10A'sBROinSLO said:
Wow...I expected a lot more. I assume that's not the price I get if I call and have PSC send me everything I need?
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I highly doubt it! I spent right at $200 on my cylinder. The rest was everything else.
 
twoslo4five0 said:
you cant drive in my state with full hydro...big no-no..
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It probably is in most states. I drove mine on the road to get it to a parade and I don't think the police in Iowa would probably say a whole lot if you weren't doing it all the time.
 
hijack on-my truck it seems as soon as i turn the key i get a ticket...i have around 27-28 in about 8 years of driving...thats one of the reasons im building a trail only truck....its a double standard in va cause if your truck is to tall you can get 2 tickets height,and altered suspention....now if its legal all you get is altered suspention....

anright im done back to the good stuff...
 
twoslo4five0 said:
you cant drive in my state with full hydro...big no-no..
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I don't think its illegal in any state, just dangerous. Its kinda like how everyone thinks beadlocks are illegal, but they're not.
 
38377k5 said:
I don't think its illegal in any state, just dangerous. Its kinda like how everyone thinks beadlocks are illegal, but they're not.
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its not illegal in Pa. I spoke with the head mechanic in my shop. he would pass a truck with full hydro as long as it had the ability to return to center since that is mentioned specifically in the inspection manual. you could put something like a coil-over steering stabilizer on it. like this.

http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/wagoneer/steeringstab.html
 
Bringing this one back because I dont think the question ever realy got answered. Alot of you have mentioned what you have done, and thats great. But how far forward can you move the axle without moving the box and useing regular crossover steering parts? Also I converted a 2wd truck to 4wd is the box in the same location stock as the 4wd stock?

For something even more complicated. can you tilt the steering box down so that the steering arm moves more in a flat motion? It would require u-joint shafts I know but would it ruin the return to center or cause other problems?

Balzer

Note: I would like to go about 4" forward.
 
I moved mine forward 4"+ with 56" springs short end forward, plus zerorates. No problems yet. With 46" tires, I have a nearly 90* approach angle. :D Only problem I ran into was the driver side tire hit the steering box when turning right. A set of dually hubs fixed it, but made steering a problem. I think the combination of huge tires with no air and the crazy scrub radius is a little much for the pump/box/ram.

FrontHack.jpg
 
original balzer said:
Bringing this one back because I dont think the question ever realy got answered. Alot of you have mentioned what you have done, and thats great. But how far forward can you move the axle without moving the box and useing regular crossover steering parts?


Note: I would like to go about 4" forward.
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I'm using a standard crossover steering setup from ORD. My suspension height is less than 1" over stock. I have the front axle moved forward 2" (52's) and there is very little uptravel.

If you move the axle more than 2" forward (with crossover steering) you problems will be worse. The steering arm will interfere with the u-bolts themselves and you will lose a significant amount of clearance (3"?)

If I bothered to move the steering box forward I might get another 1 or 2 inches of uptravel.

I don't see too much advantage to moving the steering box. If you are really in a situation where you think you need to move the steering box its likely that mechanical steering is beyond your needs.
 
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38377k5 said:
I'm using a standard crossover steering setup from ORD. My suspension height is less than 1" over stock. I have the front axle moved forward 2" (52's) and there is very little uptravel.

If you move the axle more than 2" forward (with crossover steering) you problems will be worse. The steering arm will interfere with the u-bolts themselves and you will lose a significant amount of clearance (3"?)

If I bothered to move the steering box forward I might get another 1 or 2 inches of uptravel.

I don't see too much advantage to moving the steering box. If you are really in a situation where you think you need to move the steering box its likely that mechanical steering is beyond your needs.
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Maybe you need a different pitman.


http://coloradok5.com/forums/showth...light=pitman+are+that+barely+clears+the+frame
 
DavidB said:
Maybe you need a different pitman.


http://coloradok5.com/forums/showth...light=pitman+are+that+barely+clears+the+frame
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Changing pitman arms might allow more clearance between the spring and pitman arm but that will push the draglink into the engine crossmember.

There are ways around this I suppose (a new draglink with a bigger bend, different engine crossmember, etc.) but I'm reasonably happy with the setup I have.

I will go to full hydraulic steering before I move the steering box.
 
This is too complicated for my brain tonight. I will be running about 9" of lift and have a custom engine crossmember. I dont know what problems I might run into. I would like to move it about 4" forward though. Im useing stock lenth front springs in a 4" lift variety and an additional 5" of built in lift with the spring mount/crossmember and to compensate for the frame differnces in the rear.

Balzer
 
original balzer said:
This is too complicated for my brain tonight. I will be running about 9" of lift and have a custom engine crossmember. I dont know what problems I might run into. I would like to move it about 4" forward though. Im useing stock lenth front springs in a 4" lift variety and an additional 5" of built in lift with the spring mount/crossmember and to compensate for the frame differnces in the rear.

Balzer
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With that much lift you will be fine.

Interference problems between the pitman arm and the u-bolts are probably a problem with 4" lift or less.
 
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