Vombrown
Mountain Man
Oh well....too late to change it now.Two things here... A. Your front axle is upside down and the diff is on the wrong side. And 2. Those front shocks are going to ride like crap.
CK5
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Project Snow Bear K20!
- Thread starter Vombrown
- Start date
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Little bit of sunshine today before the rain sets in for another few days. Need to get some steel cut for the bracing on the frame brackets.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Got some steel cut up for the bracing. Raining now so dang.
On a side note: My original plans to use the stock track bar are gone now. I'm going to cut off the stock bracket and move forward with building one. That is the only way I can get the steering to line up. The steering linkage will need to be extended for sure. It's going to be short by about 4". So I'll have to deal with that as well. So I have parts to order for the front end. I guess I'll get back on track finishing up the rear, shock mounts, brackets and whatnot. Then I can move on to the transmission crossmember.
On a side note: My original plans to use the stock track bar are gone now. I'm going to cut off the stock bracket and move forward with building one. That is the only way I can get the steering to line up. The steering linkage will need to be extended for sure. It's going to be short by about 4". So I'll have to deal with that as well. So I have parts to order for the front end. I guess I'll get back on track finishing up the rear, shock mounts, brackets and whatnot. Then I can move on to the transmission crossmember.
Lookin good man.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
At this point I'm wondering if I need to build the drag link for the steering first, them mimic the angle with the track bar. I have a hydroboost 2wd steering box located that I need to go pick up. I think that's the starting point. I'm going back and forth with ball joints or heim joints for the steering linkage. Never driven a truck on the highway with heims. I have a mild concern for safety there. I think I can get everything from ORD to get it done.
Track bar, drag link kit and shock hoops with a crossover. Oh and a drop pitman arm.
The tie rod on this truck is SUPER beefy but it does tie the drag link at the same point. That's something I will have to work around. I knew moving the axle forward as much as I have would create a couple issues so far they seem to be pretty easily fixed. Moving the steering box forward seems to be the only downside. On the bright side My approach angle on the front of the truck is awesome. I will be removing a small section of frame on the front after welding in a winch mount between the frame rails. That should make it even better.
Track bar, drag link kit and shock hoops with a crossover. Oh and a drop pitman arm.
The tie rod on this truck is SUPER beefy but it does tie the drag link at the same point. That's something I will have to work around. I knew moving the axle forward as much as I have would create a couple issues so far they seem to be pretty easily fixed. Moving the steering box forward seems to be the only downside. On the bright side My approach angle on the front of the truck is awesome. I will be removing a small section of frame on the front after welding in a winch mount between the frame rails. That should make it even better.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
On a side note: I'm looking for a double sheer pitman arm, anyone know someone who makes them? I PM's Dueling already, anyone else?
Vombrown
Mountain Man
I'm measuring the angles on the stock steering setup now. It doesn't look that severe to me in all honesty. Whatever I do will need to connect to the stock ball joint on the passenger side. It's a threaded shank at the ball joint so that should be a non issue. I would just want to go to a heim on the pitman arm I think for high misalignment that I'm not sure I will get with a ball joint. A drop pitman arm would most likely take care of it for he most part but I do NOT want to settle on the steering. One of my main goals with this truck is to retain the stock or better manners on the highway. That means great, not decent steering. Observations appreciated.
No heim joints on steering tie rod ends or drag link ends.
Isn't this a woods ready truck, not a crawler? Which Napa you think is gonna carry 7/8 heims? Ease of replacement is a consideration on a non trailered truck. In years of wheeling I have broken one tie rod end. That's with at least 38s ( mostly 42s) a front locker and hydro assist.
I had a daily driver with heims. No thanks, clanky, loud, loose after 6 months ( not cheapies). Unless I'm full hydro or have an extreme travel swingset type of steering, it's TREs for me.
Also I always mock up steering at the same time as the track bar. Then I cycle. Full bump, full rebound, full articulation both ways, turning the steering lock to lock. Metal conduit or PVC usually get sacrificed here
Isn't this a woods ready truck, not a crawler? Which Napa you think is gonna carry 7/8 heims? Ease of replacement is a consideration on a non trailered truck. In years of wheeling I have broken one tie rod end. That's with at least 38s ( mostly 42s) a front locker and hydro assist.
I had a daily driver with heims. No thanks, clanky, loud, loose after 6 months ( not cheapies). Unless I'm full hydro or have an extreme travel swingset type of steering, it's TREs for me.
Also I always mock up steering at the same time as the track bar. Then I cycle. Full bump, full rebound, full articulation both ways, turning the steering lock to lock. Metal conduit or PVC usually get sacrificed here
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Yup, not a crawler. No trailer for this girl. I'll figure out how to get the steering angles I need with stock stuff. Shouldn't be that hard.
Standard tie rod ends are around 20° angle capacity. Drag link ends are around 30°. A heim with high angle misalignment spacers just a touch over 30.
So even using standard TREs you will end up at 40° total angle capacity. DLEs you will see 60° total angle capacity.
Most use a DLE on the pitman arm side at least.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Good info there. Thanks! Need to go get my steering box and get it on first.
You should get steering dialed in first and then the Trac bar made and mounted to keep the bumpsteer down. Ideally as parallel as possible
Vombrown
Mountain Man
As long as they are parallel with each other it should be good correct? My track bar will be slightly shorter but I can essentially make it any angle I need. The more I look at it the more I think I might be making too much of it. Mostly concerned with running down the correct parts.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Rock auto order on the way. Clutch, flywheel, mounts, bolts (singing) and a partridge in a pear tree...
Pahnard bar (track bar) and drag link need to travel through a similar arc. The same arc is even better. So length is best to be similar. Angle needs to be dang close too. Even if it takes a days effort to accomplish this it will be well worth it.
Vombrown
Mountain Man
While I wait on parts I'm going to spend some time removing some extra crap from the axle that is just in the way. I "Think" I can get the track bar to about the same length as the drag link. I'm going to play with that a good bit before throwing any parts at it for now.
On the right track all great advice and I’ll 2nd the tie rod notion.. heims while in dry climates seem ok never last like a tie rod does..
Vombrown
Mountain Man
Here is what I am working with. The factory track bar link is located in front of the bump stop pad, that isn't going to work for me so I'm going to have to locate it on top of the axle. I went ahead and installed the lower coil over bracket on the knuckle to give you an idea of what I've got here.
My first thought was to use the bump stop pad to locate the bracket for the track bar. Then I thought why burn up a factory location for my bump stop? So what I may end up doing is fabricating a bracket off the front of that pad for the track bar. Either way I do it there isn't going to be a way to get the track bar and the drag link even close to the same length. Same angle and geometry is possible I think
My first thought was to use the bump stop pad to locate the bracket for the track bar. Then I thought why burn up a factory location for my bump stop? So what I may end up doing is fabricating a bracket off the front of that pad for the track bar. Either way I do it there isn't going to be a way to get the track bar and the drag link even close to the same length. Same angle and geometry is possible I think
Whats wrong with the factory mounting position on the axle for the trac bar?
