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Question for those with 4" lift and crossover steering.

y5mgisi

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Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

When i did my 4" lift it made my truck feel sorta sloppy threw the corners. I also now have a little bump steer. I do have the 4" raised steering arm. Would crossover steering make it handle more like stock? and would it get rid of my bumpsteer? And if i did this could i get away with using a bent draglink to not have to mess with the engine crossmember? /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

Crossover will help get your turning radius back even better then stock. It will help with the bump steer also. It will also be prone to death wobble which is a drawback but make sure everything is in good condition such as ball joints, tie rod ends, alignment, and everything else in the front end and run a good stabilizer or go to hydro assist at the same time and you should not have DW. A bent draglink will work fine.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

What he said. I did crossover on my 5" lift with no problems. I run a bent draglink and sofar no problems with that either.

I did have death wobble occasionally when I first started but it was because I put the draglink in the wrong hole (rear hole) on the steering arm. Put it in the right hole, and no DW since.

All my steering parts are basically new. New balljoints and new TRE's in the draglink. The oldest part of my steering is my TRE's in my tierod. They are 1 yr old.

I do not run a stablizer and have not had a need for one in the year that it has been gone.

You MUST install the weld in steering box brace when you do crossover. Otherwise your frame will be trashed very quickly.

Harley
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

I like the way mine drives but the DW when braking is kicking my azz.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

hhhmmmmm. Well id rather deal with what i got now than death wobble. Most my stuf is original 90 gm stuff. I only have 33's though and mabey if i went to dual steering stabilizers it would help. The truck only sees light weeling. but it tows alot and i take it up threw the mountains alot so it needs to handle as good as possible. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

[ QUOTE ]
You MUST install the weld in steering box brace when you do crossover. Otherwise your frame will be trashed very quickly.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree.

The weld patch does not fit correctly and I would not ever buy it again or install it on another truck.

The bolt on brace does FAR more than that weld patch will ever do.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

Isn't the weld in part just if the frame has a crack? I was going to order both for the blazer and the jimmy, I should just get the bolt on one then?
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

go with the bolt on, also break away the fractory rivets and replace them with nice 7/16ths grade 8 bolts.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

I don't know who's patch kit you used but mine fit in pretty well. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif Nice easy install. Contoured very nicely.

Seems to me if you had had the weld in kit when you ripped your frame up it would have been alot harder to do. The frame would be twice as thick as stock.

Stock chevy frames are weak in the standard push pull steering direction. When you start to side load them with crossover steering I imagine that having a twice as much metal to resist the steering would be a good thing. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif Am I wrong to think this?

Oh and by the way I tried to install the bolt in brace in my truck back in the day, and guess what.... It didn't fit well. /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gif So it must be no good and you should never use one. Right?

I got my weld in brace kit from Four Wheeler's Supply here in Phoenix. Worked just fine. I would highly recommend using it and I would NEVER run crossover without it.

If it is a light trail truck you could probably get away with one or the other. If you are going to get into heavy offroad then I would do both. It is pretty likely that your frame has cracks in it already at the steering box. They may be behind it where you can't see them. I had two nice cracks behind mine and my truck only had on 32's for almost all its life. I had 35's for 1 run. When I installed crossover I put the weld in brace in.

Harley
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

so for my trail rig I should use both, and for my DD and mild wheeler I should just use the bolt on?
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

frame isn't twice as think, its only as strong as the welds then. You could even weaken the frame at the point of the welds if you really mess up.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

The bolt in kit was made on a cherry, uncracked, perfect frame. If your frame is tweaked, you're right, it doesn't fit all that well.

Even if the frame was three times thicker, cracking is still possible. You've got to distribute the load in more than one direction to keep damage to a miniumum. That's what the bolt in brace is for.

I'm not going to sit here and be the poster boy for not buying the weld in brace....but I would personally not use it again. It fits VERY poorly.

Kidjethro's video also proves my point.

If you want to do the weld patch, be my guest.

I'd say that the bolt in brace does far more even by itself than the weld patch could ever do.

I've got both on my truck, but I feel the bolt in brace does a lot more for you than anything else.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

The reasons my brace didn't fit was the tweaked frame and also the fact that the kit was designed on the older frame or a truck with lesser options. The bolt in brace chafes power steering lines an oil cooler lines.

I agree that the bolt in brace does help because it helps distribute the lateral loading. I might invest in one eventually when I step up to larger then 35" tires.

Who's weld in kit did you buy? I have heard that ORD's weld in braces don't fit all well and was recommended not to use it. Mine was fine and fit well.

I think if I have problems in the future with my frame cracking again I will do something like Steve at MOO did and box the frame there.

Harley
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

hhhhmmmm mabey i should repost my original question? [ QUOTE ]
When i did my 4" lift it made my truck feel sorta sloppy threw the corners. I also now have a little bump steer. I do have the 4" raised steering arm. Would crossover steering make it handle more like stock? and would it get rid of my bumpsteer? And if i did this could i get away with using a bent draglink to not have to mess with the engine crossmember?

[/ QUOTE ] /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
Thanks for all the advice about my frame but thats not what im worried about. I am investigating crossover steering to see if it would be beter than my current setup for what i intend to do with my truck /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

Off-Topic2.gif
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

Nope, we already hijacked the post you can't have it back. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

Yes, crossover steering is a better steering system then stock. The stock design is a poor design. Crossover steering is the way that it should have been done from the factory. I love my GM but someone at Jeep and Ford figured out that crossover was the better design and they used it.

If you plan on only very light offroad then stock can be ok. But so you know when you do start offroading harder and you droop the drivers front tire don't expect to be able to turn left. You won't be able to.

Crossover is in my top 3 best mods available. Fuel Injection, lockers, and crossover steering. Best mods I have to date. Crossover makes life offroad alot better. Especially if you have lockers.

Harley
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

O.K. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif So what if i had my sub on 4" lift, 33's, dual steering stabilizers, and half my front end parts worn out. Do you think it would drive better on twisty roads than it does now?
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

I think you need to stop and replace your front end parts that are worn out. Not to be mean but don't be stupid, if the parts are worn they need to be replaced, you will never be happy with the steering until you do.
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

twisty how? twisted up flex wise or windy mountain roads? On the street standard GM steering can be ok, but if you want it to twist up flex wise be prepared not to be able to steer well.

Spend the money that you are going to use to buy dual stabilzers on fixing the worn out parts.

I have mostly new parts with my crossover steering and I DONT need or have a stabilzer.

AZ-K5 above said he has death wobble under brakeing but he left out he has used brake parts on his D60 and one rotor that is grooved up pretty bad. That doesn't help his situation.

Harley
 
Re: Question for those with 4\" lift and crossover steering.

dual steering stabilizer is a stupid bandaid that won't help a whole lot. Fix the worn parts, then put on the stabilizer for what its really meant for, absorbing side load bumps on and offroad.
 
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