What's the big difference? 
CK5
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Y-link vs. true cross-over steering.
- Thread starter colbystephens
- Start date
What's the big difference?
#1 is geometry, a y-link is going to sit at a pretty steep angle on a lifted truck and that will cause lots of bump steer. Also, a fair amount of your steering force is lost because you aren't applying it in the right direction (i.e. a fair amount of the steering force is trying to bend the tie rod down rather than steer the truck).
The draglink also has to be short because of the relatively narrow spring pad spacing on a Chevy. Basically at full lock right your draglink has to clear the passenger side spring which means the draglink has to connect to the tie rod basically in the middle.
Most vehicles that use a y-link are coil sprung or have REALLY wide spring pad spacing (i.e. Ford), that way the draglink can attach all the way over by the passenger side knuckle. Those steering systems still aren't super awesome on a lifted truck.
Everything chris said times two, the only suspension I would even consider it on would be coils because the track bar is there and is usually easy to match angles.
It can work on our rigs (as has been proven) but spending money on it doesn't make sense to me.
All of your steering components are. At angles and usually shorter than a typical xover or high steer, the longer your drag link is the better because longer drag links deal better with higher angles
It can work on our rigs (as has been proven) but spending money on it doesn't make sense to me.
All of your steering components are. At angles and usually shorter than a typical xover or high steer, the longer your drag link is the better because longer drag links deal better with higher angles
I always thought the draglink / tie rod joint in a Y-link was also a weak point for the set-up as compared to a crossover. Also, as stated above, the best scenario is to have your drag link as long as possible.
yep x a few more to the pile.also it can or does hit the leaf pack on pass side if conditions right.
What about high steer? And I think I might be thinking about T steering. Where the drag link connects to the tie rod? Isn't the Y steering where the drag link connects to the passenger knuckle? Then the tie rod off the driver knuckle connects to the drag link?
Your right, the t steering where the drag link connects to the tie rod is not bad at all. I ran that set up for a while. Not my favorite for sure but I ran it with 40s for a long time and no problems.
The y steering is exactly what you describe the drag link attaches to the knuckle and the tie rod attaches to the drag link
This is my old daily driver, it had 48" tall military tires and y-link crossover.
I call this style y-link crossover, its different then crappy TTB inverted y-link. I guess it could be t-link but that term is new to me.
Regular crossover is when the draglink attaches to the arm on top of the knuckle. Hi-steer is when the tie rod and draglink are both above the axle and attach to the arm on top of the knuckle. You can do hi-steer with the tie rod behind the axle too.
I call this style y-link crossover, its different then crappy TTB inverted y-link. I guess it could be t-link but that term is new to me.
Regular crossover is when the draglink attaches to the arm on top of the knuckle. Hi-steer is when the tie rod and draglink are both above the axle and attach to the arm on top of the knuckle. You can do hi-steer with the tie rod behind the axle too.
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^^^^^
same style I had.
If that is what colby is talking about then its fine for the most part. I have even welded tabs on top of tie rods and attached the drag link there.
When I say tabs I use the term loosely, very thick pieces of steel, thick enough to taper for a tie rod end is more an apt description
same style I had.
If that is what colby is talking about then its fine for the most part. I have even welded tabs on top of tie rods and attached the drag link there.
When I say tabs I use the term loosely, very thick pieces of steel, thick enough to taper for a tie rod end is more an apt description
Stomis
Professional Amateur
I believe that style is known as inverted T and is considered a humongous upgrade over Y link steering.
That being said I have seen the names used vice versa on each setup. Clearly one is mislabeled.
The long and the short of it is if you run a FULL straight tie rod from knuckle to knuckle and tie the tie rod into that there is nothing wrong with that setup. Its simply seldom seen on spring over leaf spring trucks therefor a lack of on our chevys.
That being said I have seen the names used vice versa on each setup. Clearly one is mislabeled.
The long and the short of it is if you run a FULL straight tie rod from knuckle to knuckle and tie the tie rod into that there is nothing wrong with that setup. Its simply seldom seen on spring over leaf spring trucks therefor a lack of on our chevys.
