Inverted T vs. Inverted Y vs. Crossover

What would give the best handling and stability? I still have stock steering and figured now that Im on 35s and pounding on it harder, I should probably upgrade. No matter what setup ill be using 1.5x.25" DOM with 3/4" Ruffstuff heims. Ill be going OTK as well. Ive been reading a good bit, and like the look of Goatmans inverted y, the simplicity of crossover, and the ease of setup on inverted T.
Ive heard good and bad about all, and am wanting some personal accounts of what works for you. Thanks in advance

They all work. Inverted T will not have the toe change that an inverted Y will with height changes or suspension travel, but it tends to have tie rod roll with higher lifts. Cross over is a good option, the only downsides to it that i can see is how high you have to mount the trac bar to get good angles, while still staying out of the oil pan. Its also kind of unnecessary on lower lifts. Im currently running an inverted T setup over the knuckle, with the JCR spacer on the passenger side TRE. I havent noticed too bad of a deadspot and think that maybe it is over emphasized on the interwebs. or maybe im just used to driving on a worn out stock inverted Y set up. All have their ups and downs, but you need to look at what you need/want and pick the one that best suits you.

JCR here too. Great setup. No issues.

There is no possible bad with a crossover set up, as far as the design. You have to figure out the packaging. There is very little possible negative about inverted Y, as far as design. People talk about toe change as the suspension cycles but in the real world it just doesn't matter, if the toe is correct at ride height a little toe change through the cycle has no ill effects. There is always a possibility of a dead spot with inverted T unless there is very little angle on the drag link. Do not listen to those who have it and claim to feel no dead spot, you don't know how sensitive they are to such things or how used to it they have become.

If you can do crossover and have good angles and clearance, do it. Very straight forward design. Don't be afraid of inverted Y, it works very well in most situations. Do inverted T only if you have high steer arms (d44 or d60 on the top of the knuckle) and the drag link is fairly flat.

I recently built an inverted T setup based on heims. While it does have a dead spot, the dead spot is extremely small since I did some packing of the knuckle heims with UHMW washers to minimize roll in the tie rod. I still notice the dead spot, trust me. I chose to build it as an inverted T to keep my drag link and pitman arm very close for both length and angle.

The only thing Im worried about on the crossover is it'll only have one bolt for both the drag link and tiered. I don't have the money right now to switch to WJ knuckles or a D44 with true highsteer, although at the rate I'm going it probably won't be long. Thats my only concern, as having them both mounted in single sheer on top of each other with one bolt OTK looks pretty sketchy to me. If I plate the passenger side knuckle and add a 1/4" or 3/8" tab to make it double sheer, would that be sufficient? So it would be:

Tab welded to knuckle
Safety washer
Heim
Safety washer
Safety washer
Heim
Safety washer
Knuckle

Yes, you can do that, and if you have the desire and the skill that is a good way to go. I have done a couple setups like that. The tie rod heim joint does not need high misalignment spacers but the drag link heim joint does need them. So, you'd have the knuckle, the tie rod heim joint, the drag link heim joint with high misalignment spacers, and then the tab welded to the knuckle. I would only do it if you also boxed in the upper tab to the knuckle on one side. This is plenty strong enough and a good design with the angles and clearance as good as you're going to get without true high steer. You don't need the safety washers on the pass side, but I'd use them on the drivers side since it will be single sheer. It wouldn't hurt to put a safety washer between the tie rod heim joint and the knuckle, but you wouldn't need to. If you would feel better, use an F911 bolt through the pass side joints.

hey gotman to do that stacked heims steering will the back spacing on stock wheels work? like the gamblers or "bullet holes" or do you need aftermarker wheels like Steelies D-windows.

Goatman said:

Yes, you can do that, and if you have the desire and the skill that is a good way to go. I have done a couple setups like that. The tie rod heim joint does not need high misalignment spacers but the drag link heim joint does need them. So, you'd have the knuckle, the tie rod heim joint, the drag link heim joint with high misalignment spacers, and then the tab welded to the knuckle. I would only do it if you also boxed in the upper tab to the knuckle on one side. This is plenty strong enough and a good design with the angles and clearance as good as you're going to get without true high steer. You don't need the safety washers on the pass side, but I'd use them on the drivers side since it will be single sheer. It wouldn't hurt to put a safety washer between the tie rod heim joint and the knuckle, but you wouldn't need to. If you would feel better, use an F911 bolt through the pass side joints.

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Awesome. That sounds like what ill do then. I had planned on the f911 on the knuckles if I did it that way from the beginning, and you've reinforced what I had pictured in my head as working. Thanks for the advice

psullivam said:

hey gotman to do that stacked heims steering will the back spacing on stock wheels work? like the gamblers or "bullet holes" or do you need aftermarker wheels like Steelies D-windows.

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Nope, you couldn't do this with stock wheel backspacing. Probably not with 4.75" backspacing.

ok. I have wheel spacers on there also. 1" i believe. that changes the back spacing to 3.75" is that still not enough?

Thanks

psullivam said:

ok. I have wheel spacers on there also. 1" i believe. that changes the back spacing to 3.75" is that still not enough?

Thanks

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If I said it was would you do it without looking and measuring?

Look and measure, I don't know for sure what wheel combination will allow it.

of course not. I was hoping to get an answer that could ease my mind lol . Now its more stress on my mind paying for wheels to accommodate my steering.

Most commercially available setups such as IRO specify a backspacing of less than 4.5" (Or in their documentation, stock wheels with at least a 1.25" spacer) when using a heim-based steering.