simple custom steering (d30)

im going to make my own steering. i dont like the y setup. looks like it is a bad design and could bind easily. im going to make a drag link and a tie rod that connect to the location the drag link connects now on the pass side knuckle. drag link on top, and the tie rod on bottom. any tips or experiance from someones whos done it? i want to copy the aligning setup that the stock links have. but do i need to have it adjustable at both ends? is that nessesary? when im all done i can just bring it to a shop and have them professionaly align it right?

The issue you might run into is the clearance from your tie rod to your diff (particularly if you have a cover) and the clearance for the track bar lower bolt and swaybar mounts.

I have done exactly what you are suggesting with 1" solid tube steel. It works with everything I have (diff guard and ground down the lower track bar bolt head) but I still have limited my steering lock on the right.

I will eventually be removing the swaybar links, moving the track bar up and the steering on top of the knuck to get everything out of the way and get all my steering back.

I used Heim joints on all ends of my links with RH and LH threads so that I can easily align it. I have always done my own alignments, not had a shop do it, so I do not know if they would have any difficulties with it or not.

HTH,
Michael

yeah the diff cover clearance issues make sense. thats probly why its a y setup from the factory. if i had clearance issues, could i put a bend in the tie rod to fit around the diff? if i did that then i would have to use a joint that only alowed one plane of movement. i dont know the names, but heim joints can just move in any direction right? i plan on hacking off all swaybar anything, so i wont worry about that

Why?It sounds like alot of work for what "gains"?

im pretty sure the steering will be smoother. the y setup is to steep. especily when you lift it more. it puts a lot of stress on pinpointed areas that could be improved. and even if its not that much of a gain, i want it anyways.. lol so im gonna do it. and its not all that much work acctualy

stupidfast said:

the y setup is to steep. especily when you lift it more.

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what are you conecting? the knuckle and the pitman arm

how is ANY steering system going to do that without being as steep

you have 2 options to fix the "steepness"

• drop pitman arm
• highsteer knuckle

there are no true hi-steer knuckles for the d30

and droping the pitman arm means that you would have to do something with the trackbar to make it parallel to the new arc that the steering is going to move into.

hey, but if its not all that much work - we sould all be doing it right?

:wierd:

There shouldn't be any clearence issues since you're still running the tie rod under the knuckles.
The clearence problems start when you go OTK on a 30.

kid4lyf said:

There shouldn't be any clearence issues since you're still running the tie rod under the knuckles.
The clearence problems start when you go OTK on a 30.

Click to expand...

I explained the clearance issue in my first post. They are issues if you use strait material.

Michael

2xtreme said:

I explained the clearance issue in my first post. They are issues if you use strait material.

Michael

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Why would there be clearence issues?
Isn't the tie rod staying, basically, in the same position as stock?
The driver's side is exactly the same and the passenger's side is very close.

kid4lyf said:

Why would there be clearence issues?
Isn't the tie rod staying, basically, in the same position as stock?
The driver's side is exactly the same and the passenger's side is very close.

Click to expand...

No, the tie rod is not in the same place and it would not have the bend in it that the stock Y set up has.

The tie rod on a cross over would go across the front of the track bar mount instead of sligtly higher on the Y set up. There for there is clearance issues with the trackbar, swaybar mounts, and diff cover.

Michael

the drag link will not change at all. it will still mount where it mounts now. i will just replace that with 1" steel rod like xtreme said. so therefor i shouldnt have to worry about moving the trackbar unless i drop the pitman arm later on for when i lift it 4.5. it only has like a 2in lift on it now with 30s. then im mounting the tierod undernethe the same location on the knuckle that the drag link is mounted. im removing the swaybars completely, so thats not an issue. i will most likely have to put a bend in the tierod so it dosnt hit the diff cover. then i will have to have joints at each end that only alow a horizontal plane of movement so the tierod dosnt flop around. will that joint set up work? and xtreme can u explain more about the trac bar mount clearence issues? what did you do to correct it?

are you talking about this?


click for full size shot

yeah crossover steering. exactly that.. but.. i want axle shafts in mine. lol. so whats all that welding. thats not a d30 either. lol.. wow that would explain the welding. what axle is that tho? is it fullwidth? i havent been around long enough to identify anything but a rockwell, yota axle, or 9in. lol. although im looking for somone who has done this to a d30. although i do plan on doing a 44 swap some day. this is my first truck, and i want it to be my last as well. i wanna still have this thing when im 35, just preserving it and slowly making it better and better

If you do it, you will need to relocate the swaybar, trackbar and stabilizer mounts so the drag link doesn't hit that junk and to get the drag-link and track bar parallel.

Rusty's sells an OTK kit that is exactly like opie's pic, with the necessary brackets included - welding required.

Bulletproof sells the tie-rod and drag-link, but you're on your own for track bar and brackets.

Several companies - Tera, MORE, DEO and Troy - sell kits with some sort of high steer knuckle solution. Tera's looks the best to me. Oh, you're probably on your own for the bracket stuff again with those "kits".

Finally, I learned most of this by using the SEARCH - you should try it :wave:

http://broncograveyard.com/images/catalog/STLROCKPROOF.GIF

Are you talking about a setup like this?

stupidfast said:

yeah crossover steering. exactly that.. but.. i want axle shafts in mine. lol. so whats all that welding. thats not a d30 either. lol.. wow that would explain the welding. what axle is that tho? is it fullwidth? i havent been around long enough to identify anything but a rockwell, yota axle, or 9in. lol. although im looking for somone who has done this to a d30. although i do plan on doing a 44 swap some day. this is my first truck, and i want it to be my last as well. i wanna still have this thing when im 35, just preserving it and slowly making it better and better

Click to expand...

Wow..my head hurts

stupidfast said:

the drag link will not change at all. it will still mount where it mounts now. i will just replace that with 1" steel rod like xtreme said. so therefor i shouldnt have to worry about moving the trackbar unless i drop the pitman arm later on for when i lift it 4.5. it only has like a 2in lift on it now with 30s. then im mounting the tierod undernethe the same location on the knuckle that the drag link is mounted. im removing the swaybars completely, so thats not an issue. i will most likely have to put a bend in the tierod so it dosnt hit the diff cover. then i will have to have joints at each end that only alow a horizontal plane of movement so the tierod dosnt flop around. will that joint set up work? and xtreme can u explain more about the trac bar mount clearence issues? what did you do to correct it?

Click to expand...

I built my cross over steering on a D30. Useing solid 1" round steel. 4.5" lift and stock pitman arm and knuckles.

Here are the clearance issues (all due to the fact that the stock set up is a inverted Y with a bend at the lower section of the pass side knuckle attachment point which provides the clearance for the stock steering). If you keep your swaybars you will have to move the swaybar mount on the pass side up away from the new strait drag link. If you remove all of you swaybars then this will not be an issue. The second clearance issue is the lower trackbar mount and the strait tie rod. You will not be able to turn full lock to the right. I ground down the top of the track bar mounting bolt so that I could gain as much turning as possible. It works fine but I do have to make more 3 point turns on the trail turning right than I do turning left. The 3rd clearance issue is full lock to the left, when the tie rod is close to the diff. I have a warn diff guard and the tie rod and dif cover (not guard) just touch but do not limit turning. If you used a different guard or size rod the problem might be worse.

I hope that this information helps.

I did this modification for several reasons:
1. I needed all new TRE's and I wanted to move to Heims (I have been very happy with them).
2. I wanted the steering set up to be easy to remove, repare, etc on the trail.
3. I wanted to be able to modify it as I modified my other front suspension and it is now easy to do that.

In the future I will be moving my trackbar up and removing my swaybars. When I do this, I will move the tie rod to the top of the knuckles and either mount the drag link on top of the knuckle or on the top of the tie rod (inverted T design) depending on the geometry of my track bar.

There are plenty of other easier, stronger Y designs that work very well if the same reasons do not apply to your application.

Michael

stupidfast said:

yeah crossover steering. exactly that.. but.. i want axle shafts in mine. lol. so whats all that welding. thats not a d30 either. lol.. wow that would explain the welding. what axle is that tho? is it fullwidth? i havent been around long enough to identify anything but a rockwell, yota axle, or 9in. lol. although im looking for somone who has done this to a d30. although i do plan on doing a 44 swap some day. this is my first truck, and i want it to be my last as well. i wanna still have this thing when im 35, just preserving it and slowly making it better and better

Click to expand...

its a 44

keeping the tie rod under as mine is should keep you out of most problems with brackets...

going with the tie rod OTK is where you get into trouble...

i still dont know what you are trying to achieve over the stock steering system...

the onl reason that i "upgraded" was that the d44 is full width and my old system wont fit...

steering is steering

gets you around stuff, over stuff, and bla

if it works - why mess with it?


did you check teh sticky at teh top of this forum that DJ put together?

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=67834

My XJ steering used to suck. At highway speeds, over washboard roads (most of Metro Detroit) the steering was always flopping around. Adding the RE drop brackets was awesome, and eliminated 90%. But that last 10% was always buggin me. So I went and had this installed:



All my steering woes have gone away, and my steering is stronger than the componenets found on a 1-ton truck.

You can find the steering upgrade here:

JCR Offroad 1 Ton steering upgrade

Only thing that sucks is you either have to drive to Kalamozoo, Michigan for the install, or buy yourself a reamer to cut your pitman arm and knuckles.