1-ton OTK steering with ruffstuff diff cover - diff cover clearance issues

[MoparManiac]

I've seen people notch the cover and weld in a piece cut from some DOM.

 

[vetteboy]

I found that rotating the pinion down would help increase clearance but I ended up grinding down the RuffStuff cover.

Wait. What?

Unless you cut & turn the knuckles at the same time, how does this work?

 

[philagony94xj]

To Vetteboy: Possibly he has adjustable CA, uppers and lowers? I can set my pinion angle with only adj uppers.

 

[DeftwillP]

I believe what vetteboy is saying is that the knuckles (steering as well for the most part though it will be affected by caster change) and diff cover face are on the same plane. You rotate change the degree of one, you'll change the degree of the other.....unless your cut and turn your knuckles.

 

[sunburned]

Damn, now hitting drivers side coil bucket with around 1/4 turn to full lock, and the coil bucket is trimmed back as far as it can be.

Will adjust the stops for now and figure that one out later.

Toldja haha. It sucks and short of cutting off the stock lower coil mounts and welding on new ones further rearward, I don't have a solution for this. Even my Currie setup has the tie rod hitting the coil on the drivers side.

To Vetteboy: Possibly he has adjustable CA, uppers and lowers? I can set my pinion angle with only adj uppers.

A knuckle-to-knuckle tie rod will not move relative to the diff cover, no matter what the caster/pinion angle is.

 

[Cody90XJ]

Maybe I missed it but, can you put up a couple pictures so we can better see what is going on here?

 

[sunburned]

What's there to look for? Tie rod goes straight knuckle to knuckle. When turning, tie rod hits either diff cover, or if clearanced, hits coil spring on driver's side. Not much you can do other than relocating the coil buckets more centered on the axle tube insetead of sticking way out front.

 

[clean4drxj]

why not just have a slight bend put in the tierod?.. Thats how my bandit 1ton setup is and has been I have 0 issues with it hittihng anything even with my SOLID diff cover and all

 

[sunburned]

Not that easy to bend .25 wall tube. Plus depending on how the drag link is attached to the tie rod, a bend would cause a ton of movement in the steering itself.

 

[clean4drxj]

Not that easy to bend .25 wall tube. Plus depending on how the drag link is attached to the tie rod, a bend would cause a ton of movement in the steering itself.

My steering works flawlessly(10 years).. and with a lil bit of heat it will bent without a problem or he could paid someone what 20 for a bend? seems like a no brainer to me!

 

[MoparManiac]

Smash it into a couple rocks.

Flip the tierod.

You now have a clearanced tie rod.

 

[Demolition_x]

I know this an oldish thread, I am having the same issue with an UTK set up.

What did you do to solve hitting the cover? I am hitting the cover and my track bar bolt head.

I probably have about a half inch or more until the knuckle hits the steering stop.

 

[Demolition_x]

Anyone?

I am almost thinking about bending the ends of my tie rod a degree or two to bring it out just a bit to clear the cover and track bar bolt.

 

[Phil]

My tie rod has bends to help clear the coils and bracketry.

 

[Demolition_x]

My tie rod has bends to help clear the coils and bracketry.

Is it a home made deal or similar to the U turn steering or Iron Rock?

Also is it UTK or OTK?

I would love to see picture of it to see how much you had to bend it if possible.

 

[clean4drxj]

I have a custom 1ton setup(UTK) that has a slight bend in it to clear my diffcover(solid).

 

[Demolition_x]

I have a custom 1ton setup(UTK) that has a slight bend in it to clear my diffcover(solid).

Does yours hit the track bar bolt too?

I would love to see a picture of how big of a bend and where it is if at all possible.

Thanks

 

[XJEEPER]

What I did.

Pictures don't show the RuffStuff diff cover that I'm running now, but still no interference from tie rod or trackbar on the RS cover.

More here: http://ns2.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=913774&page=9

 

[Phil]

Is it a home made deal or similar to the U turn steering or Iron Rock?

Also is it UTK or OTK?

I would love to see picture of it to see how much you had to bend it if possible.

Tera high steer knuckle, each linkage is over its arm, home made linkages, just a slight bend in the tie rod in front of each coil. I might have a picture in my "My Green Junk" thread.

 

[themangeraaad]

I ended up grinding down the diff cover a bit and doing a driveway alignment and that did the trick.

I now just barely touch the coil buckets and diff cover when at full lock in either direction.