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New steering for Dutch...

Stang5lgt

Stang5lgt

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Parker, CO
So Dutch and I just got done making his steering. 1.5 .250 wall DOM with 3/4 heim joints. I could not stop smiling when we were done. And after Dutch took it for cruise he had grin ear to ear. :D

CIMG1690.jpg

CIMG1689.jpg
 
I'll bet his steering hasn't felt that good since he started driving that rig! That's the sweet and simple set up that's pretty much bullet proof. Nicely done guys! :thumbup:
 
hey i hate to say it though but you will end up hating those
heims i have an over the knuckle set up on my ZJ with the
drag link going under the tierod and i have to grease the
damn heims like every other week cause the squek like hell:rattle:
 
Stang5lgt said:
Dutch says: That track bar is a POS RE. I'll be making something worthwhile sooner or later. As for the heim joints squeeking, well you haven't ridden in my jeep have you? I won't here the squeeks over the rest of the noise.
Click to expand...

I have rode in your heep... and It makes way too many noises. LOL
 
dutch and I seem to be on the same wavelength build-wise... I have the same setup half built in my garage!:pirate1:
 
xj-grin said:
dutch and I seem to be on the same wavelength build-wise... I have the same setup half built in my garage!:pirate1:
Click to expand...
I bought all the stuff for my Jeep and I was not ready so we used it on his and he just gave me the cash. When I realized how bad it was going to hit my track bar bracket and that I was going to have to move it up I held off.
 
Primo011 said:
hey i hate to say it though but you will end up hating those
heims i have an over the knuckle set up on my ZJ with the
drag link going under the tierod and i have to grease the
damn heims like every other week cause the squeak like hell:rattle:
Click to expand...


I can attest to that................ done already did that one, I will never use rod ends ever again in a steering setup.

For some they do not care about the noise, and for those to curb it a little I did find this wonderful spray lubricant. Forgot the name but it was liquid Teflon. Eliminated the noise completely until I drove it for a week, washed or got it wet or went wheeling and dirty. Thus having to wash it and get it wet to squeak even more. Bought a bunch of bottles and just would spray the rod ends periodically and it would go away. :smoker:

BTW......Beefy steering would add one thing.........that is some pretty heavy leverage on the bolt for the right/passenger side rod ends. Those are flat top knuckles right?

Take this from experience and learn from my mistake. Buy a high steer arm, drill & tap the knuckle so you can move the drag link to the high steer arm. So you can eliminate all the leverage on that poor bolt. Until then make sure you carry spare bolts. I am not just blindly criticizing it either, this is from experience. Done did exactly what you have done, but on my D30 on my old CJ.

There are a lot of forces/stress working against your steering components and all that leverage will find the weakest link. That (1) bolt holding both the drag link and tie rod will eventually wobble out that hole no matter how tight you think you got it and break! This exact thing happened to me several times, I thinking it was weak bolts but I eventually ruined my knuckle cause it wobbled out so bad. I ended up having to attach a steering block from the now defunct Poison Spyder Customs on the tie rod and running the drag link to it and also replacing that knuckle on the right/passenger side. (I would have done high steer but to convert a D30 to 44 knuckles was $$ mucho!)
 
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Skully said:
I can attest to that................ done already did that one, I will never use rod ends ever again in a steering setup.

For some they do not care about the noise, and for those to curb it a little I did find this wonderful spray lubricant. Forgot the name but it was liquid Teflon. Eliminated the noise completely until I drove it for a week, washed or got it wet or went wheeling and dirty. Thus having to wash it and get it wet to squeak even more. Bought a bunch of bottles and just would spray the rod ends periodically and it would go away. :smoker:

BTW......Beefy steering would add one thing.........that is some pretty heavy leverage on the bolt for the right/passenger side rod ends. Those are flat top knuckles right?

Take this from experience and learn from my mistake. Buy a high steer arm, drill & tap the knuckle so you can move the drag link to the high steer arm. So you can eliminate all the leverage on that poor bolt. Until then make sure you carry spare bolts. I am not just blindly criticizing it either, this is from experience. Done did exactly what you have done, but on my D30 on my old CJ.

There are a lot of forces/stress working against your steering components and all that leverage will find the weakest link. That (1) bolt holding both the drag link and tie rod will eventually wobble out that hole no matter how tight you think you got it and break! This exact thing happened to me several times, I thinking it was weak bolts but I eventually ruined my knuckle cause it wobbled out so bad. I ended up having to attach a steering block from the now defunct Poison Spyder Customs on the tie rod and running the drag link to it and also replacing that knuckle on the right/passenger side. (I would have done high steer but to convert a D30 to 44 knuckles was $$ mucho!)
Click to expand...
I have had heim joints on my Mustang for 10 years. Never a noise. Sorry your had bad experience. But I did some home work before setting this up. My car has 2 inch spacer between heim and knuckle never had a problem.
 
Stang5lgt said:
I have had heim joints on my Mustang for 10 years. Never a noise. Sorry your had bad experience. But I did some home work before setting this up. My car has 2 inch spacer between heim and knuckle never had a problem.
Click to expand...

Maybe you will have better luck, I didn't mean to come across negative Stang, just giving you feedback. :cheers:

The thing is stout and fixes poor Dutch's loose Rugged Ridge setup. No more road wandering?

I bashed mine to death and it was a good showoff point to lift the front of the Jeep with the tie rod.

I literally did the exact same thing you did and then I had several "high" class fab shop's tell me that was my mistake in the first place. Just trying to pass on what I had learned in the past.

Some of my solutions was I slightly copied MORE's high steer kit and tried to weld a middle gusset from the back part of the knuckle to the middle of the two rod ends and it ended up breaking the tab off the knuckle. (heated and stick welded it, not mig) I flipped the tie rod below and the drag link on top to alleviate some of the leverage on the bolt sacrificing clearance but I already done the damage to the knuckle.

Keep in mind you are running a lot bigger tire and bashing the tires against rocks and terrain so you put a lot more forces against it than you would a car.
 
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Skully said:
Maybe you will have better luck, I didn't mean to come across negative Stang, just giving you feedback. :cheers:

The thing is stout and fixes poor Dutch's loose Rugged Ridge setup. No more road wandering?

I bashed mine to death and it was a good showoff point to lift the front of the Jeep with the tie rod.

I literally did the exact same thing you did and then I had several "high" class fab shop's tell me that was my mistake in the first place. Just trying to pass on what I had learned in the past.

Some of my solutions was I slightly copied MORE's high steer kit and tried to weld a middle gusset from the back part of the knuckle to the middle of the two rod ends and it ended up breaking the tab off the knuckle. (heated and stick welded it, not mig) I flipped the tie rod below and the drag link on top to alleviate some of the leverage on the bolt sacrificing clearance but I already done the damage to the knuckle.

Keep in mind you are running a lot bigger tire and bashing the tires against rocks and terrain so you put a lot more forces against it than you would a car.
Click to expand...
I have taken corners at well over a 100mph faster then Dutchs Jeep could ever dream of going. Multiple G force from the speed and that is going create huge force. My Car weighs as much as a XJ. You are funny I don't mean to sound negative then go right back into you rant about why it sucks. :gee: I talked to Dutch he was tickled pink on the way his Jeep was handling. He loves how tight it feels. He is taken it wheeling today.
http://bulletproofsteering.com/rodendhistory.html
And grade 8 3/4 bolt tensile strength is over 25 tons. We used ny lock nuts. Which is what my car has had for 10 years and never come loose. Even with solid steel motor mounts and 500 + blown motor viberating it to death. Dutch and I are taking our chances and sorry yours didn't work out. And if it breaks then you can say I told ya so. :D
 
Primo011 said:
Not trying to be a dic but im pritty sure your mustang also doesnt have 33 inch tires
Click to expand...
Do you know what G force is? 1 G is equal to the force of gravity. So if my car weighs 3100 lbs. With my suspension set up my car can pull close to a G. So 3000 lbs of force on a 10 inch wide tread pattern. Which is about the same as 12.5 tire width. You telling my your Jeep puts more the 3000lbs of force on your steering? Give me a break.:moon: :D


Here is kit like what I have on my car.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MUST...c0.m245&_trkparms=72:1205|65:12|39:1|240:1318
 
Stang5lgt said:
And grade 8 3/4 bolt tensile strength is over 25 tons. We used ny lock nuts. Which is what my car has had for 10 years and never come loose. Even with solid steel motor mounts and 500 + blown motor viberating it to death. Dutch and I are taking our chances and sorry yours didn't work out. And if it breaks then you can say I told ya so. :D
Click to expand...

Ditto I used lock nuts/nylocs...........I didn't say it was going to fail instantly it took a couple years, tried to tweak the design, then when I had constant issues. I finally had to do something and had to switch the setup out.

I know the strength of the rod ends, that was not the failure. It is the bolt and the constant working under that much leverage will wobble out the hole in the knuckle. The bolt and the hole is not machined that precise and there is always a minor amount movement.

I thought I came across a little too negative that is why I said that, but I was continuing on the conversation, debated you know, discussing the setup, the issues, and others experience. You are aware now someone else did the exact same thing and had these issues, etc...........:D

I would never tell you or rub it in; "AH HA see I was right guys!"

I would just hope if / when it did fail, it did not do it on you at a bad time, everyone was okay, and you followed my advise and carried an extra bolt:peace:
 
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