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So my push pull steering box is getting sloppy and I was wondering if anyone could chime in about why the crossover kits are for 3 or 4 inch lifts and above. I have two inches of lift through Old Man Emu lift springs. what would keep me from using an IFS steering box setup? is it an oil pan clearance issue with the smaller lift height? What about pitman arms, i know there are several different types available and the build your own spline parts. I have not found anything relating to this through forum searches about my height limitations yet. I work in a welding shop so I have no problem fabricating what I need, but has anyone done this on a 2 inch lift vehicle?
So my push pull steering box is getting sloppy and I was wondering if anyone could chime in about why the crossover kits are for 3 or 4 inch lifts and above. I have two inches of lift through Old Man Emu lift springs. what would keep me from using an IFS steering box setup? is it an oil pan clearance issue with the smaller lift height? What about pitman arms, i know there are several different types available and the build your own spline parts. I have not found anything relating to this through forum searches about my height limitations yet. I work in a welding shop so I have no problem fabricating what I need, but has anyone done this on a 2 inch lift vehicle?
The reason you need a minimum of 3" of lift is to allow the new crossover tie rod and drag link enough clearance so they don't make contact with the leaf springs. Since the new setup runs above the springs instead of under them like the old setup.
I did a quick google search for a reference pic, as you can see if your springs don't have enough arch to them the tie rod won't clear the springs, hope this helps!
Okay, i get that. Too bad i can't change that with a shackle. I want to keep as much stock geometry as I can, but the steering links just bug the hell out of me. I really don't want the stock gearbox either, but i grabbed this real quick because i had manual steering when i picked this rig up. I wonder how many custom steering arms are out there for this reason. It appears from this photo that the gearbox angles are okay, maybe i should ask around in the pre-84 section on here and see if i can get someone to shoot me measurements of their first gens for a bit of referencing. My springs haven't fully settlled as i don't drive if far daily either, so maybe I should look into this later this summer.
You mentioned custom steering arms, that's kind of along the lines of what I'm thinking of doing on my 87' 4runner if I do a straight axel swap on it. I want it to stay aproximately factory height and keep my 31" tires. You could modify the passenger side factory "J" arm and make it into a "Y" arm (sacrificing another J arm you would have to source from eBay or CL). You would keep your factory tie rod in the stock location running under the leaf springs. You'd have to mount a ifs steering box, then run your drag link above the leafsprings to the top of your new modified Y arm. Since you're a fabricator it would probably be easy for you to modify the steering arm!
Here's a link to Zuk's SAS thread, he has some good pics documenting this kind of mod.
i don't know if a 2wd oil pan would the trick would the trick like it does for 3.0 SA/High steered 2nd and 3rd gen trucks but might be worth taking a look at, might gain some clearance
heres my 81 with stock front leafs (1"drop hanger/1" longer shackle) I clear highsteer no prob... just need to extend my bump stops and Im golden...
and I just built this today
Nice, thanks for the link and the feedback. it seems like all of the photos i can find, the steering arm is sort of obscured. i was hoping to find a way to use a u-bolt flip kit i have sitting around. the steering arm came into contact with the u-bolt plate if I remember right.
My springs have a bit of positive arc, sort of like this photo here also, definitely not flat springs anymore.
So I'm looking into doing crossover steering on my 2" lifted 83 pickup. I have OME dakar springs, +250 lb front capacity. I'm messing around with my front axle recently after a rebuild and IFS hub swap. So Ive welded caps into my steering stops, picked up and axle brace, TG u-bolt flip kit, and better steering is up next. I have a stock push/pull gearbox that is starting to get loose. I don't want to replace it with another one either, IFS is my only interest. I know plenty of guys on here have lifted their First Gens enough to run hy-steer setups. Can I get some pics for reference of your spring to tie rod heights and tops of the steering arms (above the top of your steering arm's tie rod end holes) to the bottom mounting surface of the steering arms ( where it mounts to the top of the knuckle). I will post my measurements too and hopefully get moving on making or modifying a set of steering arms to run full Hy-steer. I've looked into the high/low setup and I'd rather have my linkage up above entirely if possible.
Those are cool, I'm going to have to look into them. I came across some pics searching google images of the ones that re position
your drag link behind the axle too. this is something i could probably build, except I have no idea what to do with the trunion bearing side. We don't have a lathe and I don't know how to use one anyway. can the marlin lower knuckle style ones just slip or get pressed into their lower caps.
i don't know if a 2wd oil pan would the trick would the trick like it does for 3.0 SA/High steered 2nd and 3rd gen trucks but might be worth taking a look at, might gain some clearance
this was my old truck/crawler and the high steer worked fine with the minimal 1-1.5" lift and high steer, only issue was minor contact ntact on the oil pan but proper bump stops fixed that but did limit what travel the stock springs had. I plan to do it again with my current truck I am building with stock springs again .
You should have no issue with the OME springs as long as you use bump stops and place your steering box appropriately.
check out he build thread for more details https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...6/index14.html
Hey Drop zone, could you post some more pics of your homemade steering arm posted above,.maybe even some pics of it installed? I have the capability to make a lot of things, just not real sure what to make yet. My truck looks to be lifted enough for high steer, and I have access to all the stock parts I'd need. I'd just need to order some DOM and some weld in bungs for heim joints, since I haven't been real happy with the results when I've just threaded the tubing before.
Hey Drop zone, could you post some more pics of your homemade steering arm posted above,.maybe even some pics of it installed? I have the capability to make a lot of things, just not real sure what to make yet. My truck looks to be lifted enough for high steer, and I have access to all the stock parts I'd need. I'd just need to order some DOM and some weld in bungs for heim joints, since I haven't been real happy with the results when I've just threaded the tubing before.
you have trunnion bearings on both top of bottom of the knuckle balls
edit: Merged your two threads, you would end up with the same answers spread between threads...
I found it referenced several places, but I can't seem to find one. They don't sell them anymore according to their website.
Marlin sells the trunion eliminator kits, the just need a machined hole to be pressed into centered between the knuckle's studs. I've never used them though, but if they were garbage, marlin wouldn't sell them.
this was my old truck/crawler and the high steer worked fine with the minimal 1-1.5" lift and high steer, only issue was minor contact ntact on the oil pan but proper bump stops fixed that but did limit what travel the stock springs had. I plan to do it again with my current truck I am building with stock springs again .
You should have no issue with the OME springs as long as you use bump stops and place your steering box appropriately.
check out he build thread for more details https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...6/index14.html
I bought a pair of TG u-bolt kits to use on the front and rear axles, but havent figured out what to do with my bump stops yet. The wouldn't fit with my stock u-bolts and the OME springs. I read your whole thread, how much height did you get with the RUF setup?
*poke poke* Still alive? Hey @warmonger88 i'm just wondering if you ended up following through with this high steer setup and how it worked out for you? I have pretty much the same front suspension setup on my 85 pu (2" OME leafs) and I'm gonna be converting to a high steer soon. It's gonna be a first attempt for me so I'm just trying to figure out exactly what components I still need and any extra modifications its gonna take for clearance. Thanks in advance
Actually this truck is just running across town to work these days. I've been working on my 4Runner with the hopes of getting my pickup the time it needs in the shop. I think I'm going to either create a lift myself or change the springs on the front. The 2" lift was fine for the most part, but I'm also getting ready to swap an OM617 into it, further complicating the low clearance lift. I'm likely going to shift my axle forward and drop it with a custom front hanger and shackles. I have an IFS steering box also. Once I've gone that far with the build, it will most likely get 4" lift. If I were to keep the 22r, I would have done the crossover and changed the springs out eventually anyway. I do have a bunch of sloppy steering from running 285/75/16 on a push/pull box though.
02-25-2017, 01:57 PM
