OK, thought putting the tie rod behind the axle would give me correct Ackermann, plus keep it well out of harm's way. The high steer keeps the drag link level and also up out of the way. BUT...notice any problems with this setup??? (Besides the PVC drag link, I mean. That's just to see how things will line up.)

http://home.comcast.net/~rwsr50/ComcastOnlineStorage/DSCN1808.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~rwsr50/ComcastOnlineStorage/DSCN1809.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~rwsr50/ComcastOnlineStorage/DSCN1810.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~rwsr50/ComcastOnlineStorage/DSCN1811.JPG

It only give us 5" of upward travel before the tie rod and/or drag link hit the underside of the frame!!!

I know I can install bumpstops, but I'm afraid flex is going to be extremely limited with this steering setup.

Anybody else running anything like this and what is your experience with it?

Your gonna need to lower your stops. Looks like you have to anyways to make those springs live. This is not neccesary where the flex stops. As you hit the stop the spring will continue to rotate giving you your flex. Mine has about the same uptravel, and it flexes big. I really like those red poly ones, there able to compress quite a bit, alowing a progressive stop.

Edit: Looking at those pics again, I see another thing. You might wanna get a steering box brace, or your gonna have problems. Might think about doing a heavy duty bracket too. I ripped mine off the frame w/ 35"s.

Looks fine to me, just run bump stops. I only plan on about 4" up travel too.

I see the problem
the revolver shackles

Before you finish every thing do yourself a favor and get some frame plates
I'm in the middle of replacing my cj frame. I had the same set up as you have going on but I cracked my frame in 1/2 with a D30 and soa. I built my new frame and I'm not going to worry about my new hp 60 and soa.

Mike

Your gonna need to lower your stops. Looks like you have to anyways to make those springs live. This is not neccesary where the flex stops. As you hit the stop the spring will continue to rotate giving you your flex. Mine has about the same uptravel, and it flexes big. I really like those red poly ones, there able to compress quite a bit, alowing a progressive stop.

Edit: Looking at those pics again, I see another thing. You might wanna get a steering box brace, or your gonna have problems. Might think about doing a heavy duty bracket too. I ripped mine off the frame w/ 35"s.

Yeah, didn't think about the ends of the springs still being able to keep going even though the center is (bump) stopped.

Already have a steering box brace. You can see it in the 2nd picture. It is a cap type deal that goes over the end of the steering box with an arm running up to the front "deck". I think it is a Tomkins. Or did you mean some other type brace?

I see the problem
the revolver shackles

Before you finish every thing do yourself a favor and get some frame plates
I'm in the middle of replacing my cj frame. I had the same set up as you have going on but I cracked my frame in 1/2 with a D30 and soa. I built my new frame and I'm not going to worry about my new hp 60 and soa.

Mike

The revolvers are my son's idea. It's his Jeep and his money, sooooo....
The good thing is they're easy to swap out at any point if we don't like them, and we already have lots of shackles laying around.

Exactly where did your frame crack, and where did you plate?

I see the problem
the revolver shackles


+1

+1

I knew I shoulda added a disclaimer on the revolvers, just like I did with the PVC drag link, ha, ha.

Just pretend you don't see them guys.

Kinda see that brace. I guess Im not really familar with that style. I was thinkindg of a MORE style which goes across to the other rail. I think this is a better design as it helps distribute the load accross both rails. You may consider a bracket too. As even when you have it braced it can pop those stamped brackets.

You can see mine in this pic.

It cracked on the pasenger side at the motor mount and about 4" back behind the motor mount on the inside. only had about an inch to go befor it was seperated.

Mike

If you start seeing more than 5" of uptravel... well you probably won't.

-J

Just a note on the ackerman. I run the same set of arms on my cj6 and although the ackerman is closer than most arms, it is not correct. The arms are designed for the full size truck that the 60 came on and your short wheelbase will cause it to be off. Draw a line from the center of the kingpin back to the center of the rear dif from both knuckles. The tie rod ends should intersect this line. If they don't, you do not have correct ackerman. My CJ6 at 109" wheelbase comes fairly close, but is still a bit short. Good enough for me though.
Most of the steering braces that people are refering to bolt or weld to the passenger side frame and clamp to the lower portion of the steering gear. I had a bad habbit of cracking the frame in the same place previously described on my cj5 before i made it into a cj6. The brace fixed this problem entirely.

Just a note on the ackerman. I run the same set of arms on my cj6 and although the ackerman is closer than most arms, it is not correct. The arms are designed for the full size truck that the 60 came on and your short wheelbase will cause it to be off. Draw a line from the center of the kingpin back to the center of the rear dif from both knuckles. The tie rod ends should intersect this line. If they don't, you do not have correct ackerman. My CJ6 at 109" wheelbase comes fairly close, but is still a bit short. Good enough for me though.
Most of the steering braces that people are refering to bolt or weld to the passenger side frame and clamp to the lower portion of the steering gear. I had a bad habbit of cracking the frame in the same place previously described on my cj5 before i made it into a cj6. The brace fixed this problem entirely.

Yes, I know. The WFO setup was the closest I could find though. With our 97.25" wheelbase (stretched a little from standard CJ7) and 51" kingpin to kingpin width, perfect Ackermann would put the tie rod holes 1.625" in from the kingpin at the 6.1875" length of the arm WFO makes. They are set .5" in as manufactured. Still worlds better than everything else available which are all front tie rod.

I am working with Trevor at WFO on making some custom steering arms that would give the exact Ackermann we need. That would also solve the problem of the interference with the 7" backspaced HMMWV wheels. He is a great guy to work with and bends over backwards to please the customer. I told him "if you build it, they will come (buy it)". I really think there would be a good bit of interest in a steering setup that was exactly right for SWB Jeeps.