Has anyone done a double crossover steering system where the draglink goes to the passenger side hooks to a pivot and the goes back and attaches to the drivers side knuckle? I am looking to go that way but I wondered if anyone has experience with the length the pivot needs to be and how well this style of steering works? Thanks for any advice!

I am working on a set up just like this. It will be installed on sat. I will let you know how it turns out.:D

Cool let me know! Will it be running so you can drive on the road right away? I would like to know how it feels. Also give me some more details. What is the length of the pivot, how did you position the panhard rod ( if you run a link front end) etc. I have it worked out on paper but I would like to hear other expereinces. Later

It will be on the road in a week or so, I will post some pics.:smokin:

the only way to figure out the length of the pivot is to take into consideration the length of your pitman arm and steering arms. if your pitman arm is 3" from center to center and you steering arms 6" from ball joint to draglink end your pivot should be 6" long with the first draglink (from pitman to pivot) mounted in the middle.

The problem I see is pitman arms are kinda long so your pivot has to be shorter so you don't get much gain in draglink angle. or you can go with the longer pivot and gain steering quickness and lose power. Avalanche engineering steering arms seem to be really long and if you scrounge around junk yards you could probably find a shorter pitman arm. Good luck! personally I'm just going Histeer and not having to worry about goofy angles

Hi,

This is what the factory setup is on all modern coil-sprung Land Rovers. Check out what they did on an early Range Rover, Discovery or Defender.

The steering link goes to an arm cast in the passenger side knuckle, and there is also a cast arm pointing the rear of the car attatched to the back side of the knuckle. The tie-rod goes *behind* and *under* the differential back to the drivers side knuckle.

If right-hand-drive steering knuckles were more commonly available in the US, then LOTS of Land Rover owners would be doing cross-over steering, eliminating the rear tie-rod. I have been contemplating doing this on my 80-inch trail truck.

One of the weakest links on Land Rovers is that rear tie rod. I have taco'd mine lots and lots, and even when we sleeve them with DOM tubing they still end up getting bent. Doing the return on the front side of the axle is more similar to what LR did on the old Series leaf-sprung axles. If you can find one in your area, that'd probably be a good place to look for an applicable starting point.

Good luck!

Michael

Why do you want to go to an Idelr Arm type of steering, its just one more component, in an over abused off road assembly?
Once youve gone to the passenger side, with the drag link why make another connection and run all the way back? (provided your attachment is high enough to have good geometry).
Full traction makes a a system they call, "a K link", that they have been using on Sammi for years, but it seems like more hardware than neccessary to build a simple, efficient steering set up.

And as far as the Range Rover steering goes, what is the inhearant problem of the steering behind the diff. I just got finished building a, "behind the diff steering" set up, for my rig. I love it, it's simple strong, well protected, and has awsome steering geometry(including nearly perfect ackerman angle).

Anyway,.. Im just curiouse,... whats driving your design ideas?

Thanks guys! My idea with the double crossover is to get better angles and with that I can get more articulation. My truck is truly a bastard. Its a 2wd 65 chevy. I put a 4 link under the front and flipped the rear axle under the trailing arms etc. It flexes ok for a fullsize DD but the limitation now is the steering. If I do a hi steer it would probably be ok, but with the way the crossmember hangs down I have a solid spot to mount my pivot on that is low enough to do some good in reducing the angles that the heims see. I am planning on using poly bushings from a chevy leaf spring for the top of the pivot, I think it will be plenty strong. Anyway I have a Ford style steering now with the draglink running to the pass side tie rod. The truck is fairly tall so the angles really suck! I have the potential for a lot more flex when I redo my steering so I want to design the steering so that it will be able to go as far as I want. My design goal I guess is to overbiuld the steering to keep up with future increases in length on the limiting straps on the front suspension. Later

I guess I just like the simpler the better idea.
My Ford F250 has ideler arms and such,(SuperLift, "Superrunner Steering") and it, is an addequate system at best.
On my Jeeps steering with, the new behind the diff steering, it couldnt be any simpler.
If it was used with heims instead of TRE's, you could adjust it up or down with high angle shims. and the tie rod is never even a part of changing suspension, as it stays the same in relationship to the axle no matter what.
http://bbs.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/53-674236-MVC-016S.JPG

I agree simple is good, but I don't mind a more complex idea if it will do a better job. Anyway I don't understand what you said about the tierod changing with the suspension? On my planned setup the tie rod will be stock just like Chevy intended it to be. The double crossover will be like crossover except it will come back to the drivers side knuckle after pivoting on the passenger side frame. It will be different than the TTB ford systems I believe you are refering to. Anyway tie rod stock, draglink custom. Sorry if you already got that part H8monday. Anyway any more reasons this idea would be bad?