Any potential problems with having a rear 1/4 elliptic suspension and adding a rear steering Rockwell? Picking up the Rockwells this weekend, wanting seriously to add rear steering to the Rubber Ducky. Doesn't seem that it will be that difficult with the Rockwells as opposed to other axles... could be wrong though.

The question I have is, with the 1/4 elliptic as it is, I've got quite a bit of rear steering when it flexes. I plan to at least help with this by changing to the top links from regular angled links to a wishbone design (will have to anyway).

Anyone have any advice? Potential Problems? Anything?

Matt "Taz" Green
Xtreme Engineering

whassup man... there are a few things to consider, obvious or not.

first, make sure you leave the tie-rod behind the axle. that will make mounting your ram easier, and the ackermann angle will decrease your turning radius slightly with the knuckles behind the axle.

now, the downside is that you will have a pinion brake(assumption by me) to deal with mounting also, so two single rams may be an easier solution as opposed to a double-throw. just depends on how much fab you want to do, and from pics of the XTV shop i'd say you guys can do quite a bit...

As for the flex steer problem, switching to a wishbone won't really help, the way to get rid of that is by making the lower control arms longer, or more parallel to the ground. You may want to consider mounting the lower arms on the top of the axle housing. As for the upper wishbone, i would remove the top inspection cover above the pinion, and fab a new cover from 3/8" plate. I think you may have to put a slight bend in it to clear the pinion gear, i'm not sure. Then just drill out the 10 or so 3/8" holes and bolt that on in place of the old sheet metal cover. Now you have a good platform to weld up your mount for your A-arm.

Hope this helps...

I'm glad you guys are discussing this as I'll be tackling the same situation this fall. I don't have the 1/4 elliptical setup in place, so I'll be doing everything from scratch. I'm pretty much ignorant on the Rockwells, but it seems to me that I could get away with a single ram w/the pinion brake mounted from on top - at least that's the way they are doing it in the shop I am using. There are folks out there that have a different mounting bracket for the pinion brake that I have seen....

Are you keeping the Rockwells full width under your Scout? My thought (mostly due to the rocks & trees I run thru) is to cut down the long side & run two short side axles... BTW, love your bob job - that's coming up next.... :)

I think I'm gonna use 2 short sides on mine too... with the 44s that thing is so wide, and a bunch of the OK trails are tight and narrow through the trails as well... right now with just 1 ton axles its exactly 8 foot wide... with 44s and 2.5" Backspacing...

When I cut my wheels to put em on the Rockwells I'm gonna change the backspacing, that should help some... I'd like to go for the same width if not narrower than it is now... its a bitch finding a trailer that is 8 foot wide between the fenders...

I was thinking the same thing on the rear steering.... a single ram with a tie-rod behind the axle... and then just having a pinion brake.. with some kind of guard built for the ram.

Thanks for the compliments, I just cut the back floor out in anticipation of replacing it with either a piece of lexan... or just some 1/4" plate and building a mount for my rear winch... sinking the fuel cell in... etc... things are finally coming together... should have the thing going in no less than a month hopefully.... many pics will follow... :flipoff2:

you won't need to cut the housing down in order to get under 8 feet wide. I have my hubs flipped out, and i am only 92" wide. Just flip the hubs in, and when you re-build your wheels, go for 4" of BS, it will come in under 8 feet...

Originally posted by ScoutsHonor
Any potential problems with having a rear 1/4 elliptic suspension and adding a rear steering Rockwell? Picking up the Rockwells this weekend, wanting seriously to add rear steering to the Rubber Ducky. Doesn't seem that it will be that difficult with the Rockwells as opposed to other axles... could be wrong though.

The question I have is, with the 1/4 elliptic as it is, I've got quite a bit of rear steering when it flexes. I plan to at least help with this by changing to the top links from regular angled links to a wishbone design (will have to anyway).

Anyone have any advice? Potential Problems? Anything?

Matt "Taz" Green
Xtreme Engineering

Changing to a wishbone upper will not help you get rid of rear steer. I think Elf just said that though. Look at the geometry of all the links.

why would the rear steer care what style of springs you use to hold the vehicle up?

I would also suggest you limit the amount of flex your 1/4 elliptic has, just seems so dumb to have one axle dangling 4 feet under your rig and trying to roll you. Lengthen the links or get them more parallel, that's about all you can do.

I'd planned on adding some limiting straps to the 1/4 elliptic... and I'm gonna go with coil springs & a 4 link upfront as well... should be a pretty balanced suspension...

Man its amazing to look back and see how much you've learned from building a rig.. I started with a VERY VERY nice Scout... butchered it... and have changed my mind 50000 times between the time I started and right now... I could've saved thousands if someone'd just slapped me a couple times about a year ago... Oh well... gotta learn somehow!:flipoff2: