Ok heres the scoop on what I did and I hope you guys can get me out of a bind. ( No pun intended )

I have done soa with stock cj7 rears on a 73 cj5 with wago 44 and chevy hi top knuckles with gunrunners Hi steer arms.

I moved the front axle forward about 2" also. The problem I am having is with the stock wagoneer connecting rod being to long since the arms are moved closer to center of the jeep.

I can shorten the conneting rod at work so that really isnt a huge issue.

Now, since I moved the axle forward My drag link wants to position itself right over the connecting rod. On the road it may work but once I stuff the pass side it should be in a bind.



So... should I just move the connecting rod benieth the springs and leave the drag link on top? I can deal with this.
This would work except the chevy knuckles I am using have differant sided tapers. One goes in at the top and one goes in from the bottom so the connecting rod is at a angle.

I dont remeber how the chevy was set up with the connecting rod. Maybe it had a bend in it to work?

Essentily I have screwed my self and the steering is now a unforseen issue. ( I didnt think it through)


The drag link looks like it need to be lengthend make it from the pitman arm to the steering knuckle. And the stick cj ps arm doesnt look like it will accept the bigger TRE from the wagoneer.

Is there another arm I can use with that size taper?

Please help if you can,..... I really need it.

The steeing box cannot be moved forward since the frame will not allow it.

Ok I will make this easy on you. Since the steering linkages are in a bind. It would make sense to leave the connetinc rod on the original knuckles. Yeah I know its a bummer but doing a little searching has brought me to the conclusion that i am fitting a loseing battle.

I can get drag link in plain with the pitman arm but theres not enough beef to ream it out to accept the wagoneer TRE.

So what do I do about that? Is there another pitman arm out there besides the wagoneers that will fit my box with that Taper?

Or should I just use the itty bitty dana 30 TRE on one side of the drag link.?

And on to the knuckles. Why did chevy have one taper going in at the top of the knuckle and one on the bottom?



What this all boils down to is that I just need it to be on the road soon. As long as I can get it out and running I can work out the clearence issues later unless you guys have some idea on how to correct this mess.

I took a look at the box again today. Moving it would mean cutting out the front crossmember big time.


Man what a pain in the ass.


thanks for your help.

Put the tie-rod in back, problem solved :idea:

http://colorado4x4.org/er/histeer/Mvc-011f.jpg

Other option as you mention is to put the tie-rod (connecting rod is inside your engine :flipoff2: ) back down in the stock location. CJ and YJ pitman arms are shorter than the Waggy one, but then you'll lose steering throw and probably still not gain enough to clear the tie-rod anyway.

Since you need it on the road soon I vote for dropping the tie-rod down to the stock location.

First. you cant run the tierod like that. Either get another chevy knuckle to match the ONE chevy knuckle or get another jeep knuckle to match the ONE you have. Although they look alike and may even have the same casting #'s they have the tapers on different sides. The chevy's have the nut on top while the jeeps have the nut below. Thats the only difference between them. I'd find another jeep knuckle (they're on late 70's up fsj's) so the tie rod is higher off the ground. For your steering problem use one raised steering arm and run your drag link to that. Thats what I did to my wagoneer when I went SOA with 4" lift springs. Here's what it looks like: http://members.tripod.com/scoutgrl/id47.htm
DENNIS

I have the hi steer arms on both knuckles already. I also got the knuckles off of a 77 jimmy f/s. The truck was driving shortly before so I guess they just had a flipped knuckle?

I can have the drag link at the top and the TIE-Rod :)
(Sorry had brain farts last night.) On the bottom if I find another knuckle to use.

How much longer is the wagoneer pitman arm and it'll fit my box right??

Thanks

Either Eric's tie rod behind the knuckle setup or a straight cross over setup like this:

http://www.rightcoastcrawler.com/LloydC/tech/cross5s.jpg



should get rid of your problem. The key is to seperate the tie rod and the drag link.

The way we do it is run 5/8" rod ends on your drag link and connecting arm, yup that means new. Use a long grade 5+ allen head bolt and stack the drag link on top of the connecting arm with bushing (Steel) inbetween the 2 rod ends and a bushing (steel) between the connecting arm rod end and the high steer plate, the reason for the allen head bolt is the allen head end goes on top of the drag link rod end which doesn't minimize it's travel.

Of course all this is pending whether your drag link will bottom out on anything.
Here's a pic, not a good and close one but it will work, it's a ranger with solid axle D44 front and high steering
http://www.kozscustomfab.com/images/ranger1.jpg

Originally posted by oldyellowwagoneer
Although they look alike and may even have the same casting #'s they have the tapers on different sides. The chevy's have the nut on top while the jeeps have the nut below. Thats the only difference between them. DENNIS I've a pair of 74 Chevy knuckles with the nut on the bottom. I pulled them from the truck, so that's not cast in stone. Then again I've several "wierd" knuckles.

Check out this thread. Scroll down to where H8monday has a pic and a desription of how to move your steering box. I just did mine yesterday, should get a chance to check it out at High Desert this weekend. Took me about 3 hours. Also, Snap-On sells a reamer for about $50 (R121) that you can use to enlarge the taper in your pitman arm.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41910&highlight=steering

I just went ahead and changed out the drivers knuckle and put the bar on the bottom.

the drag link is behind the tie rod but they are running parallel.

I made my drag link like this.

I took a scout tie rod and cut 12" off the end and used the smaller cj tre for the pitmann since it isnt beefy enough to re-ream. A Sams-offroad one will be later one unless there is a junk yard one I can use.

I cut the affixed end off the wago tie rod and left the adjustable end on it. I then chucked it up in a lathe at work and turned 12" OD of the wagoneer rod to press fit in the 12" scout tube with the jeep tre in it.

I then drilled through the tube and into the solid wagoneer rod about 1/4" in three seperate places along the length.

I button filled those with the mig and welded the end of the tube where it stops on the rod.

Other than the fact it has the little tre on one end I think it will do ok for now. When I find a bigger arm i will change it out.

eric, did you make your own arms? or did you order them from some where and if so, where?

sweet set up! -russel

Eric designed those arms himself & has been good enough to give the design to Bob Roggy & one other place (Rockstomper?) so that anyone can buy them.

Roggy Enterprises (530) 626-9451

that's what i figured. anybody know the going price? (i hate calling places when i'm not completely serious about buying)

thanks- russel