Has anybody figured out an easy way to do high steer on a scout II axle with out flat top knuckles? I am down to just the steering part on my soa, and any advice would help at this point. All i wanna do is get back out on the trails and get wheeling
Only way to do high-steer on a NON flat-toped knuckle is total GETTO fab (yes, worse than boddy-fab) and unsafe unless you are a MASTER welder, even then you would get frowns from most people.
Do it right, get the proper parts. DON'T SKIMP ON STEERING.
Or like HOS said, build a decent Z link if your in a hurry and run it till you either push it beyond its capabilities, or have gathered the part to do a high-steer.
Z-link can hold up quite well depending on your type and amount of wheeling, and size of tires.
Has anybody figured out an easy way to do high steer on a scout II axle with out flat top knuckles? I am down to just the steering part on my soa, and any advice would help at this point. All i wanna do is get back out on the trails and get wheeling
Simplest flat-top swap is from a 74/75 IH fullsize 4x4, which has flat-top knuckles with 8-bolt spindles, so you can use the rest of your Scout hardware.
Or use any brand of flat tops and redrill them. With the IH knuckles you have to either move the tierod above the springs or use the flipsert. Otherwise the tierod hangs extremely low.
For the time being i guess i can live with a z link. I am only running 33's so i shouldnt bend it up to bad as long as i gusset it really well. Besides after summer is over and i do another tear down to do a sb chev converson mabey ill shorten a gm axle and throw it under to get my steering right. And yes i cut my knuckles on my scout front 44 and reset my pinion angle correctly
mabey ill shorten a gm axle and throw it under to get my steering right. And yes i cut my knuckles on my scout front 44 and reset my pinion angle correctly
If you have done a "proper" cut-n-turn and SOA job on a Scout D44, why do it again with a Chevy unit??? If your just after the knuckles, then swap the knuckles. Unless you want "wider than stock" but "narrower than full width"
If you really want to get off cheap, you can make decent "high steers" for your Scout knuckles. I simply machines a bloch of steel to bolt on the the two existing holes on the knuckle and shaped like an "L" with tapered holes for your drag link and tie rod to bolt to. You will have to shorten both by about 2 inches but it worked for many years of abuse around the country. Your still better to go with the flat tops, however because you get better locking hubs and a larger stub shaft. You can check out the pics on my site if you want: http://www.ihssii.org/ssiihtml/SSIISlip.html Good luck!
Ok i am back. Our shop moved to another building and all my time was tied up setting the machines back up.. Lathes mill's welders etc... Well i think i went a direction i shouldnt have gone but i am going to cross my fingers and hope my master certified welder i work with is as good as he says. But after 20 years plus of welding i trust him pretty well... I turned a piece of 100,000 yield strenth cpo to the tre taper for my axel. made some structeral gussets and welded it to the arm on the dana 44 knuckle. it sits about 4 " high. Its enough to clear my springs. I machined a new drag link out of dom Threaded one side for a 7/8 heim joint. and threaded the other side to 11/16 18 tpi for my tre for the pitman arm end. I havent taken it on the road yet i am still testing the steering at the shop... Looks good but is it safe thats the question
I just hope they dont say your name onthe news when you kill somebody on the highway. Lots of people have welded thier stuff like that, with mixed results. Keep a really close eye on it and see what happens. keep us posted.
Well i am going to keep an eye on it. My buddy that welded it is the only guy i know that has a 100% success rate at welding cast iron.. For most of you that weld you all know cast is the worst material to weld....
hence the reason its not welded except when you HAVE to.... and this is a case were you don't *HAVE* to..
since its done, and you have faith in the welder, run it till you can find a good set of flat-tops to do it the PROPPER way... since you work at a machine shop, high-steer should be simple and cheap.
You are really taking a chance. There's no guarantee it will show cracks before it snaps off. Those arms aren't very beefy and I've seen one bust before. Not to dog you but this is pretty dangerous.
Cool - all of our runs are posted on the Forum It's the easiest way to catch up with us...
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