hy-steer install

[RSWORDS]

Just putting this up for some of the not so knowledgeable guys to get an idea of what it takes to do this. I have never done this project before and all the information that I received for this project came from reading and searching Pirate4x4.com… Believe it or not the search button works… I would also like to thank j-me4runner for selling me his hy-steer and hydro assist set-up out of his truck… If you have not had the pleasure to meet him he is a great guy. Thanks again for your help!


Anyway to get started I first bugged/bribed/begged a friend to let me use his shop for the day. This makes life so much better when you have all the tools and other things (heat) to work with… And just an FYI if you set a TV that has been out in <30* weather next to a heater… It will break… Good thig Christmas is coming up…



So we jacked up the truck and began!!!

First order of business is to remove the steering shaft and the stock steering box and bracket… For my steering shaft I removed the bolt and then had to use a chisel to spread the clamp at the fire wall.. be careful though, I ended up splitting it trying to put it back on and had to weld it up as a temporary fix so now I can only move it around the yard until I find a new stearing shaft.



For the end at the box it was easier to just remove the two bolts on the rag-joint and pull it apart ones the steering box was removed…



Then simply un-bolt the box and bracket…




Then go ahead and take off any thing that has to do with the steering… be a careful when you take the old steering arms off the top of the knuckle they hold the knuckle on straight and when removed they will let a lot of grease and oils out… Judging from the looks of mine I need to rebuild mine VERY soon. You should have a pile that looks like this…



We went ahead and put the new drag-link and tie-rod in place next… it can be a little fustrating to get all the parts and pieces to line up so take you time and don’t force anything… to hard… A little tip is there is a bearing type thing in the knuckle that needs to line up with the steering arm and can take some time to get it right. I had to re-use the nuts and washers from the old steering on my new/old stuff… so don’t lose any of them.

[RSWORDS]

Next I went and lengthened the steering shaft. This is where I had to vary off what I had read on Pirate… Everything I had seen said that all you had to do was drill out two plastic roll pins… well that was not my case. If you look in the pic below I circled a spot on the shaft. There is/was a piece of plastic around it…. Well ther is another one of those indents inside the sleeve of the shaft… What I had to do was heat it up with a torch to melt the plastic out of it. Kinda like what I do to change the stock U-Joints on my ’98 Z71 driveshaft.



After this small but expected set-back (if you think your not gonna run into any problems working on a 20 year old truck stop reading now) we mocked up the new IFS steering box to see what we would have to cut. I moved mine forward as far as I could w/o cutting into the body mount… then rotated it up as much as I could. I have a 3” body lift so I only had to trim a few pieces back. If you have no body lift I hope you don’t mind hacking up your nice truck.





After that we put the box back in place with some clamps to mock everything up



With everything snug and the lengthened steering shaft back in I went ahead and cycled the suspension to check for any binding or other problems… then turned the wheels lock to lock to make sure everything looked okay so I could drill the holes.

[RSWORDS]

After everything seemed to be in a good spot I went about mounting the IFS box. I had ordered the IFS mount from Marlin (great product and service by the way) but I decided to mount it a different way. I got some 1/8 steel plate and made up some plates for each side of the frame… I know that a lot of people are going to give me some flack about this but I felt it is was the best for my application. I didn’t trust my welding skills enough to weld in the tubes to the frame. I will deffinatly keep a VERY close eye on it though. I did use all the bolts and one of the spacers for the top bolt to keep the plates from crushing in on each other.



Here is where I ran into the next problem… The frame mount for the torsion bar on the front axle is right in the way of the rear bolt on the IFS box… no big deal just a sawzall and some grinding and the problem is fixed.





Now that its out the way the inside plate can be put in place.



The next issue I came to was that j-me4runner had hydro assist on his rig and the IFS box had been drilled and tapped for the ram. Since the hydro is another project for another day needed to bypass it… simple enough I just looped a hose between the two ports for the hydro and zip-tied it away from moving parts and the exhaust, this also was temporary and I have since plugged the holes… but the hose did work.



That was it… I torqued all necessary bolts down to factory specs welded the plates to the frame did a quick at home alignment and enjoyed my new found steering control… It is nice to not have the truck dive to the right every time you hit the brakes!!! All this plus not having to worry about smashing my steering on the rocks made this project well worth the time effort and money.






I hope this will help someone with there build if not… oh well it helped me learn a lot about my truck.

[flecker]

Nice writeup... Why no tubes through the frame though??? If even just tacked in there it will give more strength than just the thin 1/8" plate.
I would put them in, I just see the first hard tweak on the box really moving the plate!

EDIT: And what's going on w/ that pitman arm?

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by flecker

Nice writeup... Why no tubes through the frame though??? If even just tacked in there it will give more strength than just the thin 1/8" plate.
I would put them in, I just see the first hard tweak on the box really moving the plate!

I hear you... That is the only part of the whole thing that I'm up in the air about.... We shall see what happens!!!

[flecker]

Originally Posted by RSWORDS

I hear you... That is the only part of the whole thing that I'm up in the air about.... We shall see what happens!!!

Keep us updated!

[rockota]

scary pitman arm!

[FrankenToy]

X2 on the tubes though the frame. There is the possibility that you could crush the frame. Pittman arm is also a concern.

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by FrankenToy

X2 on the tubes though the frame. There is the possibility that you could crush the frame.

That is what I'm worried about... but on the same token I feel the plate will help to spread out the load. It is better then just bolting it to the frame with no tube. And also with the hydro assit (next week or two) that should take alot of stress off the box.

[kyle_22r]

i agree with flecker, even tack welding those things in there is gonna be a big help, just keeps the bolts from squishing the frame.

i'm about to do this on my truck, but i've only got 3" of spring lift. i think it'll clear, it's more of a playing in the woods toy, not a super flexy crawler or anything.

[flecker]

Originally Posted by kyle_22r

i agree with flecker, even tack welding those things in there is gonna be a big help, just keeps the bolts from squishing the frame.

i'm about to do this on my truck, but i've only got 3" of spring lift. i think it'll clear, it's more of a playing in the woods toy, not a super flexy crawler or anything.

3" is plenty Kyle... only really need 2 1/2" IMO. A drop hanger would be a big help and maybe 1 to 1 1/2" longer shackles out back, but personally 3" on the springs should get you right there.

[Alex123456]

Nice writeup. I am getting ready to do this for the first time and this will help a lot.

[jmsdad]

Good write-up.

I don't see any guards on the grinder. Watch out!!

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by kyle_22r

i agree with flecker, even tack welding those things in there is gonna be a big help, just keeps the bolts from squishing the frame.

i'm about to do this on my truck, but i've only got 3" of spring lift. i think it'll clear, it's more of a playing in the woods toy, not a super flexy crawler or anything.

My way of thinking is this... if the welds give on the tubes (big if but possible) there is nothing to keep the from sliding back and forth in the frame seeing as how the stick past the inside. I'm gonna keep a very close eye on it because I know it can be a problem but I don't feel it will be. I have 35's with no intetion of going bigger. I think that the plates will help spread out the forces enough to keep the frame from bending... I will be sure to keep everyone informed. If they fail. I will post up a fix... if they work good after some abuse I will post that also!

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by jmsdad

Good write-up.

I don't see any guards on the grinder. Watch out!!

We did have one accident with the grinder. it bite into the plate and kicked into Steve's hand... went through his gloves like they were not there and took out the top layers of skin, more of a burn then anything else. VERY close call... the other "good" grinder was out of service... so we took a chance... and almost lost.

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by rockota

scary pitman arm!

How scary is it? I have seen alot like that. I inspected it as good as you can by eye and found no cracks in it. I wonder if I can scoot by with a stock Pitman arm.... hhmmmm...

[flecker]

Originally Posted by RSWORDS

My way of thinking is this... if the welds give on the tubes (big if but possible) there is nothing to keep the from sliding back and forth in the frame seeing as how the stick past the inside. I'm gonna keep a very close eye on it because I know it can be a problem but I don't feel it will be. I have 35's with no intetion of going bigger. I think that the plates will help spread out the forces enough to keep the frame from bending... I will be sure to keep everyone informed. If they fail. I will post up a fix... if they work good after some abuse I will post that also!

The tubes can be shortened to meet the plate and welded onto them, I didn't see any welding on the plate to the frame??? What's to keep your box from sliding now? You should keep an eye on it and if they fail and you wipe out on some country road w/ no bystanders or victims... so be it. If they fail in a high traffic area and wipe out some poor family of four in thier vw jetta I hope your gas tank ignites and takes you with them. Look man, it's your steering... pretty important huh? Your pitman is a concern because it looks as though it's been cut and welded and little tabs to help brace it have been used. It's a concern for your safety and others that brought my remarks. You said you liked this board because of the tips and advice given, still true?

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by flecker

The tubes can be shortened to meet the plate and welded onto them, I didn't see any welding on the plate to the frame??? What's to keep your box from sliding now? You should keep an eye on it and if they fail and you wipe out on some country road w/ no bystanders or victims... so be it. If they fail in a high traffic area and wipe out some poor family of four in thier vw jetta I hope your gas tank ignites and takes you with them. Look man, it's your steering... pretty important huh? Your pitman is a concern because it looks as though it's been cut and welded and little tabs to help brace it have been used. It's a concern for your safety and others that brought my remarks. You said you liked this board because of the tips and advice given, still true?

Well.. if you read you would see I did weld the plates, no pics though... and I am considering everything that is said. The plates concern me... I said that... I hunt in this truck... In see almost no pavment time because it stays at the hunt club. I'm taking it slow with it (and checking it often) to see what happens. If it looks like it is going to go down hill... then it will be fixed right away. And as far as the not being welded what to keep it from sliding? Well that would be the bolts goinf through the frame... What I was saying is that on marlins site they say to put the outside of the tube fluush with th e frame. and the extra sticking out of the inside. bout an inch or so... My thought was taht IF (again very big if) the welds failed there would be play of about an inch in the box... Almost like if I was to back off the nuts on my set up. I used 1/8" plate... plus the frame thickness and you come up to about 1/4" plate (im sure there is some loss in streath because it is not one piece but bare with me) on the two bottom bolts... and I sleeved the top bolt so I am not worried about it. Just like the steering shaft that broke at the u-joint... I welded it to get it out the shop and around the back of the yard. I don't dare drive it on the road like that. I put it up here to be picked apart... The pitman arm came like that... Will I get another... When and if money alows. right now I am going to see if a stock IFS pitman arm I have will work. It is a good weld job not a total hack job... I know better then to think someone would not find something or things bad with it... I am a Firefighter and have nothing but concern for the saftey of others... And yes.. I still like the advice on this board... Thanks for your input. and that is not sarcasm... I really do appriciate it.

[flecker]

Originally Posted by RSWORDS

Well.. if you read you would see I did weld the plates, no pics though... and I am considering everything that is said. The plates concern me... I said that... I hunt in this truck... In see almost no pavment time because it stays at the hunt club. I'm taking it slow with it (and checking it often) to see what happens. If it looks like it is going to go down hill... then it will be fixed right away. Just like the steering shaft that broke at the u-joint... I welded it to get it out the shop and around the back of the yard. I don't dare drive it on the road like that. I put it up here to be picked apart... The pitman arm came like that... Will I get another... When and if money alows. right now I am going to see if a stock IFS pitman arm I have will work. It is a good weld job not a total hack job... I know better then to think someone would not find something or things bad with it... I am a Firefighter and have nothing but concern for the saftey of others... And yes.. I still like the advice on this board...

Good to know, a new pitman from Marlin is bout $70, I know it's some coin.
If your gonna test it then have fun and be careful! But mostly have fun trying to tweak it! Just remember it's your frame that may suffer and it's not as easy to fix as the tubes...

[RSWORDS]

Originally Posted by flecker

Good to know, a new pitman from Marlin is bout $70, I know it's some coin.
If your gonna test it then have fun and be careful! But mostly have fun trying to tweak it! Just remember it's your frame that may suffer and it's not as easy to fix as the tubes...

I know... But I enjoy fixing frames...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383926

P.S. That is a project That i will NOT be repeating!!!