And if you like good steering geometry you'll not use the Ford parts at all.
Ried C`s and knuckles set for 7-8* caster after you`ve set the pinion angle. TR to the cast in arms for Ackerman.
An even better way would be to toss the Ford center and buy an aftermarket center. That way your making the axle fit YOUR rig not the other way around.
Not a fan of the Ford at all...............Yes, its buy in is cheap but the ROI sucks.
I know that Dana builds the axle to Ford’s specs. They (Dana) are pretty good at building axles for a number of companies and applications.
For a multi purpose rig that will see its share of street use the Ford speced SD60 Dana axle has a lot of shortcomings.
So in his first post OP mentioned that cost was Factor... then you drivel on about a fully custom axle.
Don’t take opposing comments as bashing. Everyone is entitled to there opinion. When someone comes and rocks the boat of conformability folks tend to attack with a closed mind based on what they know, which may or may not be accurate.
Most of my comments are going to be based on the 05+ SD60 however there is a tremendous amount of overlap to the <05 axles.
The short side is really short. Not much room for anything till you start cutting the center away. More than one person has cut into the tube by accident and welding that cut isn’t real effective. Have seen a number of broken short sides. Cut tube ? Not enough engagement with the center ? Center not strong enough after cutting ?
The center’s position is often in the way of things like track bar mounts and frame rails on compression. Often the DS angle from the TC output would be better if the center (pinion) was moved towards the passenger side a bit. ***short side is so short***
Overall width is another. Though that is a trade off. To achieve a decent Scrub Radius you need wheels with plenty of backspacing. Steering angle may or may not be compromised with the wheel/tire getting into things it shouldn’t.
The axles I’ve worked with have measured out to have 9-10* of separation from caster to pinion angle. In more than one instance pinion angle has been compromised to achieve decent (6*+) caster. A lockout on the hubs fixes the speed issue on the road. While a moderate speed on the driveshaft with the hubs locked up ends up being the only way around the DS `s crappy angles. Because you’re stuck with what the Ford Dana or is it Dana Ford specs are.
IF you know what your doing welding to the knuckles can be done successfully. Problem is the resulting steering geometry has no Ackerman and parallel steering at best. The location of the DL on the knuckle can limit the steering angle as well. It been tough for many to get the TB and DL the same angle much less the same length.
How about the steering stops ? You want adjustable positive stops to avoid breaking things.
The upper BJ has been an issue with a number of wheelers. Several folks are making kits to fix it but none of them are really end all fixes.
The offset heims for the TR to clear the diff cover are another band aid. A few folks have been able to modify the diff cover with a notch but that is not the norm. TR droop and roll is often the reward of making everything clear.
The 1480 and 1550 joints are not much different in capacity. The 1550 is larger in order to accommodate more steering angle but according to Dana Spicer they are only fractionally stronger than the 1480.
Yes the buy in is cheap. Working around all the “issues” depends a lot on your ability and ambition. Doesn’t take long and your “cheap” JY axle starts eating up serious cash.
Rather buy a bare center (with or without tubes) and build an axle to meet my needs. Can set the pinion angle(s) where they need to be. More leeway in positioning the center left to right so it plays nice with things like TB mounts and frames. Crank in whatever caster I want. Take advantage of the improved steering geometry. Set the width to whatever it should be. The ability to use shafts from places like Branik or SpiderTrax that have a lot of great features over standard designs.
More expensive ? Depends on a lot of factors, including perceived value in performance and capability.
Running Currie RJ`s front and rear stuffed with SpiderTrax shafts and outers plus Blaine Johnson brakes. Bought bare housings. Machined/pressed in my own tubes and built the axles from there. They fit, they work and in the end the investment was worth the money.
YMMV but that’s my take on all this.
If I had to do it over again the only thing I **might** change is the Reid S60 outers.... Maybe....
Your first line here says it all.
The truss you speak of doesn’t negate the the short side problems. In fact it’s the start of the downward slide.
Whoa, you’re sounding like a jealous whiney little cunt now.
I dragged myself into nothing. The OP asked several basic questions. My response was a suggestion to rethink what he is doing as a whole. Another poster asked if I would expand on my comments. I did so hitting some of the high and low spots of the SD axle.
Now you come busting through the door whining about costs and effectiveness along with ROI. By your own admission you comment on how you would like some bling but can’t afford it. Because YOU cannot doesn’t mean others can’t.
Tell me how a under tube truss is going to solve some SD short side issues. Tell us how your truss will improve steering geometry. What are you sacrificing in ground clearance ? Tell us how you’re setting for pinion angle in both the X and Y dimension. How are you doing your knuckles ? Please expand on your comments. Perhaps you have ways of doing things we can learn from.
One guy responded in detail on how he used two SD axles and made one good one. Personally I think that was a helluva good idea and told him so.
All you’ve done is bitch and whine because I don’t conform to your ideology.
Are going to bitch and whine that I run an NV4500 and an Atlas too ? How about the blingy blue PowerTank with their digital readout pressure gauge that I use to fill my tires ?
Grow up and learn to open your mind before opening your mouth.
If you don't like my comments there is a feature called blocking. Welcome to use it should you desire.
You are actually the cunt here. Your posts keep mentioning all the things you couldn't stand about the stock axle that the OP is using. It seems that you only wanted to come to this thread to boast about your bling over priced axle. Now you do bring up some good points about Ackerman and pinion angle vs caster, but still trying to overkill the OP question about weld on or bolt on high steer arms. Simple question looking for real world feedback of the 2 options he listed that he could accomplish. You go off about your build and can't stand that someone else didn't understand why you were here in this thread trying to sell something that wasn't asked about.
But to answer a couple questions, i will lose no ground clearance... if done right and thoughtfully, the truss will not be any lower than the diff. It will not fix steering geometry, it really doesn't have any issues that i will face. I think your perception of such deficiencies is how you're justifying the $$$$ you spent.
Knuckles and pinion will stay in stock geometry, and im going to run 1410 double cardan. I also doubt it will see any speeds over 45 mph in 4wd. If you're not racing, and you're using 4wd over 45 mph in any vehicle, you're doing it wrong imo.
Never once said i couldn't afford it, i said i wouldn't unless i was using your money. You'd be surprised if you came to my house and shop...
Why would i block you? There is potential to learn from you. This just wasn't the thread for a class, which it seems like you have none of:flipoff2:
It seems that other people in this thread have called you out on your nonsense that has no place in a thread that asked simple questions about high steer options for the stock configured axle. Like i said, i think you came here to tell everyone how cool you are for building such a sweet axle. It sounds sweet, and likely will last forever, but still not the answer to the question at hand. I'm definitely not jealous, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. As for me "busting in the door" i was commenting in this thread before you and had relevant info about being able to find a local shop to machine the knuckles for the bolt ons, as I've had good luck with local shops machining my knuckles on my current Dana 60 when i had no clue how to do it. Thank you though, i love being called cunty, i really have been feeling cunty lately:laughing:
You need a standard 20 ton harbor freight shop press and a torch to do what I did. No need for fancy equipment. edit : And a welder + angle grinder
I mean... you're the first one that said that you needed all this fancy shit too
That's pretty sweet, just a press and torch, I'd like to see that. I have both and might be happy to try this on my next build.