- Joined
- Aug 14, 2007
- Messages
- 7,899
- Reaction score
- 984
- Points
- 113
- Location
- UT
- Vehicle Year
- 1989
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Total Lift
- 5
- Tire Size
- 33
Yeah when I was researching the traction bar everyone said to put it on the right side, but I didn't want to reroute my exhaust and with the Ranger gas tank gone, I had plenty of room on the left hand side so I went that route.A bit late to the party here... (I found your thread from your post in ericbphoto's thread in GD), but this is some very nice work here (I did feel quite sad for that nice white 2WD you cut up, but at least it went to a good cause).
I like your solution to the Superlift bushing setup on your steering, very ingenious. I've had a few ideas of my own for that as well, though I've yet to implement them... I've not had a whole lot of trouble with the bushings other than the upper ones only last 3-5 years or so before I can start to feel some play in the idler arm (it's about a 30-minute job to replace them).
Only thing I might've done different is put the traction bar to the right side of the diff housing (reduces some of the torque twist from the driveshaft that way).
Nice job.
I looked at a lot of different steering solutions before settling on mine. The K link setup seemed like the easiest one that would also work good enough. I found a few companies that make heavy duty idler arms for Chevy trucks, but then the issue is attaching it to a center link of some kind and they were also not cheap, so I decided to make my own. The thing I was worried about most was getting the pitman arm and idler arm on the same plane, so that they didn't bind. Using two of the same pitman arm seemed like the easiest way to accomplish that and it worked out. The bronze bushings are about $3 each, and the sector shaft cost me $5 from a junkyard, so it was also the cheapest way to do it and it should have less deflection than a superlift bushing setup.
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