FSJ Dana 44 - SOA (spring over axle) Steering Solutions

[AlsChopShop]

Is it possible to run a soa, with out a cross over or high steer. or are there clearnce issues with the leaves and steering links. I am aware of bump steer issues ect. with ghetto steering set ups. 81waggy.

from what i've read, even with a 6" DPA the drag link will hit the spring on right turns.

Al

[Dmntxn77]

You will hit the spring. However, I did run mine for quite a while with only a 4" DPA. It still hit the spring, but it worked. I did not even have that bad bumpsteer. I would just save up for the high steer if I were you though

[rockingon24_7]

my 74 j-10 is sitting on axles from a 88 dodge ram (dana 44s) with a crossover steering that cost me under $50
STEERING ARM---first i took a 1x2 bar stock and notched it (you can see in the picture) then I drilled the 3 bolt holes the size of the tap hole then I clamped the arm to the knuckle and drilled the holes on through. Unclamped the arm tapped out the holes in the knuckle by hand (I think it was a 9/16-18 tap) then i drilled out the holes bigger in the arm to 9/16 so the bolts would fit through. Next i made the 1inch spacer out of another piece of stock and notched/drilled it to match.
DRAGLINK---the drag link is a modified stock draglink from my j-10. From the adjuster to the steering box is stock. I got another drag from the junkyard and cut the threads off and had it machined to have the threads go in the oppisite direction(so it could screw into the adjuster where the end used to go)Then but welded a tractor 3pt hitch hiem joint to it and then sleeved that and bolted it in place.
I THINK thats all I did and it seems to work fine but maybe I got lucky. There has not been any slack in the joints nor bolts that backed off.

[LaJ10]

I thought I saw somewhere a diagram of what needs to be milled drilled and taped on a pass. side knuckle somewhere but cant find it anywhere now has anyone else seen it?

[malodin]

http://web.acsalaska.net/~cvandor/wilhelm/flattop.html

try this page, hes very open and answers questions. best page ive found so far.

[LaJ10]

That got me where iwas trying to go.Thanks

[malodin]

id like to keep this going, see some more pictures of peoples steering setup, im in the process of milling/drilling/tapping my nuckles(and yes i will be able to do it on a regular basis for people here in a few months) and then i will be making some highsteer arms and would like to know more info.

[Jim Blair]

Rig and Axle Type: '84 J10 with Ford D44 front
Type and Vendor: High steer arms from Ott Industries in British Columbia, Canada (originally I used Off Road Design arms, but they allowed the tierods to hit the leafs)
Parts Used: Stock tierods and ceneterlink from the Ford and draglink from the J10
Price: Bought in '02 and not sure how much anymore
Procedure: If you run a Chev or Dodge axle from the '70s, toss the boomerang from the LH knuckle (and duck!) then have the other knuckle planed and drilled mirror image (if it's flat top) The arms bolt directly to the knuckles and the Ford centerlink bolted to the arms. The J10 draglink bolted to the centerlink with the stock Jeep RH tierod.

I have http://ottindustries.com arms on my drilled J20 flat tops (on a Ford D44 open knuckle front axle from a '76 F350 highboy crewcab so I have LH drop front axle and it bolted directly in) with all (otherwise) stock steering components. The Swaybar plates became my shock mounts and with new Ubolts, the nuts face upwards, so no dragging (doing the same to my '73 J4000 with a '76 J20 front axle swapped in when I get time)
I put new centering studs in, but I could have just rounded off the old one's nut and shortened the threads to fit in the centering holes.
The brakelines are extended ones for a '77 Blazer K20 and brakes (knuckles and calipers) are from a '76 J20.

My truck recently (with 4.0L under the hood)


OTT arms


Spring bolts inverted


Side view of OTT arms showing clearance from springs

[malodin]

Jim, thanks thats helfpull as well, im working on building my own arms out of 1 3/4"x1 3/4 solid (something steel i imagine) and doing a step up similar to the ott design.

[malodin]

here it is, my first milled drilled tapped knuckles ready to bolt onto my friends rig, pretty soon i will be making my own arms as well(these are koz offroad arms)







this last pic shows the difference between the factory gm 26.5 cone washer and koz offroad cone washer(which is just a tacoma screw product, or used to be it is now discontinued)

personally i dont see the need for the bigger conewasher the way these are bolted down and all, unless maybe someone is running 44's with hydraulic ram steering etc.... this first set of knuckles is going on a f250 with 39 irocks so we will see how they do.

once i get my reamer(either gm taper 26.5 or the tac screw conical washer taper) i will be making steering arms.

[Kimbrough]

Anybody attaching the draglink to the passenger-side steering arm next to the tie-rod? Anything wrong with that setup?

[malodin]

dont know yet, i think the only major thing would be length might be a little short(suppose it mainly depends upon your lift vs highsteer arms

[salamander]

ok i relise that a highster system would be best. However on scouts and samuris in the old days we used Z link. Wich dose have down sides bump stere you half to build it. I have run this it dose work for a while and alow you to use your rig while you save up for high stere. Just a thought.



yes this is old school
yes it was the only way back in the day
yes there are better ways now
but it works

PS my POS will have one to get it going till i collect all my high stere parts

[Tad]

Anybody attaching the draglink to the passenger-side steering arm next to the tie-rod? Anything wrong with that setup?

Not me personally but there are a few pic's like that in the BillaVista steering research pages over on Pirate.
As long as nothing binds and turning effort/radius remain about the same i'm thinking it's not a big deal.

[Doug3651]

I've been doing a lot of research on the SOA lift and I think I have all the items covered, but then I came across this exerpt from the CFSJA.org lift kit artical.


Then, to correct caster, which enables you to steer properly and causes the
wheels to recenter after turns, the steering knuckles must be cut off and
re-welded at the proper angle. This isn't something for a shadetree mechanic
to try. Only a very skilled individual who won't weaken the axles and will
set up the driveline angle properly can pull this off. I'd expect to pay at
least $1000 for this job. You might also need to look at high clearance
steering kits to avoid hanging up your tie rods on every rock. This isn't a
DIY as a mistake can, of course, be deadly. You'll need a mechanical engineer
for the design and a machinist for the implementation to do this right.
That's why it'd be better to buy a kit. There, you've been warned.

This is the first I have heard of this?? Can I get a bit of input on this from you SOA guru's?

Thanks!