switching knuckles to chevy on dana 44

[Lococoin]

i want to do a soa conversion on my jeep and i want to go with chevy knuckles to move the steering components above the springs so i dont have to modify my drag link.

my question is if i put chevy dana 44 knuckles on my 77 jeep 720 dana 44 do i just have to change the knuckles or do i have to buy spindles too.

also will my rotors and hubs bolt on to these new knuckles and is my diff the same width as the chevy as i will need to get a draglink from wheel to wheel.

how many bolts are there on my jeep on the spindles where my rotor bolts too. i need to know this if im getting parts from the wreckers and they said that chevs had 5 or 6 bolt. i dont want to buy any unnecessary parts so any info would be greatly appreciated.

------------------
Steve (77 jeep j20)
360 four barrel
t18a Dana 20
dana 60 rear
dana 44 front
3.73 gears with limited slip in rear
Of all the jeeps out there, some are GOOD, some BAD, but mines UGLY!

[fulmetal]

yes the D44 chevy knuckles will fit the feep d 44. If you spindalls are good re use them(Itake it you already have disks on the front)If so just buy the knuckles and put new ball joints in them, Bolt them up.

The drag link will either have to made or custom shortened. The problem with the top knuckles you will need to make the mounting point on either side ,lots of work Good luck email for any direct questions I just completed mine

[Lococoin]

Fulmetal

what do u mean u have to move the mounting point on the knuckles? why cant u use the gm drag link?

------------------
Steve (77 jeep j20)
360 four barrel
t18a Dana 20
dana 60 rear
dana 44 front
3.73 gears with limited slip in rear
Of all the jeeps out there, some are GOOD, some BAD, but mines UGLY!

[BobBarry]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lococoin:
what do u mean u have to move the mounting point on the knuckles? why cant u use the gm drag link?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The GM drag-link is a short little thing that runs from the steering-box to the driver's-side knuckle. The steering-box moves that drag-link forward and back, and the driver's-side knuckle acts like a bellcrank to move the other wheel via the tie-rod.

The reason for going to the top-mount steering (high-clearance, crossover, whatever you want to call it) is to reduce bump steer and relocate the drag-link (and often the tie-rod as well) above the springs so that the drag-link is more or less parallel with the axle.

There is no provision for a steering-arm on the top of the passenger-side knuckle, though there is enough meat on the Chevy knuckle to machine a spot to bolt (and weld) an arm up there.

While this has all been custom machine work up until recently, there are some crossover steering kits for the Chevy knuckles that are being produced that already have the steering arms machined and the drag-link/tie-rods set-up. Since these kits are still handmade, however, you could probably specify what length links and rods you want for your FSJ.

You can probably re-use your existing spindles and hubs so you don't have to change wheels. The Jeep spindles were 6-bolt, I believe; you should be able to tell by looking at the back of your existing spindle, even if it is still on the truck.

------------------
---
Bob Barry
'78 Cherokee 4-door
'88 Grand Wagoneer

http://studentweb.providence.edu/~rbarry/wheels/

[Lococoin]

ORIGINAL QUOTE

There is no provision for a steering-arm on the top of the passenger-side knuckle, though there is enough meat on the Chevy knuckle to machine a spot to bolt (and weld) an arm up there.

END OF QUOTE


Welding and machining a spot to move the steering arm to the top of the knuckle is illegal in alberta canada. we are not allowed to cut, weld, heat, bend,etc. steering components on a vehicle.

could i just leave the steering arm at the bottom of the knuckle and go with a drop pitman arm?

the piece that is bolted to the drivers side knuckle ( not sure what it is called) which hooks to a tie rod end and that hooks to the pitman arm: can u buy a piece from a 10 inch lift from say superlift that is that piece that goes from the tierod to the knuckle ( i believe it is kinda horseshoe shaped)

------------------
Steve (77 jeep j20)
360 four barrel
t18a Dana 20
dana 60 rear
dana 44 front
3.73 gears with limited slip in rear
Of all the jeeps out there, some are GOOD, some BAD, but mines UGLY!

[fulmetal]

Just another response there is no need to weld or machine on the Right knuckle, it is already flat just like the Left side. I don't know about the custom machine blocks that need to be added to the top to get the steering components over the spring. All you have to do is transfer the bolt patern from the left to right side knuckle. I dont think tou can use the spindle because the rotor dimensions are a little different and yes some of the old chevy trucks had the 6 bolt pattern hubs! good luck

[BobBarry]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lococoin:
Welding and machining a spot to move the steering arm to the top of the knuckle is illegal in alberta canada. we are not allowed to cut, weld, heat, bend,etc. steering components on a vehicle.

could i just leave the steering arm at the bottom of the knuckle and go with a drop pitman arm?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There is still the problem of interference of the drag-link with the passenger-side spring; and you can't get around that, apparently, with an S-shaped drag-link.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>the piece that is bolted to the drivers side knuckle ( not sure what it is called) which hooks to a tie rod end and that hooks to the pitman arm: can u buy a piece from a 10 inch lift from say superlift that is that piece that goes from the tierod to the knuckle ( i believe it is kinda horseshoe shaped)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's the kind of steering-arm that Chevy uses stock; the steering box moves that tie-rod forward and back, not side-to-side, however, so you'd have to relocate the steering box and convert it to a Chevy-style to use that arm (which is counter-productive; the Chevy guys are trying to imitate the Jeep setup!).

Would the government have any problem with you buying already-modified parts? I'm assuming not, if a dropped pitman-arm (which is bent from the stock shape) is acceptable. If so, then buy the knuckles with the steering arms already attached.

------------------
---
Bob Barry
'78 Cherokee 4-door
'88 Grand Wagoneer

http://studentweb.providence.edu/~rbarry/wheels/

[Lococoin]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BobBarry:

Would the government have any problem with you buying already-modified parts? I'm assuming not, if a dropped pitman-arm (which is bent from the stock shape) is acceptable. If so, then buy the knuckles with the steering arms already attached.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

can i get away with just buying a drop pitman arm if i do a soa and leave the jeep knuckles on?

i want to go with 4 inch lift springs on top of the soa. the biggest drop pitman i can buy is a 4 inch drop. what if i lowered the steering box to try and maintain the drag link stock angle? will this interfere with the drivers side leaf spring.

What do you mean by buying knuckles with the steering arm already attached.

i am trying to go as cheap as possible with this project, but i dont want to sacrifice safety.

i have seen some z shaped drag links made from scratch but does someone make a manufactured one?



------------------
Steve (77 jeep j20)
360 four barrel
t18a Dana 20
dana 60 rear
dana 44 front
3.73 gears with limited slip in rear
Of all the jeeps out there, some are GOOD, some BAD, but mines UGLY!

[Administrator]

Grab the July 2000 issue of JP Magazine. They have an article on cross over steering. Tri County Gear (www.tricountygear.com) has made a kit to do this cross over steering (if you dont mind spending some money). It is made for CJ's/Wranglers but if you use their knuckles and your own tie rods then it should work (or maybe they will make longer ones for FSJs, dont know). In the magazine they actually did the work on a Wagoneer (TCG knuckles, stock tie rods).

------------------
Adam Zeimet
IFSJA Webmaster
83 Wagoneer LTD.

[fulmetal]

They make a top steering set up for our smaller brothren jeeps, but they are way to small of an application to be used on a fsj. They mightgive you some good ideas on what you need to do

[Lococoin]

i went to tricountygear.com and took a look at their spring over knuckles and such. ouch a little out of my budget

those knuckles look like they have more meat than mine where they bolt the bracket which the tie rod bolts to. i wonder if anyone has modified a knuckle like mine and if they have any pictures.

could i just steel a piece off of another vehicle that has the tapered hole for the tie rod bolts to. i could just steal a piece of that bracket and then bolt it to my knuckle. will that work?

------------------
Steve (77 jeep j20)
360 four barrel
t18a Dana 20
dana 60 rear
dana 44 front
3.73 gears with limited slip in rear
Of all the jeeps out there, some are GOOD, some BAD, but mines UGLY!