1975 Cj5 SOA steering

Hey guys, I am doing a spring over for a dude I met the other day and have a couple questions as to the steering. I know the best route to take is a high steer kit or to build one yourself using D44 knuckles with high steer arms but I dont think he has the funds right now for that. So this is what im thinking of doing for now to get him by till he gets the money for a kit:

*Have him buy a drop pitman arm and then I was thinking or re-tubing his tie rod with a nice thick huck or tube (just incase he smacks somthing while wheeling. What do you guys think?

 

I agree toatlly but its not my jeep or my money. He is going to buy a high steering kit but needs it drivable for a back and forth to work vehicle till he can get the $400 for the kit. I told him to wait on it and just do it all at the same time but he dont want to so thats why i am asking if a drop pitman arm will sufice for a couple months of road driving till he gets the kit.

 

The drop pitman arm will most likely not be enough. The drag link normally hits the passenger spring when turning left causing steering bind. Plus bump steer will be horrendous. If he is unwilling to wait, run, don't walk, run from the project. You are opening yourself up for liabilities you can't imagine if something were to go wrong. His family could own all you have and will ever have.
These issues are why I prototyped a knuckle over steering conversion about 15 years ago which is still in production.... And someone with very good fabrication/business insurance is producing it.....


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Do you have a link or photos of this knuckle over steering?

 

Doing a spring over on a daily driver is a bad idea.

I've been running SOA with a drop pitman for years. I dont have any problems with the spring hitting, but there is some bump steer. HOWEVER, my jeep sees less than 100 road miles a year, so its not a huge issue.

 

Im not exactly sure how much he drives on the road, i know he works less then 10 miles away from his house and he has two other vehicles that he uses. To be on the safe side since i dont know exactly how much he drives on the road, if he is being honest of actual milage on street or what, I told him to buy a high steer kit no matter what. Reason being, first and foremost, is that he has a little boy (2 or 3) that rides in the jeep with him and I am not taking any chances for anything to happen, wether i know him personally or not. Can I see some pics of the front of you jeep dante?

 

I agree with Nick here, run away from this as fast as you can. Working on someone else's jeep, or any other vehicle for that matter, without the proper insurance, business license, etc is bad news. For whatever reason he doesn't want to build it the right way. It's not worth the few hundred dollars he is willing to pay you to do the work. He or his family could own you forever if anything goes wrong, it wouldn't even have to be your fault.

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those are the only 2 I have right now that sort of show it. The angle really isnt too bad.
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Here's a link to the folks who are manufacturing/selling the parts. I don't have any pics of my setup as the prototype is long gone. I went from a Dana 44 to a Dana 60 and instead of re-inventing the wheel I used Skyy arms as these folks don't build 60 arms.

http://rp4wd.com/?page_id=48

I can tell you a LOT of engineering went into these arms. Clearance for tires, ackerman angle, etc. etc. There are lots of good arms out there but a lot that are not well thought out so be careful which ones you buy. These are good and the folks who sell them stand behind them. The Sky arms are also good.

 

For $200/set they seem like the way to go. I'd order a set, but I've got too many other projects on my plate right now.

 

ya thats a great deal. I think the kit he was looking at was rocky mountains kit, which is a full kit including new tie rod and drag link...the hole 9 yards. I spoke with him this morning and told him that he NEEDS a high steer of some kind so he is looking at kits as we speak. I will give him the link that you gave me nick and have him buy a set. cant beat the price expecially when it comes to a sensitive issue such as steering. Besides, he wont even be able to drive the jeep till he extends his drive shafts. I agreed to the job but only for the rear. Wont do the front till the steering is figured out, that was my deal.

 

Smart move! Let him know the arms I liked to can be had tapered for Jeep tre or the GM 1 ton units. They will do complete kits, just arms, etc.


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Right on, thank you guys for the input and advice. Money is tight so i really couldn't afford to pass up this job but more importantly, I do not want to work on somthing that the owner goes out and gets hurt or worse in expecially with his kids being with him. After digging into it today, he needs ALOT of parts for this jeep. The PO had ran it for years, it looks like, with blown out shackle and spring bushings ON EVERY POINT OF THE SUSPENTION!!! By doing so, it turned the leaf spring eyes into an egg shape where the new bushings wont even fit anymore. Not only that, every spring mount on the jeep is bent inwards a good half of an inch or more. needless to say, the jeep aint going anywhere anytime soon. He is new to jeeps (first one and actually I invited him here and he signed up) and is a little green so Im doing my best to teach him what I DO know and express my concerns with his jeep and he is taking it to heart. So before this thing is going anywhere, He needs new (or good used) leaf springs frt and rr, severe spring and shackle mount lovin with guessets to keep from bending again, new shackles (current shackles arnt even for a Cj5) and a high steer assembly...and longer drive shafts. but dont bother me cuz it aint my money, my project but I DO LOVE to work on em. Again, thanks guys.

 

Good work Mark. Sounds like you are guys are on the right track.

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X2!


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Thanks guys, I may not be a professional with a fancy shop and all the goodies but I do have some common sence....the PO, however, DID NOT have any what so ever. That poor jeep is tore up.

 

You don't have to have a shop with all the goodies. The prototype arm I built was done with a cutting torch, a hand grinder, and a hand drill. Obviously not built that way now
but the point is with basic tools a lot can be accomplished.


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Now those arms bolt to the top of the original D30 knuckle correct? And need to have the knuckle drilled and tapped for the arm....good so far? Or would it be worth it to buy the D44 knuckles that they have and just use those?

 

You cannot use the stock 30 knuckles. You need the GM style knuckles with the flat portion cast in the top. If you can find a matched pair of them in the boneyard the drivers side will already be machined, drilled, and threaded. The passenger side is the hard one to find. It will need to be machined and tapped. If you can find a good used set usually cheaper to
Buy them that way and have the one machined depending on what you have available local. Much easier to buy them already done but you pay for it of course. One other note, the stock tie rod and drag link will need shortened or custom ones built iirc



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