guys, i have a 38' ford truck that has some junk 50' ford car front suspension in it, and i have a S10 chassis for a donor that i would like to use. the real roadblock is the location of the steering box that would end up interfering with the front sheetmetal "see photo's in my albums" and i was wondering what effect it would have moving the box rearward, will i possibly need a "dropped" pitman arm like the use on lifted 4x4's? other than sheetmetal clearance everthing else i believe will not be a problem. can the pitman arm be shortened without issue? i know that when you lengthen a pitman arm you run the risk of "out steering" the box. this is picture of S10 steering box in stock chassis. these are not the engine mounts for my project as picture is from another hamb members album. thanks!
I bounced around in there awhile, but couldn't really figure out what you were getting at. How about linking some of the important photos here?
A dropped pitman arm would only facilitate you moving the box upwards, not toward the back. Not too sure an S10 is going to make a good donor.
What about a Heidt's or similar IFS set up ? I'd never shorten a pitman arm, or steering arm... Steering bits need to be intact, for peace of mind! 4TTRUK
if i was going to use shoter pitman arm it would be done by certified welder. 4x4 guys modify steering setups all the time and just throwing it out there, any feedback is great wether yea or nea. issue is the steering box is too far foward and needs to be moved towards the rear of vehicle yet still being foward of the crossmember. my big issue is the vehicle (38' ford truck) is 1250 miles from my main house and i need to bring everything with me to work on it. if the vehicle had stock frame and suspension from firewall foward i would leave it but it has some junk 50' ford car suspension in it. just trying to utilize what i have already. would really like to see this truck drive out of my garage under it's own power.
You are going from bad to worse with the S10. Trying to use it just because it's there is a poor idea, because you are already running into major issues before even starting, .....and no, you can't shorten the pitman arm and have it steer enough. If you are willing to haul the truck 1250 miles, then do what is needed to find a stock chassis on that trip, because many years are the same up to 40 car/pickup. They ride and steer great if the box is not worn out.....and the sheetmetal will finally fit. "Keep it Simple" works, and it is very quick. I just picked up a 40 car and put a very heavy early Olds motor in it, and it's the best/easiest/fun swap I have ever done, and it steers nice and light. I plan on using F100 self energizing brakes at some point, and maybe a power booster under the floor. I like this car because of the simplicity...and the mods are cheap, too.
no rear steer for S10 or their wouldn't be issue but thanks for replying. F&J the truck was 5 miles from my house when i purchased it from another hamb member so i didn't haul it 1250 miles just to work on it. finding a stock front clip is not hard but hauling it becomes tricky as my vehicle (truck) is currently at my desert home. guess i might get lucky and find a stock frame front half somewhere in the my area where truck is.
No they didn't but isn't there a setup to mount a rack and pinion on the S-10 Chassis? I did a search and Unisteer has one but it costs about as much as a MII setup http://www.unisteer.com/seach_by_ve...6-2004_chevy_s10/gmc_sonoma_rp_kit_black.html That's the big problem with running the front steering frames or subframes, that steering box and attending shaft are always right in the way of everything else.
looks like a GM center steer rack setup, guess you would need to figure out which GM application was front steer and you could make something like that work. $1,100 bucks is crazy money.
No, the steering arms are one=-piece with the knuckle and spindle assy. Even if they were able to unbolt, the ackerman would be all wrong unless you heated and bent the arms to correct angles. Swapping the whole knuckle and spindle side to side would atill require heating and bending the arms. Then you have the problem of the idler arm and tie rod to hook up. It just compounds the problems. 55dude, this is one reason why the S-10 is not the ideal chassis for the earlier models. I think the suggestion to find another stock frame is your best bet.
The Jalopy Journal
