Good evening Guys and Gals. Well this is what I came up with in ref to running your tie rod and drag link between the springs and frame on a truck with a Vega cross steer and a dropped 3" axle using Speedway flat control arms.What this took was "Dimpling"the edge of the oil pan at the bottom front,cutting the p***enger side exhaust header pipe and moving it to more of a 45 deg then a 90 deg and making a 1" spacer to lower the drag link on the Pitman arm.I have not drivin the truck yet to test because of the bad weather here.I have about a 3/16" to 1/4" clearence between the drag link and the spring. Your thoughts.
I'd be worried about that spacer/bolt. I'd use a grade 8 bolt, with at least a nylock nut to secure it. a castle nut and cotter pin might be a better way. Is there enough space between the rod/link and the springs to allow full suspension travel without interference? 3/16" or 1/4" doesn't sound like enough to avoid an issue.
I would weld the spacer to the pitman arm and add a gussett to the back of the spacer to the pitman arm as well..... Is 1/4" of clearence between the drag link and the top of the spring enough ? That will be close !
Hey Guys.Yes the pitman arm will get grade 8 Hardware.After hours and hours of searching the net I found that it seems no one on the net makes dropped control arms for AD trucks.Lots of ford arms but no GM.Also found no pictures of Vega steering used with a 3' dropped axle.The only cars that seem to be found on the net were Tri-five g***ers and they seemed to think their 1/8" clearence was good !!!!!!.This kind of set up could not in any way be the first in the world !!! LOL. Thoughts please.
I have a 4-inch dropped axle, and a Vega box with x-steering. I mounted by steering box lower on the frame to allow alignment. This solves the spacer issue, not that it's that big a deal. I think the biggest issue is the clearances to the spring. Make sure the spring can travel plenty without hitting the rods, through the entire steering system movement. If it does, you're golden. If not, you and others could end up in a heap of hurt. Let's avoid that! Can you heat and bend those steering arms?
I can see it being a problem during cornering. Keep in mind that when the springs extend, the rods are getting closer to the spring (more arch). As you go around a corner, the inside spring is extending. I would seriously try to get about an inch or so above the springs to be safe...
Exwest, You are so right.I may have to do some work on the oil pan. I just love how Speedway states that to use their 3"dropped axle on the chevy spindles, the steering arms must be modified !!!!! DUH why don't they sell modified arms also?
Okay I am by no way an expert. But the experience I have had with those plate steel Speedway steering arms is that they will flex in that type of set up. I have seen it happen at the alignment shop on the rack. It is very slight but if it is any overtime it could be a problem. They were first designed for T-Bucket applications where front end weights were about half of what you have. I saw a post on a g***er front end and they were using Ch***is Engineering forged steeel arms. Any way good luck .
my drag link is bent like this 4x4 pic. works well. i cant fix any bad geometry but will get u out of a bind (pun intended).
As bgaro said, you will be introducing some bad bump steer geometry running the drag link and steering arm rod ends at different heights. I guess you could bend it down and back up again, but it is starting to become a pretty flexible shape at that point.
I agree Guys,I have worked on this problem all after noon and I think I have solved the problem. I have now about 1" clearance on the rods and spring by moving each rod around. It is so very hard to do these things by yourself.Had fun at this thanks to all.
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