[jeffery_1965]

I'm in the process of installing my Saginaw power steering. I purchased the mounting kit from Luke at 4x4Labs, and also got his pitman arm, ES2026R 1-ton GM draglink end, and DOM draglink. I'm also installing FJ60 knuckles and arms at the same time.

MY question is around the passenger side end of the Drag Link and the tie rod. I'm considering the following: (after much research)


1. Purchase a metric left handed tap, and use:

a. 80 series TRE on the draglink and use stock tie rod setup.

b. 60 series TRE on the draglink and use stock tie rod setup.

2. Purchase 7/8-18 left handed tap & TRE tapered reamer and use:

a. ES2027R draglink end and ream the right stock TRE to

accept the GM draglink end.

b. ES2027R draglink end, ES2233L tie rod end for the right

steering arm, ES2234R tie rod end for the left steering arm

and ream the stock steering arms to accept the GM tie rod

ends along with reaming the ES2233L to accept the GM

draglink end . (basically fab a new draglink based on the GM

tie rods and use on the stock steering arms)

All of the above part numbers came from Parts Mike's website: http://www.partsmikeparts.com/tre_comparison.htm Great Site & info!

If there is enough material in the stock steering arms I would like to go with 2b, as it seems to be the most robust. I wonder about my wheel clearance to the the larger TRE's too.

My next choice is 2a, as long as there is enough material in the stock passenger TRE to re-taper for the draglink end.

Lastly, and the most challenging & costly, either of #1's. The tap will be custom from what I can find, and I might be better off trying to single point in the threads on my lathe. I could always weld the right hand end of the LC stock draglink to my DOM 4x4labs draglink, and not have to thread anything.

So.... what holes do you see in my solutions? Does anyone know if there is enough material on either the stock steering arms or right hand draglink to re-taper to the larger GM ends?

Thanks, and if I've miss something in the FAQ, or Tech section, or obscure thread, please forgive me and show me the light.

Jeff

[camcruiser13]

did you not get the steering arms from luke?


thats what i would do

[jeffery_1965]

No steering arms yet. Luke isn't sure if my 3" Alcans will have enough clearance for the tierod as he designed around a 4" SUA lift. But I think that Alcans give a true amount of lift after loading vs what I've seen from other vendors. So my true 3" might work, we would have to try it and see.

I have a concern about the added stress on the knuckle studs, and the problem of them coming loose. I really don't want to have to check the nuts for proper torque all the time as this will be a daily driver and my wife will be driving it too. I want "factory like" warranty. Mabye I'm over thinking the problem......



Jeff

[camcruiser13]

i think if you are going 60 knuckles and you only have 33 inch tires i think that you will be plenty fine. as far as them coming loose, i have had his arms for 2 yrs now and ive checked a handlful of times and they were still as tight as when i put them on.

i would use them if/when they are availabele for your application.

thats just me though.

[mustardfj40]

I upgraded my knucle studs to FROR studs:

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/nfos...a6b3ca768c8eba

[bandy rooster]

stick with all one make thats what i did, instead of taps i bought bungs from spidertrax.com and thick DOM tubing... very easy and looks very clean. i used all chevy 1 ton tres.

[jeffery_1965]

Originally Posted by bandy rooster

stick with all one make thats what i did, instead of taps i bought bungs from spidertrax.com and thick DOM tubing... very easy and looks very clean. i used all chevy 1 ton tres.

Did you do this with stock steering arms? I found out today the the ES2233L joint is 2 inches in diameter, now I can go measure the clearance to my wheels and see if they will work without other changes. I also have the major and minor dia of the taper for the GM ends, I'll check to see how much material will be left on the stock arms to.

Thanks for all your input.

Jeff

PS I haven't found inserts for the 80 series joints yet.

[jeffery_1965]

Did some measuring tonight and found the following on a stock '77 steering arm at the tierod hole.

0.480 inch dia small end
0.540 inch dia large end

The large GM tre's taper are 0.773 x 0.664 (major x minor) dia

At the large end of the taper on the steering arm, there is around 0.280 inch material around the hole, so once you opened the hole up to 0.773 you wouldn't have too much material left. (assuming that the length of the taper is the same for each tre)

This seems like a no go for me, and I don' t have my 60 series arms yet, to not sure there. The clearance to my wheels looks very tight as well, and I'm sure I'd have to run spacers to clear the large GM tre's.

I did see a post today that has treaded tre adapters for the 80 series rod ends for DOM tubing: http://ballisticfabrication.3dcartst..._p_7-1408.html

So unless I decide to go with 4x4labs arms, I think I'm sticking with 60 series arms & knuckles, and adapting either a 60 or 80 series draglink end to my DOM draglink.

Thanks to everyone that's help me work through this design path.

Jeff

[Poser]

Jeff-


Here are a couple pics of steering arms:

Left arm is Mini truck

Center is Luke Porter one-ton

Right is stock Land Cruiser 40 series

[Tankota]

Originally Posted by jeffery_1965

I'm in the process of installing my Saginaw power steering. I purchased the mounting kit from Luke at 4x4Labs, and also got his pitman arm, ES2026R 1-ton GM draglink end, and DOM draglink. I'm also installing FJ60 knuckles and arms at the same time.

MY question is around the passenger side end of the Drag Link and the tie rod. I'm considering the following: (after much research)



1. Purchase a metric left handed tap, and use:

a. 80 series TRE on the draglink and use stock tie rod setup.

b. 60 series TRE on the draglink and use stock tie rod setup.

2. Purchase 7/8-18 left handed tap & TRE tapered reamer and use:

a. ES2027R draglink end and ream the right stock TRE to

accept the GM draglink end.

b. ES2027R draglink end, ES2233L tie rod end for the right

steering arm, ES2234R tie rod end for the left steering arm

and ream the stock steering arms to accept the GM tie rod

ends along with reaming the ES2233L to accept the GM

draglink end . (basically fab a new draglink based on the GM

tie rods and use on the stock steering arms)

All of the above part numbers came from Parts Mike's website: http://www.partsmikeparts.com/tre_comparison.htm Great Site & info!

If there is enough material in the stock steering arms I would like to go with 2b, as it seems to be the most robust. I wonder about my wheel clearance to the the larger TRE's too.

My next choice is 2a, as long as there is enough material in the stock passenger TRE to re-taper for the draglink end.

Lastly, and the most challenging & costly, either of #1's. The tap will be custom from what I can find, and I might be better off trying to single point in the threads on my lathe. I could always weld the right hand end of the LC stock draglink to my DOM 4x4labs draglink, and not have to thread anything.

So.... what holes do you see in my solutions? Does anyone know if there is enough material on either the stock steering arms or right hand draglink to re-taper to the larger GM ends?

Thanks, and if I've miss something in the FAQ, or Tech section, or obscure thread, please forgive me and show me the light.

Jeff

Toy reamer is $55 here....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-T...QQcmdZViewItem

I did 2b. I used to have it drilled from the top when i was SUA. When I went SOA I had to get new arms and drill from the bottom.
The ends of the arms have plenty of meat on them (well I use pickup ones if that makes a difference). Heres a pic of where my steering arm cracked last year. Noticed it 1 day before a big trip. I hate last minute repairs/costs.

[Poser]

Tankota....


How about a picture or two of the end with the one-ton taper-hole in it?

[Tankota]

This is the only one I have...

[Otterav]

Hello,
I had taps ground to FJ-60 tie rod sizes, cost about $300.00, not really stock sizes. If you are gonna go that way PM me and I will give you the exact sizes.(21X1.5 and 23X1.5mm I think) I first cut and sectioned a tie rod, but was not comfortable with a welded rod(crazy I know), it was tigged and a really well executed weld, but not quite happy with it. I obtained another set of rods and shortened them and tapped them with my new taps. Now I am happy, they are stock looking and solid!
eric

[rusty_tlc]

Originally Posted by bandy rooster

stick with all one make thats what i did, instead of taps i bought bungs from spidertrax.com and thick DOM tubing... very easy and looks very clean. i used all chevy 1 ton tres.

X2 except I got mine from BlueTorch IIRC.

If you fish mouth the DOM and cross drill/rosette weld it there is little chance of it being the weak link.

For what it's worth I used the All Pro Hysteer, uses 80 TRE's. The only place I used a bung was the pitman arm end. I used a Wagoneer pitman arm and TRE. I also inboarded the PS gear box which shortened the linkage. Since I needed to modify the All Pro set-up to shorten it the path of least resistance was to use a weld in bung with left hand SAE threads. RHT taps are cheap and easy to find, LHT taps are not.

To be fair I should say my set up has seen little trail use, so far.

[jeffery_1965]

Well it's looking more promising with the mini / 60 arms. The clearance to my wheels may still be a problem, but that can be addressed. I'm still waiting on my 60 axle, so I can't make any measurements yet, but your picture looked good.

Thanks for the link to the tapered reamer. I have also seen XKUT's listing for the GM taper 1 1/2 inch per foot, for a similar price on Ebay.

If I went the welded in threaded bushing route I was planning on plug welding it too, but the fishmouth is a good addition. I'll keep that in mind. In general I get an uneasy feeling about welding on steering linkage or shafts for that matter. But then again I had a '79 Scout with SOA and a homemade drop draglink. It held up just fine, so I think with some thought and proper welding, it shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks again for all the input!

Jeff