how many guys did NOT cut and turn for SOA? (1 Viewer)

[milesstarkey]

i want to hear from the guys who has done the spring over conversion, how many of you did NOT have your axle cut and turned, and how your rig rides on the road and light trailing?
second question, will a 85 r-runner front axle work with this setup? i'm thinking of buying it cuz it has discs and he only wants $125.
third question, when installing an s-10 steering column, what needs to be done to connect the power steering box to the column? does a shaft have to be fabricated or has anyone found one that happens to fit?

 

[ranger]

I did when I did SOA and SR. If you don't do SR then its not really necessary. THere are alot of varibles to consider though, it all depends how you do your SOA.

 

[jesterb]

I did when I did SOA and SR. If you don't do SR then its not really necessary. THere are alot of varibles to consider though, it all depends how you do your SOA.

What other factors keep from having to cut and turn the front?
(Ranger, I think we have pryed info out of each other before )

 

[bustanutley]

Drive train length, front axle placement, height and whether you want your ride to track straight. The longer your front driveshaft the less chance of u-joint bindage. So potentially you could push your front axle as far forward as you can, and go with a long drive train, keep the SOA as low as possible and end up with angles equal to a truck with 4" and unmodified otherwise. A major reason for needing a cut-n-turn for SR is if you hit a bump on the highway your axle rotates forward giving you really be caster angles, which makes it potentially dangerous on the road, also under droop the pinion points further down giving worse pinion angles.

 

[nuclearlemon]

we've done three of them soa/sr, no cut and turn and their fine...i will eventually get it cut/turn so i can run cv shaft with better pinion angle, but for now, it's fine.

 

[haystax]

Basically if you don't do it, you wreck u-joints, pinion bearings and your stock slip shaft is way too fawkin short. I was too lazy to do mine the fist time, now I'm planning on sending it over to Kurt because I am still too lazy but realize it is a neccessity IMO.

Not sure on the mini front, I really don't think that is a good trade, just take the knuckles and discs and maybe birfs for spares and rebuild your front axle. I'm not sure about this one though

On the steering column, it really depends on the style of power steering conversion you have done. What type of box, brand of steering shaft components, etc.

 

[ridgerunner]

The mini axle IIRC is the right width, but has a longer (same as a 60) left shaft, which means the spring perches probably aren't in the same place. Even if you went with the weaker Mini axle, there still is a high probability you'd have to turn it.

That said, I know a few people who didn't turn their axle, and others who have. I think I would turn it, just to get the pinnion and u-joint up a little higher (though this completely depends on your rig's requirements.)

 

[nuclearlemon]

Basically if you don't do it, you wreck u-joints, pinion bearings and your stock slip shaft is way too fawkin short. I was too lazy to do mine the fist time, now I'm planning on sending it over to Kurt because I am still too lazy but realize it is a neccessity IMO.
.

why do you say you'll have problems with ujoints and pinion bearings? two of the three we've done have been up and running for four or five years and neither of us have ever had a problem? are you making sure your ujoint angles match? that's critical unless you're running acv joint. as for the shafts, if you're going soa, you should have them lengthened anyway.

 

[haystax]

why do you say you'll have problems with ujoints and pinion bearings? two of the three we've done have been up and running for four or five years and neither of us have ever had a problem? are you making sure your ujoint angles match? that's critical unless you're running acv joint. as for the shafts, if you're going soa, you should have them lengthened anyway.

I think I may just drive like a complete jackass i guess. My pinion flange and t-case flange were at the exact same angles and i was sure to use a dial angle finder before and after to get really close to stock angles there. Tried to keep stock angles at least, didnt' rotate further for caster though. I retubed my front d-line so it is long enough because i moved the front axle forward and flipped the springs so it's probably 4-5" ahead of stock location. I did the SR and also use Revolver shackles and the front droops and swings away making my lower u-joint really bind sometimes, more the joint yokes taking a beating at this point but not a good situation that I trust at least. I guess a spare set of u-joints with a shorter service interval and a close eye may be all that is really neccessary. It is reassuring to me that you have ran a couple for four or five years - that may make me think twice about my shipping off my housing. My retard shackles are the problem right now, I bet it would be much better with standard shackles.

Just took a look at my front diff again tonite, lots of slop in the pinion flange, like there's zero preload on the outer bearing. Not sure if the nut just came unstaked, didn't really look at it to make sure but it must have been setup wrong or came loose a little. Not sure if any of this is really caused by lack of cut/turn or just plenty of years of normal (or abnormal) use before i got it. Gonna get a rebuild when my new gears get here anyway, not sure of actual cause at this point.

Sorry to ramble on - good luck

 

[RHINO]

I think I may just drive like a complete jackass i guess. My pinion flange and t-case flange were at the exact same angles:

so your pinion was pointing down a bit??

i did SOA and SR on my 55, no cut-n-rotate. 5 yrs and no worries.

 

[LT]

The mini axle IIRC is the right width, but has a longer (same as a 60) left shaft, which means the spring perches probably aren't in the same place. Even if you went with the weaker Mini axle, there still is a high probability you'd have to turn it.

How's the mini axle weaker? It comes with bigger birfields, more ground clearance, and a stronger pinion, and the third member is already designed for the added caster angle.

 

[Kaderabek]

SOA on my 55, no cut and turn. No problems on the trail, drives like a SOA 55 on the highway. I think ideally you cut and turn but clearly a SOA conversion can be done without.

TJK

 

[woody]

mini housing slips INSIDE the FJ40 housing...smaller = weaker

Agreed that no SR = no requirement for cut-turn....

However, bigger tires like more caster to track straight and steer well, adding that points the pinion down further, and necessitates the cut-turn.

stock caster is +1....mine is about +4, and drove great with 38.5 tires at 6psi.

 

[Kaderabek]

Get some real tires.

TJK

 

[woody]

Get some real tires.

39.5 IROKs on 17" Allied's at RoundUp, bitch....39.5 PitBull Rockers on 17" TrailReady's later this summer....

Buddy of mine from Milw never did the cut-turn on his rig either, VERY low SOA tho, 35" boggers on there. Said he had no issues.

 

[Kaderabek]

Excellent. Try to not run over me and my puny 35s at the Roundup. That's me (way) down there! ;p

TJK

 

[turbophil]

Been down this road before

I battled with te same ? when I did my SOA about 2 years ago. I elected to NOT cut & turn. It drove_OK_, but no where near as good as before the SOA. Then the pinion seal went out last winter which made me decide to yank the axle and perform the C&T task. (I also found that to be a good opportunity to install 30 sp Longs, a locker, and redo that mess of an OEM brake line setup )

After rotating the pumpkin up 15* and the caster back another 3*, the rig is a totally different beast. From a full lock position, the wheel will whip back to straight in just a few feet of forward movement. This obviously makes cruising down the highway at 70mph a one thumb on the wheel task Plus, the driveline angle improvement is huge. Another consideration is that after C&T, I bet factory u-joints could easily deal with the angles (just lengthen the shaft a bit), which could have saved me some serious cash spent at High Angle for some cazy high misalignment u-joints and 12" of slip.

IMHO, I would take the extra 3 hours and do the C&T....

couple more pennies for the pot...

 

[Jetboy]

I would absolutely recomend thhe mini axle. I would certainly do it if I had to do mine over again. You wont need the cut and turn if you go hi pinion front. I believe that to be a far superior set up and the cost when you figure the higher costs of lc rings pinions ect will likely be less. plus there is a ton of aftermarket support for the 8" diffs. (try to get a true track for a LC.) In adddition you will have disks and stronger birfs. I would be willing to bet that the gusseted mini axle is stronger than a stock fj40 front.
again I think a hypinion mini will be the best front axle possible in terms of parts prices and strength

 

[TLCObsession]

I have been running my SOA w/SR for maybe 10 years now. No problems, no blown ujoints, no cut & turn. If I was going to do it again, I would do the C&T, but it is not needed. Current tires are 37" MTRs, and it runs down the road just fine.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

You can do it and it works. I didn't cut and turn my first one and it actually did great. But the pinion really did hang down there and I think it stressed the u joint but never broke. The second time I did and it was a learning curve but I am pretty sure I would never do a SOA again without it. There are just so many more advantages even though it is a lot of labor of course. I know I would never ever charge someone for a SOA and not cut and turn mostly because I feel like it just isn't "right" but that is just my opinion...