Longer steer arms?

[pMan6000]

Hey guys,

I’ve an 88 pickup with a 60 series front axle in it running trail gear six shooter knuckles and steer arms. Obviously the steer arms are designed for the 8” mini truck front axle so they don’t put the tie rod out far enough to clear diff. Currently I have a bend in my tie rod to solve this issues but even with gussets on the bend it is flexing enough while wheeling that it negatively affects my toe on the road. I also have a hydro assist ram that twists the tie rod up and down despite the heims being biased opposite directions to hold the tie rod in place and welded jam nuts. The heims are threading in and out through the jam nuts and bungs when the tie rod twists, causes a lot of steering slop and affects the toe. I figure a set of longer steer arms would push the tie rod out far enough to run a straight piece of tube and eliminate my problems but I can’t find any. If I have to draw some up and have a set made, so be it, figured I’d check first tho.

 

[aztoyman]

I'm not familiar with the 60 axle. Do you have any pics? How far do you have to move it away from the diff? Can you clearance the diff?

 

[pMan6000]

I'm not familiar with the 60 axle. Do you have any pics? How far do you have to move it away from the diff? Can you clearance the diff?

A 60 series front axle is a mini truck SFA but with a 9.5” ring gear, so same outer knuckle balls which allows me to run mini truck knuckles and hub assemblies.

The tie rod needs to move a few inches forwards to safely clear the housing at full lock and not have a bend in it. First photo is the trail gear knuckle and steer arm, second picture is the whole steering assembly. Definitely hard to see how the tie rod clears the housing right now but you can see how it’s set up.

 

[aztoyman]

Thanks for the pics. No way to clearance your cover enough to get by?

I've seen offset heim joints for this but they also can flop. Offset Heat Treated Chromoly 7/8- 14 X 3/4 Heim Joint Right Hand - https://barnes4wd.com/products/offset-heat-treated-chromoly-7-8-14-x-3-4-heim-joint-right-hand?pr_prod_strat=jac&pr_rec_id=b893b76b2&pr_rec_pid=7581679780056&pr_ref_pid=7581680042200&pr_seq=uniform

Maybe the guys in the hardcore section have some ideas.

 

[aztoyman]

I can't tell if the hydro assist bracket is a clearance problem for you. If it is, maybe anchor it near the diff and have it push toward the driver side instead.

I put my hydro assist ram the opposite direction. Almost directly below the tie rod so it doesn't hang on the side and twist it. Mine is 8" mini truck axle so maybe I'm not helping.

 

[pMan6000]

Thanks for the pics. No way to clearance your cover enough to get by?

I've seen offset heim joints for this but they also can flop. Offset Heat Treated Chromoly 7/8- 14 X 3/4 Heim Joint Right Hand - https://barnes4wd.com/products/offset-heat-treated-chromoly-7-8-14-x-3-4-heim-joint-right-hand?pr_prod_strat=jac&pr_rec_id=b893b76b2&pr_rec_pid=7581679780056&pr_ref_pid=7581680042200&pr_seq=uniform

Maybe the guys in the hardcore section have some ideas.

I don’t think there is room to clearance the housing no. I didn’t realize there was a hardcore section, suppose I’ll post over there as well.

 

[gnob]

two things.
why not put the tr on top of the arm, where it belongs? appears that would fix your issue.

two, unpopular opinion. six shooters are a gimmick.
a few companies will build four bolt arms in whatever length you need, drilled or undrilled.
arp studs and maintenance is the real solution. not only that, there are keyed arms now available.

 

[pMan6000]

two things.
why not put the tr on top of the arm, where it belongs? appears that would fix your issue.

two, unpopular opinion. six shooters are a gimmick.
a few companies will build four bolt arms in whatever length you need, drilled or undrilled.
arp studs and maintenance is the real solution. not only that, there are keyed arms now available.

I didn’t think it mattered whether you put the tie rod on top or bottom of the steer arms, in most cases I suppose you’re limited by which direction your holes are tapered for the TREs but I drilled mine out straight for 3/4” bolts and can run on either side. I’m running mine on the bottom because with the passenger-side TR heim and knuckle-side DL heims next to each other, they bind while turning because the holes are too close together. Other reason is that the tie rod collides with the pitman-side heim bolt in the axles arc, so I gave myself a smidgen more up travel with the TR underneath the steer arms. I will be moving the steering box to fix this but if I’m gonna mess around with tie rod placement I want to do it all at once.

When I was ordering parts for the truck, I ran across both the TG six shooters and the FROR keyed arms. At the time, six shooters were what I knew to be THE answer from all the mini truck guys running them, and somewhere I read that the keyed arms were also a gimmick (not my opinion just what I remember reading that swayed me to TG). I can’t find dimensions on the FROR page, only that they come drilled for 6” & 8” full hydro set ups, supposed I could ask but I’d hear back from em next summer lol.

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

4x4 labs makes (or used to make) a nice set of arms for std knuckles & 6 shooters. Could reach out to Luke to see if he can help out.

 

[pMan6000]

4x4 labs makes (or used to make) a nice set of arms for std knuckles & 6 shooters. Could reach out to Luke to see if he can help out.

Sweet didn’t know that, I’ll email him.

 

[pappy]

4x4 labs makes (or used to make) a nice set of arms for std knuckles & 6 shooters. Could reach out to Luke to see if he can help out.

Sweet didn’t know that, I’ll email him.

Luke made me a custom arm for my FJ40.

 

[cruisermatt]

all the off-the shelf high steer arms are pretty much the same length from knuckle to TRE point for 40/60/mini. Like within .25". I have Trail gear (well, one Trail Gear, and one AllPro arm) on my FJ62 and it is close but clears and that is a with a 1.5" tie rod. Question, any chance you did a big cut-n-turn? that would put the Tie-rod a lot closer to the diff.

Remember, if you put the tie rod further from the knuckle pivot that will not only effect your steering ration but also your ackerman. You really want it nice and tight on a truck like that, custom arms with more rise would be ideal.
There are also offset/flag-style heims, I am going to try them on my FJ62 when I redo my steering this year

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