I was telling Cait last night how I walked on water, then I wrote a book about it.


Also, this should be in someone's sig:


I don't have no rooms though

 

I have driven so many Mexican Steering Bronco's My forearms look like Popeye

Crossover is on the short list, I just found a hyd bender with 10 sets of dies $600

I will post us some picts & see what ya think, old school heavy duty push type.
Crossover will have to wait.

 

save the $600 for a tube bender (even though its super nice to have but not necessary) and crossover steering that MFer for around $300.

 

OBTW how do you bend your tube then? Torch & a whiskey Bottle, or just pay someone. ( You Can Pay Me )

The dies are 200 - 300 each, he has 10 sets. I need it to build some cages, Nerfs & Bumpers. $600 is almost free.

Ballistic has the best crossover for the rig?
Or just get the joints & tube.

 

on my rear hangers i was measuring them tonight and the two back ones are on the money but my front ones are within 1/8th inch of the same width set off the frame is that going to be alright. i was pretty worried about it?

 

Cant think of anything I need to bend tube for right now....

Well if you need it then I guess its a good idea but IMO you need crossover too.

the only thing you need to buy is 3' 1.5"x.250 DOM, two 7/8-18tpi inserts (one left and one right), one #2026L TRE, one #2027R TRE with the jamb nuts, a crossover arm and a F150 pitman arm. Piece it together yourself from the cheapest source and weld it up

any way to shim them to make up that 1/8"? Maybe a grade 8 washer behind the hanger since you only need 1/16" on each side?

 

well i dialed in my rear suspension now i have to weld it all up, but my leafs are sitting at 0* flat and they are running parallel as much as i can tell with my measurin tools, i went to town u bolts and bolted it on and put pressure on it with just my self and it wasnt binding up or anything so as far as i can tell it should be good. so now after i get the rear all buttoned up and when im putting this front in, how can i measure to make sure my axles are running together?

 

the only time you have trouble is when the rear wants to beat the front to the finish line.


you'll probably notice the rear is narrower wms to wms than the front wms to wms by about an inch. Someone told me this is for tracking (to keep the truck straight) but Im not sure how this works.

Id measure true center of the rear axle to true center of the front axle and then measure the distance from that point to the outside of the frame rail on either side Might need to use a plumb bob and a 2x4 or piece of angle etc to make things a little easier.

 

I always thought it was so the rear tires do not follow the rut of the front & stay on virgin ground.

 

ok well i got the rear all set in stone and good. now i put the front axle under the truck today. but im making new radius arms and im not sure what angle my lower buckets should be on the axle. i figured 0* so my arms were unattached and i set them to that and it causes my arms to go down hill to the ground. so before i screw something up what should that coil bucket be sitting at?

 

how much sense would that make on the highway OR in 2wd vehicles?

The front wms to wms is 99.999% of the time wider than the rear wms to wms in cars trucks mini-vans etc.



I know my D60F is about 2" wider than the D44HD it replaced and BOTH were wider than the D60FF rear - all axles originally from 79 F250s.

on 39.5x18 boggers on 16.5x14 rims the outside row of lugs are completely outside the fender and the rear covers almost half of the same row of lugs. I figure its around 4ish inches wider in the front total.

 

That track width theory about not running in your own ruts is an old wives tale that has become worse with the help of the internet.
Ackerman steering is responsible for the differences between the width of axles from front to rear. Depending upon the wheelbase of a particular vehicle, and whether or not it is 4wd, track widths had to be slightly different to prevent tire scrubbing.
While most may think that ackerman steering is only defined by the inside tire / wheel turning at a greater angle than the outside, wheel base, and track width are also factors. Understeer and oversteer are kept in mind when designing a vehicle.
A narrow track width in the rear helps to promote some oversteer, which can be a good thing when wheelbases become long.

 

I got it from a old Ford Brochure for Highboy's

& my old wife....

 

Really????? A factory publication tried to use this as a sales feature / benefit?
For the most part, a vehicle will "push" or understeer when the rear width is the same or equal to the rear. Intentional oversteer is built into just about every vehicle, especially trucks with longer wheel base.
Now, front axle design also plays a small part in this, because the axle width from truck to truck along with overall weight capacities can vary, the wheelbase also plays a role in tis width, but for the most part, it is to keep the rar wheels doing its thing when the front wheels are turned and the vehicle encounters a tight turn.
Understeer / oversteer, not related to caster.

Because we change our wheels, and modify our trucks, we change the designed Ackerman angles. This is particularly true when we shackle flip the rear, or move the front axle forward.
Because our vehicles have such an extreme slip angle, we hardly notice any imperfections, and try to attribute tight steering or a lack of steering wheel control to the fact that we have modified this angle, and pay no wttention to the Ackerman angles at all.
These angles are based solely upon a triangle design, and basic geometry applies.
Unfortunately not many of us really understand the principle of the Ackerman angle, and how it affects our rides.
Only a few off road shops take the time to understand these principles or even take some much needed measurements to even verify whether or not the Ackerman angles are close. Typically standard "static toe" measurements are all that are taken, and if they are close, they will cut a truck loose. Knowing that our trucks wont ever drive like race cars, they feel that close enough is alright, but fail to take them time to get this geometry right so that lifted rigs at least have a shot at driving really well on the road.

 

Lots of good info there, but just throwing this out there - ever since fwd have become the norm, understeer has been built into them because it's easier for the average driver to control. I would assume what you're saying still applies to most RWD vehicles though, my stupid duty seems to over steer fairly easily. Now, my dad's dually when pushed a little will push in a corner, which again seems to align with what you're saying.