Stumped

[Highlifted]

this whole week ive been working a couple hours anight on my mazda navajo, i got a lift off a ford ranger out of a local junkyard. let me say its been nothing but hell haha, anyway i did the SOA on the rear, and installed the coils on the front, the only problem conserning me as of now its the steering, i did alot of research and it seem as the pitman arm i got with the kit is just not gonna be good enough, however i did find the one tht is suppose to fix it the correct way but was wondering if it worth spending the money on another pitman arm,

here is the pitman arm tht is suppose to be for a 6-8" lift: Skyjacker #FA600 arm

but another thing i dont no what size lift i got i wanna say 6" coils, and idk if im gonna be able to fix my camber/caster problem

every bit of help would really be appreicated thanks

 

[Highlifted]

here a pic from the sides ill get one today of my front end problem to show

took me ahile cause i only had a 1 man team but i got it done haha

 

[ranger-93]

I tried installing the fa600 but could never get enough clearance between the drag link and drivers side tie rod. Some people have gotten it to work and some havent. I returned the 200 dollar arm and put the other one back on.

 

[Highlifted]

alright then im just gonna try getting it aligned for now the way it is

 

[Naasau]

There are a bunch of different options available for the TTB front end; however, getting the alignment and motion right is a tricky endeavor. Here are a couple of threads that I have bookmarked, as I've found them incredibly useful. The perfect steering solution would be a swing steering set, but it is incredibly complex and expensive (that would be the bottom link).

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Spring2003/TTBTuning.htm
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1474502&postcount=21

4x4Junkie is the expert on the Dana TTB, so I take everything he has to say very seriously. The best solution that I've found is the StoneCrusher Steering test unit that is in this thread;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265477&page=2
They don't have a unit for retail sale, but I've found them to be very receptive to building 'one off' test units. But it would require a good deal of work on your part for final fitment and assembly.

 

[Naasau]

Also, could you post pics of the brackets that you have installed?

 

[Highlifted]

Also, could you post pics of the brackets that you have installed?

what brackets do you mean? as in the radius arm drop brakets, or axle pivit brackets?

 

[Highlifted]

just windering about another thing i was finishing little things today and weird thing happened, my rear sway still fits with SOA, is that strange? or does tht still fit for alot of people

 

[ranger-93]

more than likely it still fits because the angle between the end link and sway bar is now greater than before...thats my guess

 

[Highlifted]

alright cool

 

[Naasau]

what brackets do you mean? as in the radius arm drop brakets, or axle pivit brackets?

All of the above.

 

[Naasau]

more than likely it still fits because the angle between the end link and sway bar is now greater than before...thats my guess

I agree with ranger; but since the angle is going to be greater than before, make sure that it seems happy in its new position, as I've seen anti-sway bars that were stretched snap grade 8 bolts time and time again. (my own fault )

 

[Highlifted]

All of the above.

ok first thing tm ill get pictures of the brackets, and the front camber problem im hopeing first of this week when i go for alighnment they can give the camber correct, but first thing tm morning pics will be up

 

[Highlifted]

srry i drew the arrows cause the pics are kinda dark:

let me no if these work for ya, thanks

 

[Naasau]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I've been distracted by school work. I don't recognize the brand of the lift kit off hand, but those look like they may do the job. I would look very carefully at the passenger side axle housing bracket (the one on the drivers side by the pumpkin), just to make sure that it doesn't impact the differential housing at stuff. the bell-housing for the diff is aluminum, not steel like the rest of the axle housing components, and can explode easily. I think I have some pics of my Mk.I lift around here somewhere, and that is exactly what happened; I came down of a rock on the driver side, stuffed the pumpkin up suddenly, and *crack* everything died. Ironically, I ended up harvesting parts from my Mk.I bracket to help reinforce the skyjacker one that I purchased to replace it (the Mk.II), so some of it is still on there now.

I'll post up some pics the second I get a chance. How goes the lift for you so far? Have you decided on custom springs or a SOA for the back?

 

[Naasau]

Oh, I forgot to say that those are nice anti-sway bar end links!

I would humbly suggest going with Grade 8 bolts, nylock nuts, and goop anti-seize on everything, as rust is everyone's Nemesis.

 

[Highlifted]

Oh, I forgot to say that those are nice anti-sway bar end links!

I would humbly suggest going with Grade 8 bolts, nylock nuts, and goop anti-seize on everything, as rust is everyone's Nemesis.

lol the links are nice but platsic which i dont like, i didnt know you could use stock lenght links or id still have metal, but the new one have life time garuntee haha so i couldnt complain.

as the lift is pretty much complet other then i need to do some sort of shock mounts for the rear, i did do the SOA everything turned out good, i just need to find a E-brake cable the will fit, and make some shock mounts other then tht everything seems good for now, also i fixed my camber just this past weekend was a bad fix after i bought the bushings,

and yea let me see some pics how u reenforced ur one radius arm drop bracket thanks

 

[jd4242]

That's a super lift 5.5.you can tell by the drop pivot bracket.they have two holes.one for 4" coils and one for 5.5 you have it in the wrong hole.put it in the bottom hole and it will help with camber /caster. Those sway bars will not work like that.the rear need longer links and the front uses drop brackets or you can order new links also.i would leave them off for now,they will break like that.did you get longer break lines also?check your drive shaft also and see how much you have before you pull out

 

[Highlifted]

That's a super lift 5.5.you can tell by the drop pivot bracket.they have two holes.one for 4" coils and one for 5.5 you have it in the wrong hole.put it in the bottom hole and it will help with camber /caster. Those sway bars will not work like that.the rear need longer links and the front uses drop brackets or you can order new links also.i would leave them off for now,they will break like that.did you get longer break lines also?check your drive shaft also and see how much you have before you pull out

as u mentions the 2 wholes on the pivot bracket i did notice tht and thought it looked better on the bottom whole, but when i took it off the truck at the junkyard i did the same for everything putting it back together and tht how it came, also the front swa bar links do work i flexed it some and didnt snap yet.... haha yea o got longer break lines for the front, back still worked, also drive shaft is stretched a little but still works

 

[Nedwreck]

I have a lift kit with the two holes in the pivot brackets.. but mine is a 6"-8" skyjacker kit I think). My radius arm drop brackets also have "Skyjacker" written on them, that might provide a clue for you about which kit you have. My parts also came from a Ranger that was being scrapped. lol

The pics of your components look identical to the parts I have.

I use 6" springs and a FA600 pitman arm.. the steering links are nicely parallel and level, and it drives virtually like stock (no bump steer or twitchy stuff).

For the sway bar end links, I just cut my factory steel ones and found some pipe that the ends fit in, welded them up, and used pins with R-keys. I also cross drilled the pipe where the link ends were exposed in the holes and welded there for added strength.

Front brake lines... you can get longer super-duty Ford truck lines (I forget what years) and do that, but for a while I ran a mod that relocated the body side of the line/fitting lower a few inches. It was a bugger to re-craft the steel line to fit, but it worked great.

If you would like pics of any of this stuff, let me know I'd be glad to help.