Bkennedy's SAS and Rebuild Thread

[Kirby N.]

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com...&Product_Code=34-34SS&Category_Code=34REPARTS

Something like that I guess- you would have to start over on your pitman arm and drill it for a 3/4" bolt. Also, my explorer bottomed out heim travel on up travel and down travel- That was part of the reason I changed to tie rods. So I put a bend in the drag link so it started flat and had the same up and down. You could do that if it has some more one way. I bent mine with a cheap harbor freight pipe bender. It was heavy wall don and a bit sketchy.

 

[BKennedy]

Dude! I have the same oil pan problem and I was thinking about fixing it the same way! I'll be taking notes. I was trying to decide if I would use a piece of tube with w poly joints. One on each end and a bolt on, or what. I did fix my lower intake leak but the stupid thing is leaking again. ALOT! So need to fix that also.

The heims misalignent thing- spidertrax used to sell these washers for 3/4" bolts in 3/4" heims. They basically just space the heim away from the head of the bolt and the mounting surface. I'll see if they still make them and post up a pic.

Where is the lower intake leaking? I think its my valve cover, but might be the intake at the rear. There is oil up to the valve cover, so that's why I think that's the issue.

The engine cross member is going to be basic. I thought about poly joints, then figured out I could do it with metal out of my scrap pile. I might even go smaller OD with the tube because I found a piece of 1.25 OD DOM with .25" wall thickness. Weld it straight to the metal plates that are to be bolted to the remnants of the old cross member.

 

[mounty71]

Today I modified a pitman arm by doing exactly as you described, drilling the taper out and sleeving it with tubing to use a regular bolt. I used 3/4" OD 5/8" ID. If you double shear the heim joint and gusset it then I wouldn't be concerned at all about weakening the arm.

 

[BKennedy]

Wow. I had that in mind if the current setup doesn't work. The way you did would allow me to lower the height of the rod end as well. How did it weld? Since pitman arms are forged, they should be an easy weld.

 

[josh40601]

View attachment 95338

View attachment 95339
Sorry, I just read this post after I fixed the issue as best as I could for now. The issue is I have the BC Broncos steering, which has their special 7* tapered bolts. The pitman arm is drilled out from the bottom, in that taper for their bolts. The bolts do not allow any wiggle and prevent the bolt holes from wallowing out. There are no misalignments on the rod ends, and not enough bolt to add them. The rod end is contacting the safety washer on the bottom and the pitman arm on the top. I clearanced the pitman arm slightly, but did not want to weaken it further. I then trimmed down the front side of the safety washer. It looks to me like it might have taken care of the binding issue, but I will really find out when I get the shocks installed. Right now the suspension is hanging down about 6" further than the shocks would allow. I don't think BC Broncos considered all that travel when they designed their steering.

Thanks for posting those. That is similar to how my setup was before, when it was binding really bad using a flat pitman arm

I think the real fix would be to drill out the pitman arm to accept a straight bolt, but it would have to be sleeved to narrow down the hole for misalignments. All that could cause the pitman arm to be weak. Unless someone makes a tapered sleeve that is straight on the inside, I am afraid to make the hole any larger in the pitman arm.

This is exactly what I did. (Pics in my thread. Don't want to clog yours up) Next step is to double sheer the pitman arm similar to how Matt did. My Ranger was setup similar with the reamed hole, but it kept loosening the nut over time. I will be doing the same setup on my Ranger as I did on the explorer. With a double sheer, strength should not be a problem, and it looks like you have just enough room (like me) to fit a double sheer on there and run the rod end on the top of the pitman.

If you were changing the oil pan gasket, would you replace the oil pump screen?

If you're making a removable crossmember, how difficult would it be to replace the oil pump and screen in the future?
If you are replacing the screen, why wouldn't you go ahead and do the pump too?

 

[DB_1]

I've been running hi mis spacers along with a reducing spacer (3/4 to 5/8) at the pitman as well as the knuckle end with no problems. I use F911 hardware all the way around so not worried about breaking a bolt. The rod end will probably break before anything else.

 

[BKennedy]

If I ran the rod end on top of the pitman, the drag link and track bar would be at different angles. They are less than a degree off, and the same length now so no bump steer. If I ran it below the pitman, I think they would be almost exactly even, but the track bar could make contact with the pitman. There is not a lot of room down there.

Cut out the cross member, will post pictures later. As far as changing the oil pump, the screen is what usually gets clogged and burns out the pump. the OEM pump is better than aftermarket, since its working fine, I will leave it alone. The way I cut out the cross member, the oil pan should drop straight down after removing the removable part, so any work on the bottom of the engine should be much easier. New, removable cross member should be over 2" higher than old, non-removable. I guess everything's removable with a cut off disc and reciprocating saw.

 

[BKennedy]

I've been running hi mis spacers along with a reducing spacer (3/4 to 5/8) at the pitman as well as the knuckle end with no problems. I use F911 hardware all the way around so not worried about breaking a bolt. The rod end will probably break before anything else.

I don't remember, is your rod end above or below the pitman arm? Its a single shear, correct?

 

[BKennedy]

FOA's are up for sale;
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/pts/5988116714.html

 

[mounty71]

Wow. I had that in mind if the current setup doesn't work. The way you did would allow me to lower the height of the rod end as well. How did it weld? Since pitman arms are forged, they should be an easy weld.

I thought it was cast, so because of that I decided to TIG it. But looking at it now I guess you're right about it being forged. Anyway, it welded just fine.

I actually have a flat pitman arm that I already have sleeved for a bolt if you're interested in that. You can add to the top or bottom of it depending on where you want the heim to be.

 

[DB_1]

I don't remember, is your rod end above or below the pitman arm? Its a single shear, correct?

It's below the pitman arm and single shear. I have a dropped arm from a 4.5" superlift kit.

 

[BKennedy]

I think I have the same pitman arm.

 

[BKennedy]

Pics.
Cut out chunk of old cut up cross member:

New empty space:

I got the holes drilled for the new cross member, mocked up some cardboard brackets and cross member to get the angles. Each side has a completely different angle, but at least they seem to be square to each other front to back. Traced cardboard brackets onto some 3/16" plate. That's as far as I got today.

 

[Kirby N.]

Sweet! Did the frame twist or buckle when it came out? I was thinking I would need to weld in a temp crossmember in front of it while I worked on it to prevent the frame from moving. Looks like into wasn't necessary??

 

[BKennedy]

Sweet! Did the frame twist or buckle when it came out? I was thinking I would need to weld in a temp crossmember in front of it while I worked on it to prevent the frame from moving. Looks like into wasn't necessary??

There was no movement of the frame. I do have a cross member under the where the engine / trans bolt together with skid plates running from there to the gas tank, so that might have made a difference. When I cut the driver side loose, I did get a little nervous.

I decided am going to use some 1x2" square tubing for the cross member to get as much clearance as possible. The cross member will be less than 11" long with little strain on it so it should be fine. I am also going to gusset it at the mounts.

 

[BKennedy]

I sold the FOA coil overs to a local guy who wants to put them on his long travel Baja Bug. They are going to be spring hangers since he is also running bypass shocks.

Got the removable engine cross member finished today. After I had it tacked up, I did not like how exposed the oil pan was. I fabbed up two rock guards, one to the front, one to the rear of the cross member. They are not designed to take the weight of the vehicle, just deflect thrown up rocks. Since the majority of the oil pan is directly above the axle, I don't see how I could get high-centered in that small space. Anything's possible though.

Painted, will install tomorrow

Those are not the bolts I am planning on using. I have some grade 8 bolts/washers that are the right size, but need to make a store run for some nylon insert nuts. Need some new ones for the shock bolts anyways, since they have been on and off at least ten times.


Kirby, you might want to go ahead and make your cross member with the poly bushings. Getting the angles right was a major pain.

My Radflo's are scheduled to arrive Wednesday. I am interested to see how they fit. They are an inch longer overall, so I need to figure out where I want to make that up. I was looking at the lower shock mounts and I can lower the bolt holes about 1/2". I can also raise the ride height about 1/2" and it won't be noticeable. I don't want to lose any of my compression with the longer shocks, as I think the way its set up now is ideal for what I have. I have 5.5" shock compression now.

I am not ready to tackle the oil leaks yet, and they are not that bad as no oil is dripping on the garage floor. It doesn't lose very much since its never low on oil when I do its yearly oil change. I did order a new oil pan gasket, and a intake / valve cover seal kit that has everything I should need when I get to it. Besides, I changed the oil a few months ago.

 

[josh40601]

crossmember looks good sir! Sounds like you already have the make-up planned for the longer shocks.

 

[BKennedy]

crossmember looks good sir! Sounds like you already have the make-up planned for the longer shocks.

I will see if any modification is needed. If it is, I like to have a plan in place. Checked UPS tracking, and the shocks are out for delivery. Can't wait to open the boxes. I think Dave told Radflo I was planning a trip next week. I was, but now it appears to be canceled. A ten day period from order to my door is outstanding for custom valved shocks. Totally worth the $50 extra cost over Fox shocks.

 

[BKennedy]

Engine cross member installed

New coil overs arrived, and they are charged with nitrogen!!

Am going to work on getting them installed and adjusted tomorrow.

 

[FR-425]

*****'n cool dude!

Love the oil case hardening color on the rods.... .