hatched91 going from leafs to coils

[Mud Bug 94]

the caster is gunna have to be adjusted with bushings in the wedges of the axle by you...the toe is also a major factor here...thats what the shop will adjust so dont get pissed when they give you an $80 dollar bill and it still wanders and pulls...at least it wont chew up and spit out your tires.

 

[hatched91]

well i went there today. the guy didn't seem to know any common sense of aligments, he just knows how to push ok on the computer and do what the computer tells him to do, not what i had hoped for. He said i can bring it in and we can set the toe-in to either bronco specs or explorer specs, i asked him what the caster was, he said -.9 degrees according to the explorer specs. I asked him what he thought i should do in terms of lowering the radius arms to fix it, he said it had nothing to do with it and it was the distance from the front to rear tires. He wasn't very helpful. He claimed that my steering box wasn't beefy enough for the set-up. I might try a fullsize-box, instead of a first gen explorer box. I'm betting on the caster though. I think i'll make some drop brackets and see what happens.

 

[FROADER]

There is nothing wrong with the 1st gen box.

 

[Mud Bug 94]

you dont wanna bring um down too much...remember to tie them together with a c-member...BTW how about pics of how they are now...

 

[95exploderboy]

The first gen Explorer box is the same as the fullsize F150 box. Grab some part numbers from the advance auto website and you will see.

 

[COB]

you now have a castor issue and dropping your radius arms is the only option other than cutting and turning your knuckles...
dont listen to key pushing nerds at mechanic shops they have nothing but book/computer smarts for the most part. Unless you see them driving around im a heavily customized 4x4 they are just guessing. very few people actually stop and think about how things actually work before they start telling you how to fix them.
and the steering boxes are the same too

hope this helps

btw
i have a castor issue as well and my truck wonders pretty bad on rutted out road. radial tires helped alot but im not gonna do anything about it soon. if i drop my radius arms my d shaft angle will be too steep and to cut and turn is alot of work right now. I have mostly gotten use to it and just drive more carefully now..

 

[james t]

Figure out what degree C-bushings you have in the thing and go from there. You may need to do a combination of new C-bushings and lower the radius arm to frame mount.



... and BTW- it looks like i won the alignment war a few pages back afterall. :

 

[hatched91]

james t-yep you won the alignment war haha.
COB- i told the guy at ntb they were the same..no luck with that guy, a buddy of mine who works there said the guy knew what he was talking about, but since i couldn't convince him about the kingpin angle, and he said "according to bronco specs you're 3.4 degrees off caster" i knew he wasn't one of the old alignment guys who i had hoped would have some general alignment knowledge.

i am still having some issues with the steering box, sometimes it will want to go straight with the steering wheel turned 30 degrees, then other times it will be 30 degrees off straight in the other direction, there is some slop coming from somewhere, but i'm not sure where it's coming from. I have the set screw in the box tightened down all the way, the box may be just worn out, there is no play in the balljoints, or TRE's. any suggestions to that problem?

 

[james t]

On the Early Bronco and 4x4 truck boxes you ruin them if you go more than one turn on the play adjuster screw. It jams the sector shaft into the piston. I would imagine the Explorer box is the same way but i dont know for sure.

 

[hatched91]

well i'm going to put my 302 in this week, and then next week, i'll reposition the coil buckets and make some drop brackets for the radius arms. I'll try to set the toe in by tape measure just to have it somewhere close.

 

[hatched91]

well the v8 is in! here's a couple of pics

 

[hatched91]

now that i have the v8 in, my 1st gen explorer box won't fit. I now need to get an outer-framerail mounting steering gear box. I was thinking about using a toyota IFS box because the pitman arm faces backwards, but it has a balljoint in the pitman arm. Any suggestions as to a steering box i can get that the pitman arm is facing backwards?

 

[IZwack]

you can get aftermarket arms for the toyota IFS box.. or you can go the iffy route and build your own -- thats what I did and mine has not broken (yet ) all you need is the proper sleeve to fit whatever TRE you're using (or a reamer). anyways just search Google and you'll find many shops that offer aftermarket arms -- but I know for sure SkyManufacturing makes em.

 

[FROADER]

section525 used an fj60 box.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1531398&postcount=3

 

[IZwack]

section525 used an fj60 box.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1531398&postcount=3

Isnt that a forward-facing steering box?

 

[FROADER]

Yes, yes it is.

 

[hatched91]

well i found one that i can have reamed. It's from a toyota pickup. The IFS steering box. The only issue i may have is the power steering lines. Here's my current delimma. Should i try to recess the frame to wedge the box between the frame and oil filter, or should i buy a remote oil filter kit($275) a little expensive and no oil cooler, or just go with the toyota box?

 

[IZwack]

y-y-y-yota

 

[Mud Bug 94]

the oilf filter kits can be bought for 50 clams if you part out.

 

[hatched91]

that sounds like a good route, where do i buy the parts, and what parts do i buy?