Jack's SAS version 3.0

[Four0Sport]

I cant keep a rod end on the frame side of the trac bar to save my life.. I literally ran a ruffstuff rod end 2 months (3 times out) and already knocking.

Would a poly bushing be better on that side? I think it might be. problem is I cannot find a 1.75" poly bushing with a threaded rod end

also, while I'm complaining lol using the duff swap coil buckets and duff lower spring seats the coils sit inward at the lower seat. anyone else have this issue? is it really an issue? suspension seems to work fine its just one of those things that bothers me. i thought about re-drilling the seats and moving them outward but fear i may not have enough room before hitting a C

 

[james t]

Try QA1's. That's what is on mine and it's been there for years.

You can redrill the lower cups no problem, like you said though watch for clearance around the C so you don't have the coil rubbing it at full stuff.

 

[Four0Sport]

i might get another set of cups and re drill them.. for now though i dont seem to have any issues.

thanks for the reply!

 

[turboexplorer]

I run a big poly bushing on the frame side of mine and a small johnny joint at the axle side drilled out to 5/8" holes for big bolts and no issues at all yet. Wheeled a ton an 6,000K road miles. But if you have run a rod end your mount will be to narrow to fit a big poly bushing.

 

[4pullingGM]

Nice build!

 

[Four0Sport]

I run a big poly bushing on the frame side of mine and a small johnny joint at the axle side drilled out to 5/8" holes for big bolts and no issues at all yet. Wheeled a ton an 6,000K road miles. But if you have run a rod end your mount will be to narrow to fit a big poly bushing.

I think a poly bushing will do the job.. ill have to see about finding/making one

Nice build!

Thanks!

 

[turboexplorer]

Pics of mine.

 

[Styx]

Great looking truck there dude... any updates on it???

 

[Four0Sport]

Thanks for the compliment!

Right now its sitting beside the garage with the rear ujoint about to fall out of it.. lol

Drove it 3 hours, wheeled it on some rocks, grenaded a hub, drove it home only to find that I must have spun the rear shaft flange on some rocks and one of the caps weasled its way out of the yoke. didn't notice it till I got it home though.

Flipped the steering over the knuckle, ran the tie rod all the way to the knuckle instead of using the saddle bracket on the duff steering. need to get an axle side track bar bracket to correct the geometry and eliminate some bump steer.

oh, and I picked up an open carrier for 3.92 and up gears, gonna get a lunchbox locker in the spring and get rid of the true trac.

 

[Four0Sport]

hmm.. been shopping axle side track bar brackets, Duff's seems to the be least expensive, saw one on wild horses, am I missing any others?

 

[Kirby N.]

Ruff stuff was the last one I used.

 

[Four0Sport]

shopped around a little.. ended up with the duff bracket.

let her run a little yesterday, gotta go over a few things this week for a ride next sunday

 

[Four0Sport]

it has become apparent that I have an issue with my steering. what is the issue? it sucks. i'm all over the road constantly correcting the steering. now I know that since flipping the steering on top of the knuckle the track bar is not in the same plane as the drag link and i do have a axle side track bar bracket to install to correct that, but even before I flipped the steering the truck was a pita to drive.

i set the toe an 1/8" in on the front, the caster is not too horrible, all rod ends on the steering are new, ball joints are in good shape. the only issue i am currently aware of is the rag joint has a crack or 5 in it, which could be causing some of my issue. not to mention the fact that my steering gear box is 21 years old.

so lets say I replace the rag joint and install the track bar bracket, what else should I look into? wouldn't hurt to fab up some tabs on the axle tubes and run the explorer front sway bar or figure out a way to install a steering stabilizer (ive been looking for a photo of a SAS'd RBV with a simply stabilizer installed but haven't had much luck finding one).

its becoming a pain to drive, and i don't want that..

hopefully someone other than me keeps tabs on this thread lol

 

[Kirby N.]

Turn the truck off, and have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth in the slop slowly. Look at each of your suspected spots. All that you mentioned could be it. Put a finger on them as they are being wiggled and feel for slop. Sometimes you will see it. You could probably get away with more toe in and it would drive better. Trac bar/ drag link angles and length inconsistencies will not affect handling on a flat straight road, where they will show themselves is on big bumps. If they are off, the wheel will be held straight and the truck will dart one way when you hit a bump that cycles the suspension. The reason you aren't finding steering stabilizers is that they are not needed on our design if everything is in good shape and not wore out. Jeeps need them because the inverted y setup on them is crap and crammed into a small space that gets worse with lift. Most of the time stabilizers just mask worn parts even on jeeps.

 

[Four0Sport]

thanks for the advice Kirby! sounds like a good reason to get a couple friends over on a rainy wet day. I just spent all the change I could find in the house at the car wash hosing everything off to give it a good look over without having mud falling in my face. anything to get the steering/handling to feel somewhat safe will help, makes it a pain to drive on long wheeling trips. I got till december to figure it out..

 

[james t]

Everything Kirby said... also you can mark the steering shaft with a straight line in front of and behind the rag joint. Have someone wiggle the steering wheel, and watch both those lines. A tiny amount of play anywhere in a steering shaft is magnified to a huge amount.

Getting your trac bar set properly will help, but I wouldn't do sway bar until you get the mystery solved and don't do a stabilizer at all. I am no sway bars and bias plys and mine will run interstate all day with 1 finger on the wheel. With radials it drove better than a stocker ttb with 28's on it.

 

[Four0Sport]

good call on marking the shaft.. I sorta messed around with the steering shaft, inspected the lower rag joint and did not see any noticeable cracks like you can on the upper rag joint but it needs to come off nonetheless.

got caught up helping a buddy find a noise in his XJ, ended up being the track bar mount on the frame, got me thinking about mine, sure enough one of the bolts was loose.. should prbly get that thing welded to the frame just for that reason. only other thing we could find inspecting the front end was the rod end on the pitman arm cutting into the misalignment spacers.

when I first did the SAS it drove like a dream, way better than the TTB ever had. now its degraded severely.

 

[Four0Sport]

undid the over knuckle steering flippy thing, drives better, should drive even betterer after a proper alignment on tuesday.

shocks are shot, time to measure for some quality shocks. rear setup needs some tweaking too, LH lwr mount that I bolted to the sway bar mount is loose, nut is stripped, bracket on the diff tube is cracked. I think I have some ruffstuff shock mounts laying around somewhere.

 

[Kirby N.]

When I had heim steering and trac bar joints on my explorer and I was daily driving it in the weather and stuff it would actually wear them out in a year to create enough slop to death wobble. I ended up swapping them out for a 1 ton the setup. I got More misalignment travel with them anyway.

 

[Four0Sport]

When I had heim steering and trac bar joints on my explorer and I was daily driving it in the weather and stuff it would actually wear them out in a year to create enough slop to death wobble. I ended up swapping them out for a 1 ton the setup. I got More misalignment travel with them anyway.

seriously considering going back to TREs as part of the narrowed HP44 swap that hopefully gets started soon. gathering up parts when I can grab them.