well i finally spent the time and converted the dodge to crossover steering and converted the track bar to a replaceable hiem joint end. only problem i ran into is that there is nothing to limit the down travel, aparently the only thing limiting it before was the stock ball joint pan hard bars small range of motion, real good design. anyone else run into this issue? i figure ill just order a set of limiting straps like what youd see on a buggy or baja truck and throw them on there. anyway heres how it came out.



notice how much droop the front end has in the pic, the springs are just hanging out there

it was kind of a nighmare to do, fell of the jackstands at one point. always fighting against using the wrong/inadequate equipment to do a job with.


heres how to go about fixing the panhard bar for good. people say you can weld to it, some say you shouldnt because its cast. what i did was drill it through, and then drill it crossways and welded my adapter in with a hug plug weld and then also ran a bead around the end. rock solid. as for the frame, just built a set of tabs and welded them to the frame or in my case the lift kits drop bracket.




all these parts, the tubing, rod ends, adapters, hardware, everything, all comes in just over 300 bucks. not bad since just a new pan hard bar runs over 200. its all .120 wall dom tubing with 3/4" teflon lined hiems and 5/8 bolts.

 

Looks good man I jus lifted my 96 with a 6"long arm kit an was thinking of doing something similar. Why tire size you running and how does it handle?


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That looks awesome man you did a great job!

 

Let us know about the longevity good job man

 

thanks guys. it handles alot better then its ever done before, im running some junky 35" bfgs. only problem i ran into was i couldn't get the caster better then -1.5 degrees on the pasenger side, the lower link arm must be tweeked, i got the driver side to 2.5degrees no problem. other then that and the fact that bfgs are next to impossible to get the rim clamps on for alignment, the whole setup was a dream to align and it drives great even with the caster not 100% what i wanted to see.

 

Being a solid axle getting caster on one side to adjust up and the other one stay where it's at isn't possible, if you get crazy with it you could run into the wheel base on one side of the truck being different than the other side. Idk if itd be enough to notice or not. Are you adjusting the bottom radius arm only? Or is the top fixed? I don't recall as I dont own a 2nd gen, only have access to one.

 

the adjustment is on the lowers only. its very possible to have different caster from side to side if the lower link arm is short on one side, it just makes the axle sit under the truck in a twisted up manner... or at least thats what id imagine, i just rely doubt that that alignment rack is wrong.

 

That's what I meant by the wheel base being shorter from one side to the other. Good news is caster is only a stability angle. No tire wear will come of it and it doesn't pull unless it's WAY out. As long as you still have your steering wheel return and your SAI is in check you're ok, shouldn't have a steering problem one out of it.

 

yea the truck goes down the road square, the camber is 0 on one side and 0.1 on the other, tow is right at spec. all i need to do is play with the drag link and center the wheel up better. i wont have any issues with tire wear and that's what makes me happy, nothing like the junk front suspension setup on my chevy that eats mud tires in 10,000 miles, the truck just drives itself out of alignment.

i will say tho, i hit a bump on the highway and got the death wobble again, i drove my truck from central fl down to the keys and back and the pitmant arm got loose again so i guess that's it since i have no stabilizer, i shouldn't need one if the Pitmant arm is tight. the pitmant arm is a constant battle on this truck, i actually put some washers on it because it ran out of threads before the arm got tight on the splines and surprisingly it worked really well, but it didnt last. time for a new pitmant arm, just slapping a steering stabilizer on would be a band aid. still need those limiting straps but i just wasted around $500 on audio equipment and dont have much money left .

 

Try adjusting your steering box, deffinately fix your pitman arm issue... It may be the sector shaft in your steering box is toast. And cross over steering or not you need a stabilizer. The only way you can get by without the stabilizer is if you run a full hydraulic or hydraulic assist steering system.