Front leafs, need steering advice.

[joeyschribar]

OK, basically i cant afford (right now) crossover steering on my front d44, and the leaves are in the way of normally mounting the draglink to the tie rod.

what i have planned in my head is to custom build out of heim joints, a draglink and tie rod.
the draglink will be about 1 and 1/2 inch shorter then the original one, so it mounts INSIDE the leafs.
Is there a downside to this, does the drag link need to be as far to the outside of the tie rod as possible?

i tihnk the only other option that i have would be so bend up a Z shaped draglink, which i dont want to do. Whats the importance of having the draglink mounted as far to the outside of the axle as possible?

Thanks!

 

[jbjustin33415]

Just wait and save up to do the crossover steering. I had a lot of lift once I put leaf springs in the front ~11" and to get the stock steering to work I had to make a horrendous Z bar that was FUBAR and just plain made the jeep suck. I tested it in the backyard and the tires would barely turn from the deflection of the crap Z bar, even with some gussets. Take a look at my build thread for how I did my Z bar and the parts I ordered for High Steer. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=976383

 

[tommyboy]

Ya id just wait. I just did my leaf swap as well but not as dramatic as 11''. Mine was only 4''. Gay yj leaves! But id just save your duckets and get your knuckle MDT and do it right the first time. I did that and dont have any bump steer. If anything my steering radius got better.

 

[jeeperjohn]

The purpose of mounting the drag link farther to the outside of the tie rod is less change in steering geometry with suspension compression. The closer to horizontal the drag link is, the less change in steering geometry. This is why people use drop pitman arms.