Steering Box Brace

[Talyn]

Originally I was trying to find a clamp style brace that mounted to both frame rails, but the only one that did was kevinsoffroad. Didn't really like the design of that one.

Why didn't you like the design?

 

[NCCherokee]

I liked that it hit both rails, but didn't like the 1/2" steel rod (I think) that was the brace, and that had all those bends (though mecessary to catch the box). I just didn't seem like with it's shape and thickness that it would resist bending forces from flexing frame rails as well as larger tube or straight tube.

 

[NCCherokee]

Ive got my steel and am in the process of cutting all the brackets out. Turns out I will end up using the PSC nut rather than the RSP nut. The RSP nut is shorter which is ideal, but it is a larger diameter so the bearing surface can fit over the end of the sector shaft. This the bearing for the RSP nut is larger, so much so that the set screws don't contact the shaft of the nut.

You can flip it upside down, but then it hangs lower than the PSC nut. I'll post some pictures tonight. Should have this thing all welded up by the weekend.

 

[NCCherokee]

here is a comparison of the two nuts and the two bearings, PSC 1" diameter nut on the left and the RSP 1 5/16" nut on the right.

As you can see the RSP nut requires a larger (and deeper) bearing.

This is the RSP nut in the bearing. You can see that it doesn't reach to the set screws. This would require me to run the bearing upside down so that the bearing mounts from below rather than above. This moves the large bearing lower down. Not a huge issue but I wanted to keep the bearing a high as I could, so I am going to use the smaller bearing and PSC nut. Also with mounting it upside down, it won't line up with the square tube that will tie the two frame rails together.

 

[Talyn]

Is there anyway you could push the bearing out and flip it?

 

[sunburned]

I don't see any reason not to use the smaller PSC bearing for clearance reasons. Any support on the end of the sector shaft will help, it's not like you are putting tons of stress on it to the point where you need a huge bearing and bolts to hold it in place.

Don't really need those set screws either. Any deflection at all will make sure the sector shaft bolt turns the bearing. And if it doesn't, then you are still ok.

 

[ChiXJeff]

The 1" self aligning bearings I grew up with on the farm, and IIRC the steering brace on my CTD, all used eccentric collars instead of set screws. Eccentric collars tend to not mar the shaft up as much as set screws. In this application, that's really not much of a concern.

I've also had pretty poor luck removing bearings from pillow blocks, they're usually staked in place pretty well.

 

[NCCherokee]

Can't press the bearing out. Anyways because the larger bearing is so much thicker the difference in clearance is negligible with the longer PSC nut, esp after I cut it down.

Here is the tube mocked up with the frame rail brackets

There will be a plate on the end to give some vertical support to the mounting brackets

The bearing is bolted to a bracket. To make sure everything lines up correctly, I will tie the bearing bracket to the tube with this plate. There will be a gusset on each side to prevent deflection and strengthen it.

Here is a front view. The bumper is 25 1/4" from the ground. The bottom of the bearing is 22 1/4" from the ground.

I cut the nut shorter so it is flush with the bearing. There will be a small skid to protect the bearing.

Hopefully it'll be welded, painted and bolted up this weekend. I think I can use a piece of the 2x2 tube as a spacer for the swaybar.

 

[zebvance]

Is there a reason you chose aluminum?

 

[Talyn]

Is there a reason you chose aluminum?

Where?

 

[CobraMarty]

Is there a reason you chose aluminum?

'tube mocked up'

Can you flip the bearing to above the plate (and maybe use rounded head carriage bolts up from the bottom) and then the plate will act also like a 'skid plate'?

 

[NCCherokee]

It's not aluminum. I ground the scale off cus I was sick of that shit getting all over the place.

I could flip the bearing, but it would then raise the point where that plate intersects the 2x2 tube. Currently it is about level with the bottom of tube so it's able to tie in right at the bottom with the plate in the picture and very simple. I suppose I could flip it and figure out a different way to connect it to the tube, but it would be butt welded and require additional gussets. I might look at it tonight and see if I can conceptualize a good attachment that way.

Good idea though. I guess I was trying to mimic the dodge brace as best I could.

 

[CobraMarty]

I see what you mean.

 

[sunburned]

Nice job. Definitely brace that plate a lot more that's holding the bearing. I'd have that braced more than the plates holding the tube to the frame.

 

[NCCherokee]

Nice job. Definitely brace that plate a lot more that's holding the bearing. I'd have that braced more than the plates holding the tube to the frame.

Yeah I have some 2x4 box tube I'm gonna cut in half to gusset the hell out of it and also to use as the skid

 

[NCCherokee]

Got the thing about 80% welded up tonight. We ran out of wire. Gonna add a few more gussets, and then we decided to capture one of the bumper bolts on each side. Pics to come once it's welded up. I have a LOT of grinding to do. Didnt realize how much weld there was going to be.

 

[sunburned]

You might be going a tad overkill on this haha. I'd say the two bolts from the sway bar bracket are just fine, considering PSC has it that way for their brace on a full size truck.

 

[NCCherokee]

You might be going a tad overkill on this haha. I'd say the two bolts from the sway bar bracket are just fine, considering PSC has it that way for their brace on a full size truck.

Maybe, but that full size truck has a frame. Also, it was an additional 4" piece of metal on each side and maybe 3" of weld. The reason we did it this way is because the two sway bar bolts are about 4-5" behind where the cross tube is, so we wanted a little added insurance.

 

[NCCherokee]

Quick pic. Not finished as above. We ran out of wire and did a little flux core, then ran out of daylight. I'm gonna grind down the welds and head over later this week or next week to finish welding it up. The bracket hanging off the tube in the middle towards the right is where the pillow block mounts. Ive gotta open that hole up a bit more to clear the nut. I'll try to paint it a contrasting color so it shows up in pictures on the jeep

 

[sunburned]

Looks great man.