I'm looking at doing the crossover steering on my truck but have a bunch of questions.! First I need new front springs to level the truck but will crossover work with a "stock height" truck or only lifted?? Second, is the crossover worth it? I need to replace or fix the dang steering gear bracket (cracked of course) but if I go with the C.O steering I won't need this bracket correct?? Thanks

 

Crossover is well worth it no I don't believe it will work on a stock height truck and as for the plate with crossover it's History cause you mount the box directly to the frame .

 

Get new springs to level it, then do the crossover. According to the guys here that have it, they can't see how they lived without it. One guy has a new F-250 and he said the CO steering makes his 1st gen steer FAR better than that new truck.

 

Crossover steering is 1000% worth it. It has been the best mod I have done to my truck to date. It makes the truck feel 10 years newer at least!









I did my crossover steering with VERY little lift. As far as the top of the spring is concerned I might even have ZERO lift. My spring pack is really tall so it eats up a lot of space.

There is a lot of detail in the build link in my sig.

The short version is...

4wd box moved to the 2wd position on the frame, 4wd steering lines work
Borgeson steering shaft ( version with rag joint )
Jeep WJ pitman arm, reamed for deeper TRE, alignment keys removed.
1.5" tall, 6" to center, passenger side steering arm.
Slight bend in the drag link for 3" compression travel
Custom adjuster so I can center the wheel with bent link

Crossover steering was the difference between being excited about building my truck again.....and not building it much more at all.

 

The cross over I made wouldn't work with a stock height truck, it would need 3 or 4" to work. But I can see how Mieser's would work on a stock'ish height truck.
And yes, if you can afford it, or have the time to build it then do it!!! Makes a world of difference driving and being able to make a right hand turn.

 

Its tight, but it fits. I didn't even have to trim the cross member under the engine at all.

 

Mieser have you had it off road yet with the set/up ? how well does it work on your truck with what lift you have ?

 

I 'flex' tested it as much as I could driving over stuff around work and one a really rutted road by the house. My springs don't move much at all. I have had zero contact with the drag link on any part of the spring or crossmember. This truck doesn't see anything much harder than something like Fins & Things in moab for reference.

The front springs where on the truck when I bought it. They have at least 2 extra leaves. The truck sits ever so slightly nose up with the tall 1992 rear block. I would guess about 1-2" of lift from factory springs?

The main leaf of the spring is still stock i'm pretty sure, the extra height comes from the extra leaves. This leads me to believe that crossover steering will work with factory springs if you where to use the same parts.

For a little insurance I may add a shim under the factory bump stops. If they broke off or over compressed I could hit the drivers spring onto the pitman arm TRE.

 

Mieser, I checked out your original post and your set up looks like it would work, at least with new springs up front. I'm just reasearching this option right now as I have the truck torn apart and am now putting it back together to get her running in top shape again. I'll get my new springs then I'll make a move to cross over. Your set up looks clean and perfect for lower riding trucks. Thanks

 

No problem. I think the key is the Jeep WJ pitman arm. It was the only one I could find that has the right drop and length. It allows about 3" of compression before the spring hits the TRE and is also long enough that it gets the drag-link into the middle of the crossmember that goes under the engine.

I did a 6" long ( to center pivot ) steering arm also. This kept the drag link back far enough to make enough space for the drag link. My arm is 1.5" tall but I have really tall springs, with stock springs you could probably use a more normal arm, maybe something off the shelf.

I think Poly Performance might have a weld in double adjuster that would work.

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/...r-p-19276.html



Its $45 but works just like the one I built, its even more compact.

 

The other problem is that I don't think any crossover will work if you have a factory sway bar. Looking at mine the sway bar comes right through the area needed for the crossover bar.

 

I would agree, no room for the factory sway bar.

 

ahhh.. That's good to know!! I just took mine off and ordered all new links and bushings.. Ha ha.. well we shall see!!

I don't plan to off road at least not trail blazing only some (very little) beach driving. Thanks again for all the info! I'm sure I'll be picking your brain about this Mieser in the future!!

 

I have no direct experience with the product, but NorthWest FabWorks (Parksville, British Columbia) makes a crossover steering kit they assure me will work on an unlifted First Gen.

The kit includes a 4" drop Pitman arm and a draglink with a couple of small bends.

You can e-mail them for details: info@northwestfab.com

 

Naaa I think I would stick to a company that alot of the first gen guy's have used before going into untested water'swith a canadian company