I was looking at the steering set up on my 2wd '80 crew and noted a couple things; the steering box is bolted directly to the frame, no miserable plate to crack, is already sort of a crossover set up. What would it take to use this configuration in a 4wd? A dropped pitman arm, a new draglink and a steering arm mounted to the top of the right side knuckle? Also, reinforce the frame at the steering box while I'm at it. The truck will be mostly street driven, lifted only enough to level it, 285/75/16 tires.

 

Check out offroaddesign.com for the steering parts and dodgeconnection for the steering box brace. I had planned on doing this but jobless equals funds-less. I suppose someone could easily copy the design from the pics.

 

I have look at a few x-over setups. The main thing is that you have to lift the front end enough so that the drag link will clear the springs. They also bolt the box in the "2wd spot". Also most will strongly recommend a panhard bar, other wise it will just move the axle side to side rather than just plain steering it.

I put a hydro assist setup on the '89, and when diving down the road it has pretty bad bumpsteer. I feel this is because the steering has so much more power now. When you hit a bump stock it turns the wheel in your hand a little, with the hydro assist it will just turn the wheels. A crutch I found was to let up on the wheel when you get to the bump. A panhard bar would fix it. I don't drive it on the street much.

 

Curt, does your '89 have any lift? I learned that it doesn't take much lift to induce bump steer if the drag link geometry is not maintained. Even an adjustable drag link will not fix the problem, because it is still working at the wrong angle. Better steering assist woud probably amplify that. It should not bump steer at all if it is set up properly.

 

Good call. It has a RCC shackle setup on the front. With the roughly 2-1/2" lift and stock saggy front springs, it sits level front to rear. Maybe it is slightly higher in the front now than stock? Either way it is worse with the hyd cylinder hooked up. It just takes so much less input from the wheel to steer the vehicle.

Ideally you would have 3 way valves on your cylinder fittings. With the valves "open" the fluid with go to the cylinder as normal. Then you could "close" the valves and the pressure from the box would be blocked off, and the ends of the cylinder would be T'd into a line going back to your reservoir. This would allow you to turn the hydro assist off for street driving.

 

D60 X-Over how to @ RCC
I used parts from Blue Torch Fab



If your gonna tear into your axle rebuild your kingpins, change your u-Joints while your in there

 

Thanks for the replies. I've never had problems on my Scout, which has the factory x-over set-up, as far as moving the front axle rather than steering, may be more of a problem with bigger lifts, sloppy bushings?

Good mat'l here for research, thanks.

One thing I'm wondering about is whether I can use the sway bar if I convert to cross-over?