MQ steering Mods.

Post by **pongo** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:10 pm

Anyone ever put a straight draglink in and got rid off the relay rod crap. Mine had done alot of km and all of steering is shagged.

Its only a DD/tourer so std strength stuff is fine.

Whats the cheapest/easiest option?

Cheers

Post by **SuperiorEngineering** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:22 pm

Yes easy mod to do, fit GQ or GU box,preferably GU .
To fit the box you will have to do custom mounting on the chassis rails.
Fit a custom made drag link.
Was a couple of years ago when we done one but from what i remember that is all that was done.

Post by **Hoppy11** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:07 pm

I got another MK tie rod, had one end shortened and rethreaded, put 2 new tie rods in, fitted a steering dampner bracket and put it in easy as

Hoppy

Post by **neRok** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:34 am

i was thinking about doing this on my mq. I read in another thread on here that the reason for all the relay rods is to keep them all fairly horizontal, which makes it easier to steer or more 'direct' or something.

i can see in hoppy's pic that it is fairly angled. did u notice any difference in steering hoppy?

in order to try reduce the angle, is it possible to join the drag link to the underside of the steering box arm?

Post by **V8Patrol** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:18 am

neRok wrote: I read in another thread on here that the reason for all the relay rods is to keep them all fairly horizontal, which makes it easier to steer or more 'direct' or something.

Yeah it does that.....

It also limits the bump steer effect.

( the bump steer from an angled crossover arm is horrific and almost uncontrolable if a bump is encountered at speed !! )

By re-drilling the pitman arm to take the larger Toyota tierod end the crossover arm can be "lowered" slightly thus deminishing that undesired angle........ theres stuff on the tierod conversion in the Bible.

also.....

the steering damper should be relocated to the diff & draglink, this simple mod will elliminate 99% of steering shimmy as it deletes nearly all of the movement within the steering setup....
IE: fewer connections with play in them to dampen

NB: when doing the steering damper to diff & draglink conversion, it is better to utilise the std damper rather than RTC damper..... a RTC damper will make the steering much heavier when fitted in this location, even with power steering it WILL be HEAVIER !!

Kingy

p/s
RTC = Return To Centre ( for the new guys benifit )
Its a damper with a spring attatched that "assists" the steering to return to the straight position.

Post by **Hoppy11** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:09 pm

neRok wrote: i can see in hoppy's pic that it is fairly angled. did u notice any difference in steering hoppy?

I have not noticed the bump steer being any worse but the steering is more camber sensitive on some roads, meaning my steering wheel is slightly off centre on some roads but the truck still drives straight. I have thought of putting a high steer arm on to raise the hub height of the drag link to lessen the angle.

V8Patrol wrote:
the steering damper should be relocated to the diff & draglink, this simple mod will elliminate 99% of steering shimmy as it deletes nearly all of the movement within the steering setup....
Kingy.

where on the diff is a good spot to mount it
Hoppy

Post by **V8Patrol** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:43 am

Turn the wheels as far to the right as posiable......
Extend the damper fully out ......
The 'shaft end' should go onto the draglink and be just near the diff pumpkin....
The other end of the damper is now showing where on the passenger side of the axle tube it will need to go.

Make up a simple bracket and weld it to the axle tube, tack it on firstly and DOUBLE CHECK FOR CLEARANCES IE: full left & right steering movement
( I used a shocker mount from another car for the axle tube mount )

Use the end you have in one of the pics you posted to attatch the 'shaft end' to the drag link.... alternatively a simple mount can be made using a couple of small exhaust clamps and a bit of 4mm plate.

The damper should be slightly above the draglink height wise..... its in a fairly well protected spot when done this way.
I'm sure you work it out Hoppy

bloody simple mod that works a treat and is a huge help if steering shimmy is an issue.

Post by **V8Patrol** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:58 am

Bit more info from ya pic.....

the clamps and plate on the crossover arm will fit directly onto the draglink....

I see you have an outer shield on the damper...... loose it !
( the shield will bind up on the diff pumpkin when turned hard right )

Kingy

Post by **V8Patrol** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:06 am

What steering box have you got fitted ???? power or std ???

got a spare std box with a reverse tapered pitman arm here if ya need it.

Post by **Hoppy11** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:13 pm

V8Patrol wrote:What steering box have you got fitted ???? power or std ???

got a spare std box with a reverse tapered pitman arm here if ya need it.

Its a power steering box, will the piman arm you have fit
Hoppy

Post by **Hoppy11** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:14 pm

V8Patrol wrote:Turn the wheels as far to the right as posiable......
Extend the damper fully out ......
The 'shaft end' should go onto the draglink and be just near the diff pumpkin....
The other end of the damper is now showing where on the passenger side of the axle tube it will need to go.

Make up a simple bracket and weld it to the axle tube, tack it on firstly and DOUBLE CHECK FOR CLEARANCES IE: full left & right steering movement
( I used a shocker mount from another car for the axle tube mount )

Use the end you have in one of the pics you posted to attatch the 'shaft end' to the drag link.... alternatively a simple mount can be made using a couple of small exhaust clamps and a bit of 4mm plate.

The damper should be slightly above the draglink height wise..... its in a fairly well protected spot when done this way.
I'm sure you work it out Hoppy

bloody simple mod that works a treat and is a huge help if steering shimmy is an issue.

do you have a pic'
Hoppy

Post by **V8Patrol** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:41 am

Hoppy11 wrote:
V8Patrol wrote:What steering box have you got fitted ???? power or std ???

got a spare std box with a reverse tapered pitman arm here if ya need it.
Its a power steering box, will the piman arm you have fit
Hoppy

no...

the std box / pwr box are differant in the main shaft size and spline count.

Cant mod one to fit the other either !

pics....
Had a look back through my files and cant find one of it.

( very odd for me

)

Post by **TasMQ** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:09 pm

Will the standard tie rod ends fit the pitman arm and into the tie rod arm hole without modifying anything or do these need drilling? If drilling the pitman arm wouldn't coming from the bottom of the arm lessen the angle therefore improving the steering and lessening any bump steering effect

Post by **V8Patrol** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:21 am

We can only wish for things to be that simple

The tierod end is tapered..... so it only fits in the pitman arm from one direction only. Obviously you could simply re-drill it with a taper from the bottom but the contact area of the connection is halved.... = weakened !

The toyota tierod end has a much larger tapered shank on it compared to the std nissan unit..... The large part of the taper in the pitman arm is almost equal to the small part of the taper in the toyota tierod end which allows for this reverse drilling to happen. Once its re-drilled and the toyota end fitted to the crossover arm the arm will sit almost horizontal, defeating that nasty bump steer effect we get from angled crossover arms.

Kingy

Post by **David_S** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:45 am

Thank you V8Patrol for this info. Very helpful.

Is there any MQ/MK conversion you haven't done?

David

Post by **Hoppy11** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:18 am

V8Patrol wrote:We can only wish for things to be that simple

The toyota tierod end has a much larger tapered shank on it compared to the std nissan unit.....
Kingy

Which model os Toyota is the tierod from, cause I read somewhere that the 75 series was the same taper as Nissan's

Hoppy

Post by **TasMQ** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:08 pm

I will be trying the nissan tierod end coming in from the top for a start and see how it goes and the might go for the toyota end if I can find someone to drill the taper for me at a later date.
Anything has to be better than that bloody draglink setup

Just a quick question is the thread on a toyota tie rod end the same as a nissan one or is that differant too

Post by **Hoppy11** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:33 pm

TasMQ wrote:I will be trying the nissan tierod end coming in from the top for a start and see how it goes and the might go for the toyota end if I can find someone to drill the taper for me at a later date.
Anything has to be better than that bloody draglink setup

Just a quick question is the thread on a toyota tie rod end the same as a nissan one or is that differant too

Doubt it, MQ/MK thread is 33mm, GQ (same taper) is a smaller thread, so I thing the Toyota will be different.
Hoppy

Post by **WICKED** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:15 am

MQ P/s Box, chromo pitman arm, drag link, Histeer arm, Chomoloy Steering arm. Easy and Direct. Have a GQ box and Hydro ram for it now.

Post by **stokedapollo** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:34 pm

hey could someone send me more info on this i looked in the bible and couldnt see anything interesting idea wouldnt mind trying it
cheers guys

Post by **Hoppy11** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:47 pm

Hey Wicked, it looks like you have a Toyota drag liink end into your pitman arm, did you get it drilled and retapered for a toyo taper.
Hoppy

Post by **TasMQ** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:28 pm

stokedapollo wrote:hey could someone send me more info on this i looked in the bible and couldnt see anything interesting idea wouldnt mind trying it
cheers guys

Check this thread on patrol4x4 and the current thread here and you will have the same info that the rest of us are working on.
http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9330

This is looking to be the best Mod I have done in some time.

Wicked is that a diff protector you have made from a swaybay?

Post by **Nelso** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:16 pm

WICKED wrote:Histeer arm

Where did you get the highsteer arm for the MQ hubs? I thought they weren't strong enough to run these.

Post by **Hoppy11** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:43 pm

my mate has aspring over with the single drag link under the MQ pitman arm and the hi steer arm
Hoppy

Post by **WICKED** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:51 am

Hoppy11 wrote:Hey Wicked, it looks like you have a Toyota drag liink end into your pitman arm, did you get it drilled and retapered for a toyo taper.
Hoppy

Nope MQ.

Post by **WICKED** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:52 am

TasMQ wrote: Wicked is that a diff protector you have made from a swaybay?

Nope but the driver side is bolted to the sway bar mount. The other side is a U-bolt. Bottom bolts into the diff hat. Work'd great!

Post by **WICKED** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:53 am

Nelso wrote: Where did you get the highsteer arm for the MQ hubs? I thought they weren't strong enough to run these.

Mine is an Kaos one I think FM. Never had a problem!!!

Post by **MARKx4** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:53 am

WICKED wrote:
Nelso wrote: Where did you get the highsteer arm for the MQ hubs? I thought they weren't strong enough to run these.
Mine is an Kaos one I think FM. Never had a problem!!!

I had a hi steer arm from off road industries in my soa patrol for 2 years with no problems either.

Post by **TasMQ** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 7:54 am

Just thought I might add that there is 2 differant size tie rod ends for MQs these being 33mm and 25 mm, the tie rod diameter is the same for both just machined to the relative diameter inside.. I measured mine and 960 is the length I require so I presume others would be the same or very similar but with the adjustment on the tie rod lenght wouldn't need to be a problem.

Post by **Spartacus** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:31 pm

lookin to make a new 1 piece draglink for a project,

how long have you guys made the draglink?

Outer Limits 4x4 Board

MQ steering Mods.

MQ steering Mods.

Who is online