freaky steering...

Post by **mellows40** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:45 pm

G`day guys,
I`m still having trouble with my steering. The old girl is realy camber sensitive.. and tends to be a little craby when driving on road. Now I have replaced the tie rod ends, put on new leaf springs, shocks and ... extended the front shackles...which I think may have changed the castor angle...would the extended shackles have anything to do with it?...

cheers

Post by **superslowlux** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:59 pm

Is your steering box all sweet, do you have much play between steering wheel and pitman arm? Try adjusting the box if so, probably not your prob but worth a check.

Post by **RAY185** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:02 pm

Extended shackles are most definately your problem. Go down and get a wheel alignment and ask them to advise you of your caster measurement. Its probably minus. Ideally you need to be about positive 3 or 4 (from memory, wheel aligner should be able to confirm). You'll need to get caster wedges for your front springs in the appropriate degree. I think I used 3 degree wedges when I fitted 2 inch extended shackles.

Post by **mellows40** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:23 pm

G`day guys...
Cheers ray185.. the total length of the front shackles standard are 70mm from pin centre to pin centre..... Mine are ... 140mm pin centre to pin centre... I don`t have any castor wedges in at all . I have to get of my bum and get it checked...

As far as play in the steering box there is a little at the wheel but arn`t all 40`s a bit loose?

Post by **Ricko** » Mon May 25, 2009 9:01 pm

The extended shackles are definatley a problem, do as Ray suggests.

I find the spigot thingy that goes into the idler arm gets flogged out every couple of years as well. Might be different system on yours (mine BJ42). Can get a rebuild kit for about $70 or replace entire unit for about $140. However the inside of the idler arm wears as well and I can never get it perfect.

Post by **shorty_f0rty** » Mon May 25, 2009 9:06 pm

yeh mate these guys are on the ball i reckon.. get some 3 deg castor wedges from a suspension joint should fix you up (think i paid about $70/pair)

Bet yours railroads really bad on uneven road eh?

if you can find steel castor wedges get them.. I've already been through 1 pair of aluminum ones due to cracking (squashed too much?)

Post by **mellows40** » Tue May 26, 2009 3:15 pm

G`day guys,

OK I went to Beurepaires they checked my castor angle, steering alignment.... get this... for free!!

Then advised me that sure enough the castor angle was out 4 degrees..... the steering alignment was fine but would need looking at in the next month or so.
Also one of their employees was an avid 4x4 enthusiest and confirmed the steel verses aloy wedge question . for wear and tear steel is better as it doesn`t tend to squash and break as alloy does....He had a squashed one there at the time, alloy.. so thanks to all... I will be getting it done as soon as the handbrake lets me

Yet another problem solved due to this forum... CHEERS

Post by **RAY185** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:24 pm

You might have trouble finding steel ones. I've never seen them. Did you end up finding some for yours Andy?

I guess you could get someone to make some up for you.

I've had the same set of alloy ones in mine for over 4 years with no dramas. Most suspension specialists will have them on the shelf or be able to get them in. I bought mine from Fulcrum Suspension in Brisbane. Superior Engineering and Snake Racing both list them on their online stores too from memory but shop around. Make sure you get them the same width as your springs (should be 70mm from memory).

Post by **shorty_f0rty** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:46 pm

RAY185 wrote:You might have trouble finding steel ones. I've never seen them. Did you end up finding some for yours Andy?

I guess you could get someone to make some up for you.

I've had the same set of alloy ones in mine for over 4 years with no dramas. Most suspension specialists will have them on the shelf or be able to get them in. I bought mine from Fulcrum Suspension in Brisbane. Superior Engineering and Snake Racing both list them on their online stores too from memory but shop around. Make sure you get them the same width as your springs (should be 70mm from memory).

Nah Ray, just got some aluminum ones again. I had done a fair bit of work with my suspension so they were probably fatigued from the tightening and re-installing multiple times.

I never found steel wedges, just got the same again from Fulcrum suspension (only replaced the 1 that busted and kept the other as a spare). And yeah, they are 70mm wide if i recall correctly.

Post by **mellows40** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:06 pm

G`day guys,
make them....... great idea I`ll get some thick plate and grind them on the surface grinder at work....... should I get 350 grade steel or would mild be ok? what do you think do you think? should be easy and only take an hour or so as we have a cnc surface grinder that can be set and left to it`s own

Post by **rockcrawler31** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:21 pm

mellows40 wrote:G`day guys,
make them....... great idea I`ll get some thick plate and grind them on the surface grinder at work....... should I get 350 grade steel or would mild be ok? what do you think do you think? should be easy and only take an hour or so as we have a cnc surface grinder that can be set and left to it`s own

jesus.

to be honest unless you can be pretty sure that you get both exactly the same it will cause as many dramas as they fix. Plus the amount of work that would be - better to just do as Ray suggests and buy them. Superior are a pretty good supplier to deal with. They're not that expensive to be honest

Post by **mellows40** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:31 pm

Yep I`m pretty sure I can get them exact as he use the surface grinder`s to get both punch and dies sharp for the turret punch machines and we make our own tooling for the brake presses all the time.... a couple of wedges should be a snap... I`ll get the fitter and turner at work to give me a hand with it.... he`s bloody briliant on it and has milled the head on his car increasing the compression...

Post by **rockcrawler31** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:34 pm

mellows40 wrote:Yep I`m pretty sure I can get them exact as he use the surface grinder`s to get both punch and dies sharp for the turret punch machines and we make our own tooling for the brake presses all the time.... a couple of wedges should be a snap

No worries. i didn't realise you had access to decent engineering gear. I thought you meant like a linishing maching or summat

Post by **thehanko** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:35 pm

mellows40 wrote:Yep I`m pretty sure I can get them exact as he use the surface grinder`s to get both punch and dies sharp for the turret punch machines and we make our own tooling for the brake presses all the time.... a couple of wedges should be a snap

cnc

should be ale to get them perfect.

Post by **mellows40** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:39 pm

If they turn out how I hope I will let you all know.... should be done in 2 weeks as I`m on holidays at the moment

Post by **Gav75** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:44 pm

I just received a set of caster wedges from 4wd Systems (SA) today. These are for a BJ74 cruiser front end. 3 Degree and all steel. $115 delivered to my door in one day. Hope my steering is sweet after the install. Steering is vague and wandering at the moment. I'm actually quite used to it as its been like that since I've owned the vehicle. Wont know myself now. Also got some of those gen2 Lovells shocks. The Cruiser should ride sweet once everything is in and I get a wheel alignment.

Gav.

Post by **mellows40** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:05 am

G`day gav,

3 degree and all steel for $115.... Please let me know how your steering feels after you have put them in..... I`m in the process of makin them at work... I`ve enlisted the help of our draftsman and the fitter and turner so I`d love to know as much detail as you can give me .. if you dont mind.... ie the finish.. is it zinc plated, painted, powdercoated or raw steel... mild steel or tool steel.. once I`ve made em tested em and sourced the change over bolts for the leaf springs and had them checked by an engineer ... I intend on makin a few for sale.. so far it`s cost me... 2 slabs of beer and one bottle of scotch to bribe the guys at work..

Post by **chunks** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:58 am

Any EFS dealer should be able to get the steel ones, I've fitted them a few times at work. Also pretty sure the Superior wedges are steel too.

Post by **scuba steve 22** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:19 am

mellows40 wrote:G`day gav,

3 degree and all steel for $115.... Please let me know how your steering feels after you have put them in..... I`m in the process of makin them at work... I`ve enlisted the help of our draftsman and the fitter and turner so I`d love to know as much detail as you can give me .. if you dont mind.... ie the finish.. is it zinc plated, painted, powdercoated or raw steel... mild steel or tool steel.. once I`ve made em tested em and sourced the change over bolts for the leaf springs and had them checked by an engineer ... I intend on makin a few for sale.. so far it`s cost me... 2 slabs of beer and one bottle of scotch to bribe the guys at work..

just use mild steel, the tool steel might wear everything else it contacts with

cheers steve

Post by **Gav75** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:36 am

I'm not sure what sort of steel it is but the spring perches on the diff are quite soft steel. They were easy to drill through when I driled them to move the diff forward an inch so the tyres cleared the front gaurds. I would say mild steel. They are painted in a rust proof undercoat to stop rust. I just have to get longer spring center pins before I put them in.

Cheers,

Gav.

Post by **davidwalton** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:39 pm

so how does all of this go with soa. Are you still looking to get around the 3-5 deg mark, where do you get the longer spring center pins from?.

Post by **yamaha__308** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:21 pm

davidwalton wrote: where do you get the longer spring center pins from?.

Any spring works should stock them. I once used some HT bolts with the head ground circular.

Post by **Gav75** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:16 pm

Hey All,

I installed the caster shims a week or two ago. Pretty good results. The cruiser handles way better. Not as vague and unpredictable as before the shims. Probably should have got 4 degree but its a huge improvement as is. Got my center pins from pedders after going to a couple of auto parts stores with no luck. It was a pretty easy job, no dramas, and only took an hour or so and a couple of beers.

The cruiser still pulls to the left. Tried everything and not sure what to do now.

Post by **davidwalton** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:59 pm

just had a wheel alignment on my soa fj40 and the caster was about + 2.5deg got all new tie rod ends and bushes. it drives nice and straight and doesn't pull around but if i turn it left it will stay left and not return to center and same right. i have a hd return shock on it and it makes no difference. The steering box (60 series) is a little worn, could this be the problem??

Outer Limits 4x4 Board

freaky steering...

freaky steering...

Who is online