Steering Modification
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 1:31 am
Well, here it is:
Got tired of bashing my steering stabilizer on and on, so decided to slap an OME SD22 (for a Patrol) on the front a la Defender and beef up the track bar.
After a whole day roaming around the wreckers', I got my hands on a school bus' track rod (the buses that carry 44 passengers, the old ones). After some measurements, we found that to work great. It cost me 13USD with the used ball joints.
The ball joints were progressive from 17.5mm to 21.5mm, meaning that we had to widen the wholes at the mounting points from the original 15.5mm to 17.5mm. Easily done.
The rod itself was 85cm longer than what was needed, so it was chopped up the middle, revealing the beautiful 6mm thickness. it was welded to the desired length by inserting a solid shaft and welding a "v" section across. The front steering arm was sleeved with the chopped 85cm part and a "U" shapped section was welded for the steering stabilizer. My custom bumper already had the matching mount on the opposide side.
Welding and labor cost me nothing (I did that), 4 new ball joints were bought: 2 stock LR ones at 18USD, and 2 GMC "600 series" for 24USD each, rendering the whole upgrade to 97USD. add 2USD for a rattle can of matt black, and for under 100USD, I got some bomb-proof steering. To test this, the whole front of the vehicle was jacked on each rod seperately with no problem.
Herein are some pictures:
Got tired of bashing my steering stabilizer on and on, so decided to slap an OME SD22 (for a Patrol) on the front a la Defender and beef up the track bar.
After a whole day roaming around the wreckers', I got my hands on a school bus' track rod (the buses that carry 44 passengers, the old ones). After some measurements, we found that to work great. It cost me 13USD with the used ball joints.
The ball joints were progressive from 17.5mm to 21.5mm, meaning that we had to widen the wholes at the mounting points from the original 15.5mm to 17.5mm. Easily done.
The rod itself was 85cm longer than what was needed, so it was chopped up the middle, revealing the beautiful 6mm thickness. it was welded to the desired length by inserting a solid shaft and welding a "v" section across. The front steering arm was sleeved with the chopped 85cm part and a "U" shapped section was welded for the steering stabilizer. My custom bumper already had the matching mount on the opposide side.
Welding and labor cost me nothing (I did that), 4 new ball joints were bought: 2 stock LR ones at 18USD, and 2 GMC "600 series" for 24USD each, rendering the whole upgrade to 97USD. add 2USD for a rattle can of matt black, and for under 100USD, I got some bomb-proof steering. To test this, the whole front of the vehicle was jacked on each rod seperately with no problem.
Herein are some pictures:
