Turning radius after front D60 upgrade

will e · Post by **will e** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:19 pm

My rig now has a D60 'snofighter' axle from a 78 ford up front. The turning radius is not great. I got under it today with the wheel turned as far as it would go in one direction I couldn't see what was stopping the wheels from turning farther. On the D44 I used the stops to keep it from hitting the springs. Will the steering box only turn the pitman arm so far?

Post by **Stuka** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:03 pm

What arms are you using? The length of the arm REALLY impacts steering radius. The pitman arm does have a limit, if your steering stops are not hitting, then it may be an issue of the arm.

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Tad · Post by **Tad** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:23 am

Interesting.
My D60 actually has a better turning radius than my HD44 did.
Not by much but having a 69" WMS as compared to the 67" WMS the tires don't hit the springs at full lock.

Gumby · Post by **Gumby** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 5:28 am

From the way that looks Mike, there should be now way that when the wheel is straight that the tires should be. Looks good but that issue sucks.

will e · Post by **will e** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:38 am

So folks with D60's, what is your limiting factor? How long is your pitman arm? Thanks!

Post by **Stuka** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:43 am

You are using a stock pitman arm right?

How long is the arm on the knuckle?

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Locked and Loaded · Post by **Locked and Loaded** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:09 pm

Is the radius the same no matter which way you turn?

will e · Post by **will e** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:37 pm

A couple of pics:

The arm on the top of the knuckle is about 9 inches from the center bolt to where the steering arms connects.

The pinion arm is about six and a half inches.

There is a couple of three inches between the spring pack and the steering. They put a spacer in to help clear it all. I went back and looked at some of my d44 pics and it was a lot closer to the spring than this is.

Here you can see the spacer on top of the knuckle (passenger side).

This give you an idea of how much 'drop' the pitman arm has.

AwesomeJ10 · Post by **AwesomeJ10** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:58 pm

can you put the heim joint in the 'inner' position on the passenger side knuckle? there should be a hole right about the 7" mark that would give you a little more radius.

Tad · Post by **Tad** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:02 am

Looks like they set you up with heim joints on the tie rod also.
Find out what size they are and get some spares (or rebuild kits if those are rebuildable).

Post by **Stuka** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:51 am

Like Blake said, move that to the inner hole. Outer hole gives your steering box more leverage, but increases turning radius. Also notice you have a drop pitman arm, that also changes your turning radius (it's shorter, so less throw).

Oh and like Tad said, heim joints wear out faster than TREs, so carry spares.

will e · Post by **will e** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:21 am

Totally makes sense to try a closer hole. I will give that a shot.

The told me the heim joins would wear faster but that they were stronger. I don't put a lot of miles on the jeep so I figured it was worth the trade off. I will pick up some spares.

Thanks for the continued advice guys!

AwesomeJ10 · Post by **AwesomeJ10** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:50 pm

can you post a pic that shows the entire drag link assembly? I wanna see how much the DPA is dropping and what angle the drag link is at...

68glad · Post by **68glad** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 7:19 am

will e wrote:. I got under it today with the wheel turned as far as it would go in one direction

does it turn super sharp to the right? Shorten drag link and reposition steering wheel. Or, find center of left turn and right turn and adjust drag link accordingly.

will e · Post by **will e** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:05 am

Seems the same in both directions. I will do some experiments. Then I will move it closer to the knuckle and see what that does. My old axle is at the shop but looking at a picture I think the steering was closer to the center of the axle. On that axle I used the stops to keep from hitting the springs

RamJetFSJ · Post by **RamJetFSJ** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:04 pm

The drop pitman arm isn't off a XJ or something? FSJs have the longest pitman arm.

I would use whatever hole on the high steer thats the same distance from the axle center line as the tie rod ends (since thats what stock equivalent would be.

will e · Post by **will e** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 3:31 pm

Pitman arm is about 6 1/2 inches (see pic about). Can anyone check their stock one?

Post by **Stuka** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:29 pm

Drop pitman arms are shorter. I have a stock one in my shed I think. If you can get away with a stock one without bump steer, go for it.

Better turning radius and less stress on the steering box.

Tad · Post by **Tad** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:29 pm

I had to go back to a stock one when I went D60 with full high-steer.
DPA actually put the drag link lower that the tie rod so not the same issue.
I just kicked that old pitman arm across the patio a few days ago.
I will try to remember to measure it.

Post by **rstep** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:00 am

stock is about 7" just measured off the 79.

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