Inverted Y

[NMBronco77]

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I have a 77 bronco ranger with the dreaded Inverted Y steering on it. I am looking at JBG "trailproof steering" set-up with the "over the knuckle" kit. First of all, is this a good way to go or should I just buy the Hiem joints and make my own set-up? Second, if I get the JBG setup, will I be able to use my stock height pitman arm or will I still need to have a drop pitman arm? I have a JD 3 1/2 " lift with a drop track arm bracket installed already. I thought that the over the knuckle set-up might raise everything up high enough to match things up good. Anybody with experience in this area?

Thanks,

Pat in NM

 

[Broncoholics]

Yeah, I went back to the stock pitman arm (no drop) when doing the tie rod over conversion. Heim joints work well but I found that theChevy 1 Ton knuckles work better. The thing about heim joints is they are not stocked at you local part store when you break down and need one to get off the trail. Mud will also wear the heim joints down over time. Heim joints only flex so far unless you use special tapered bushings which there isn't room for. Itsonly the drag link that see's the extreme angles when flexing the suspension.

 

[Broncoholics]

Oops forgot to attach a photo...

 

[NMBronco77]

Thanks for the reply.

Can you give me a little more information on the 1 ton Chevy set-up? It sounds like a great idea. What do I need to do? Buy a Chevy 1 ton tie rod with the ends on it and adapt my stock drag link to it? Use a Chevy drag link? Used rod/new ends? All new? All used? How do the tapers fit up? Ream reverse tapers into knucles? I have a lathe so I can make bushings or whatever I need to adapt things together. The more info you can give me the better. I think that this is the way that I would like to go but I will need all of the details to know where to start.

You are just plumb full of information. I see your name in here all of the time. Have you been into Broncos since "66 or what?

Anyhow, any more info that you have would be appreciated.

Awaiting your response in NM.

Pat

 

[Broncoholics]

Here's some info on the Chevy 1 Ton tie tod over conversion.

You first have to ream out the knuckles from the top down using a 7 deg reamer. No bushings are needed for the chevy 1 ton ends because they are large enough to take out the hour glass shape when reaming from the top down.

The passengerside tierod end has a location for the drag link so you don't need to ream it. See below photo. As you are reaming check the depth all the time by inserting the rod end into the knuckle.

The drag link ends are neat because they have about double the amount of travel of the standard tie rod end. I bought mine through Autozone.com which had really good prices.

Autozone Online Prices:

ES2233L $25.99 (draglinks)

ES2234R $24.99

ES2027L $24.99 (tie rod ends)

ES2026R $24.99

For the tubing I would go with either 1.25" OD x .281 wall DOM or 1.5" OD x 0.344" wall (11/32nds). This way you can run the tap directly into the tubing and won't need any threaded adapters. The Chevy stuff does require some special tooling. You need a 7 degree tapered reamer and 7/8"x18 right and left hand taps.

The jamb nuts should come with the rod ends so look inside the box at the store. I got one with out one time.

Hope this helps!

 

[NMBronco77]

Thanks a million!!

Looks great!!

Two more questions.

#1 Do you also have to ream out the Pitman arm to fit the 1 ton drag link? If so, with the same 7 deg reamer? (by the way, I had a terrible time finding that reamer. Finally found it at Snap-on. Part #R121)

#2 If you go with the 1.5" diameter tube, and you have double shock mounts, do you have any trouble with the tube hitting the mounts on full lock?

Pat

 

[Broncoholics]

Sorry I forgot. Yes the pitman arm will need to be reamed with the same 7 deg reamer. I found a cheapy at Tool Town, I can get the part # when I get home.

The Snap-On one is the same thing. Use lots of cutting oil so you don't wear it out.

The biggest thing is to check when reaming; it goes fast when its new so keep fitting the rod end into the knuckle or pitman arm untill it fits. If you go too deep then you can build some shims or get new knuckles or pitman arm.

I'm not sure if the front dual shock set up will hit the tube or not but its got to be damn close. If I were you I'd only run one shock per corner mounted behind the coil for best results and flex. The front shock will run out of down travel before the rear shock.

Plus the ride is much softer with singe shocks. If you plan on jumping your rig then you should get the Duff Shock Hoops and run duals side by side just behind the coil. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />