[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

UGH!

I got the pitman arm reamed, the tie rod and drag link all welded up, and then began final test fitting before removing for paint. And it was then that I realized I couldn't thread in my LH threaded tie rod end on the tie rod. It only went 3/4" in. WTH? It had threaded in fine before welding. I tried the other LH threaded tie rod and the same thing! Both RH threaded tie rods went in without issue. Something in the LH threaded inserts was affected by the welding because each has visible bungs about 3/4" in.

So now I'll try to locate a tap locally to have them cleaned out. I'm still waiting on the jam nuts anyway so I couldn't do final assembly yet, regardless. I also ordered some sway bar endlink mounts from Rusty's. They'll likely have to be modified a bit, but I think they'll make getting a sway bar installed a bit easier.

If you can't find the tap local, shoot me a PM with sizes. I'm 99.9 percent certain I have the size you need in LH that I can loan you. Pretty cheap to ship back and forth in a padded envelope.

In all likelyhood you're dealing with 7/8-18 LH thread, which I doubt you'll find local. If you have to buy one, you won't like it, they are 50+ for each tap.

[Tommy R]

Thanks for the offer. Yeah, I'd priced them out and I did find a local shop with a RH 7/8-18 tap, but no LH tap. I think the place I bought the inserts from has one and I'm planning on calling in the morning. I really appreciate the offer and if this guy doesn't come through for me, I may very well take you up on your offer! Thanks!!

Tommy

[Tommy R]

Blaine, I owe you a debt of gratitude. The tap arrived today and I cleaned up the bunged up inserts with ease! Thanks again!!

So I'm still waiting on jam nuts, tie rod stablizing washers from JCR Offroad, and still need to fab up the sway bar mounts, but things are getting close. I'll disassemble for paint soon. Looks like I may have some bumpsteer issues. I'll cross that bridge when I get there, though.




At full driver:




Doesn't hit the diff cover:


At full passenger:


Obviously tight clearance to mount a sway bar bracket, but I've got an idea for that. At full passenger the tie rod actually contacts the spring a fraction before the steering stop hits. So I may limit the steering throw if it's an issue:


More updates soon, but maybe not before the weekend...

Tommy

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Blaine, I owe you a debt of gratitude. The tap arrived today and I cleaned up the bunged up inserts with ease! Thanks again!!

You're very welcome.

[Tommy R]

FYI, it's going in the mail tomorrow or Wednesday (depending on work) along with a bit of financial appreciation.

Thanks again!
Tommy

[Tommy R]

Well about a week and a half ago I ordered some jam nuts and TRE spacers/bushings from JCR Offroad. I've tried calling and e-mailing them a couple times to check the status of my order. No one has answered or responded. Today their number was disconnected. Of course, I've already been billed for these parts.

I have no idea what's going on with the, but I decided to just order the jam nuts from Spidertrax since they have them in stock. I'll take some measurements and makes some TRE bushings. I hopefully will have some time tonight or tomorrow night to make the sway bar mounts, too. Then it'll be ready to go back onto the street.

Tommy

[RnEmOvr]

so are you doing hydro assist? or is what you picture all?

[Tommy R]

No, not doing hydro assist. Well, at least not yet. I'll see how the steering does after this project is done.

So I decided to make a little progress on the sway bar mounts. The clearance between the axle mounting area, the spring, and the tie rod is very, very tight. One thing that I decided would help me is to space the mount farther to the outside, closer to the wheel, basically. So I cut the long sway bar mounts I got from Rusty's, doubled up the piece I cut, and welded it to the mount with a couple rossette welds and some stitch welds.

Here's the finished product minus paint:




Here's an approximate location for it. I'll have to grind some clearance for the tie rod for sure:


Here you can get a rough idea of how doubling up the material thickness buys me a little room to get the mount away from the spring:


Tomorrow I hope to finish welding/grinding and maybe get some paint on the parts.

Tommy

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Well about a week and a half ago I ordered some jam nuts and TRE spacers/bushings from JCR Offroad. I've tried calling and e-mailing them a couple times to check the status of my order. No one has answered or responded. Today their number was disconnected. Of course, I've already been billed for these parts.

I have no idea what's going on with the, but I decided to just order the jam nuts from Spidertrax since they have them in stock. I'll take some measurements and makes some TRE bushings. I hopefully will have some time tonight or tomorrow night to make the sway bar mounts, too. Then it'll be ready to go back onto the street.

Tommy

Part's Mike should have your bushings. And, if you had said something, I could have tossed some jam nuts in with the tap.

[Tommy R]

Aw man! I didn't even think to ask, Blaine! So do you just have a big stash of this stuff or what?

BTW, are those tie rod end bushings (to prevent unwanted rotation) common? I was just going to get some delrin and make some if I couldn't find any off the shelf. I'll check out Parts Mike.

Tommy

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Aw man! I didn't even think to ask, Blaine! So do you just have a big stash of this stuff or what?

I build jeeps that need steering, trackbars, and control arms. For that I need jam nuts and taps for the threaded tube adapters in sizes from 1/2-20 through 1 1/4-12 both right and left hand including 24mm x 1.5 left and right for WJ stuff.

BTW, are those tie rod end bushings (to prevent unwanted rotation) common? I was just going to get some delrin and make some if I couldn't find any off the shelf. I'll check out Parts Mike.

Tommy

Delrin will blow up your TRE's. The ones from JCR are from a Wagoneer and are two metal discs like used on shock bushings with a special hardness rubber washer between them.

As you turn your steering through it's cycle, one steering arm rises as the other lowers due to the inclination of the kingpin axis inwards. If you put a non compressible material in between the body of the and the steering arm, it will put a lot of pressure on the body and pin.

Call Part's Mike.

[Tommy R]

Oh, I gotcha... I didn't realize that was an OEM part. I checked Parts Mike's site and didn't see it so I'll call in the morning and get them ordered. Thanks for the heads up on that...

Tommy

[Tommy R]

So today I decided I'd finish up the sway bar mounts, paint the tie rod and drag link, and maybe mock up everything one last time. I'm still waiting on jam nuts which should be in from Spidertrax in two days.

But much to my surprise, guess what was waiting for me in my mailbox this evening? Yup, jam nuts and tie rod bushings from JCR! So now I've got visions of final assembly in my head.

First I test fit the tie rod bushings from JCR. They're nearly twice as thick as the space I've got between my knuckle and tie rod end. While I can torque them down to seat the tie rod end, the bushings mushroom pretty severely given how firm they are. I'm thinking I'll need to grind them down a bit before final assembly. Anyone have an idea how much preload these bushings should have?

Got some paint on the links. John Deere Blitz Black to the rescue:


Then I modified the sway bar mounts and burned them in. Yes, I obviously had to do a LOT of clearancing and I'm a bit concerned about their strength. It's 1/4" material so it's got some meat to it, but I think I'll get some solid round or square stock and weld it to the side for more strength similar to what I did before on the passenger side:




The tie rod contacts the springs at full lock either way. I think I'll limit my steering just a bit to play it safe.

Anyway, so then I go to thread on the jam nuts to begin final assembly. The RH jam nuts went on piece of cake. Then it came time to the LH nuts. As luck would have it, I ran into issues. They only threaded one about 1 full turn. Take a look at the threads on these guys. I can't tell for sure, but it almost looks like these were threaded differently from the 7/8-18 they're supposed to be. WTH??
Click for a larger image:




So I can't/won't use these. At least the Spidertrax jam nuts will be here Thursday. This thing's going to the alignment shop on Saturday!

Tommy

[Tommy R]

Good news! JCR is still in business! I got ahold of them today and they're going to inspect their LH jam nuts and send me two good ones. I also asked about the tie rod end bushings and they said that, yes, they do require quite a bit of preload. So I may still need to trim off a little bit, but from what he's saying I may only remove 1/8" at most.

So it looks like I'm on track to have this thing on the road some Thursday night.

Tommy

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Tommy

Don't brace the mount off to either side. Take another piece of 1/4" and go straight off the back with a gusset that fills in the curved part from the lower end up past where you clearanced.