cross over steering for dodge rams

[ak_petey]

I have been looking online for high steer crossover steering systems and/or crossover steering systems.,.. cant find any.

[78calico]

Your Ram should have come from the factory with crossover steering Petey.

[akram]

Did the second gens have it? I thought they were the inverted Y type.

[ak_petey]

yeah they are Y type .. almost cross over but not quite

[akram]

The thing is there wet the HD steering settle and the inverted Y. If you do a search on dieseltruckresource.com for inverted Y converted to T linkage you should find the part numbers to swap it.

[Fix_It]

with coils up front what would the benifit be of high steer ?

[JeepMadness1979]

clearance, for one

[Zukman]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]665[/ATTACH]Not bending your junk like Chris!

[ak_petey]

That steering is definitely crossed over many things!
looks like he tried the ill run into stuff method of getting his crossover steering.

[Fix_It]

i like that mod .. triangulation on that rocks i bet it takes a beating !

[ak_petey]

speaking of mod... after I put on my new tie rod ends last night, I didnt realize my buddy was leaning on the tire and must have moved it out of its alignment. I even measured before I put the tie rods together and put them together at the appropriate length!
So when I went to put install it they didnt fit!I was kinda confused at this and shortened the rods so that they would.. well. apparently on the way in to down every time i hit a bump or icy patch my tires squawked and pulled .. it was a long 30 min drive to town at 30 mph . Tomorrow is my date with American Tire and Auto for an alignment.

[ak_petey]

I have done a bunch of searching online and I have not found a simple bolt on conversion for cross over steering. What I did come up with is I need to get new inner "C" s and kingpin knuckles that match and a crossover kit to do this right. if anyone has found or knows of anything out there that I have missed I would love to hear about it!

[78calico]

If you need new inner c's, it's not a simple bolt on. You'd be miles ahead finding a kingpin axle to swap in. You should ask yourself why you need a crossover steering system. Your truck isn't lifted enough to clear the linkages right now. If you were to lift it 6-8 inches, I would see the need.

[ak_petey]

The truck is lifted 5.5 inches, ( so the lift says )
the reason I am looking into this is because the tie rod ends and drag links are flexing when I turn. Ole, think you saw the steering components flex (almost hitting the diff cover). I can feel the slop when I drive too, It is tolerable for time being even though it is extremely annoying to continually correct the trucks steering.

I figure if I go with some heavy duty steering linkage and setup (DOM or equivalent) I might as well have the crossover when I do it.

[AKMark]

Put the truck back to stock height. Obviously that Dodge doesn't like the fact that it's lifted.

[ak_petey]

The plan is to wheel it one day Mark
I cant be high centering the truck now can I?

[ak_petey]

So I have decided not to sell my dodge. I like it enough the way it is.
It would cost me more money to get a new vehicle in the long run anyway.
I have invested in spyntech manual hubs with 35 spline outers. These are very spendy. why take a hit and stop here?

My current pet peeve is the sloppy steering. the tie rod ends are BENDING. so I have been on a hunt for steering knuckles that would provide me the ability to add crossover steering, it is not the king pin knuckles like I wanted but Ive read up on ball joint vs king pin knuckles enough to decide that what I have is good enough, this truck will see the road 95% of the time and 5% off road. I can live with ball joints.

Spyntech, the home of solid axle industries... or the other way around has a high steer knuckle kit for my dodge. I am stoked about this. I got a small bonus that would cover this, I am ordering tomorrow! I will post up parts and install when I get items. .. Im excited!![COLOR="Silver"]

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[/COLOR]http://www.solidaxle.com/ProductCart/pc/...product=43
http://www.solidaxle.com/ProductCart/pc/...product=45[COLOR="Silver"]

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[/COLOR]well, I guess this is turning into a build thread. Can someone PM me directions on how to move it to the appropriate section?

here is a start of what I have done so far.

[ak_petey]

I finally got a hold of a tech at spyntech, and he said the ball joint knuckles were not for the dodge but for Ford? I must have missed something, and I am confused by this.
here is the link:
http://www.solidaxle.com/ProductCart/pc/...category=9

the title says :
Pair of D60 Ball Joint Outer Knuckles (Chevy/Dodge)

chevy never used a solid axle with balljoint knuckles. dodge did (both). - hence my confusion.
I am not sure if that picture is representing the exact item either. Their are 6 holes that bolt into the spindle, my dodge has only 4. I am guessing this is where I am probably missing something. Anyone have some good knowledge of these axles?

[ak_petey]

I was going through my threads and decided to update this one.

I came across THUREN, A company that makes a steering upgrade for dodges.
What do you all think?
http://www.thurenfabrication.com/crossover.html

saw the price, its actually not bad compared to stock tie rod end and steering joint replacements.
I am currently weighing in this option with THUREN and finding a d60 Ford kingpin Axle. The pro's to having the Thuren kit is that I could immediately get a ram assist steering cylinder and mount it up. With the d60 Ford axle I would have to spend some money on a crossover kit, steering knuckles, etc. and then the ram assist later on.

I am in no rush to decide on either, but I am leaning more towards the Ford d60 kingpin axle at the moment.

[88XJ]

Is this for the DD or your old truck?

[ak_petey]

Old truck[COLOR="Silver"]

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[/COLOR]01 dodge
2500[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 05:31 am ---------- Previous post was at 05:31 am ----------

[/COLOR]01 dodge
2500[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 05:33 am ---------- Previous post was at 05:31 am ----------

[/COLOR]It can be a DD. But will serve as a back up vehicle and part time wheeler

[88XJ]

IDK but you already spent a lot of $$$ on your current axle and to stop and spend even more $$$ for a different axle for a part time wheeler I think I would fix your current steering problem and spend the $$$ some place else.

[akram]

Dan is great people. He has spent alot of time designing, researching and engineering stuff for dodges. If I ever wanted to do anything to my dodge I would be buying his steering, tracbar set up and long arms. To me his stuff is top of the line.

[ak_petey]

this is true but I may be sending the hubs back due to manufacturer error on the hubs if it is determined. Gotta get some time to take apart the axle hubs and inspect them. if I can get the money back from a hubs, I should have plenty of money for the new axle

[ak_petey]

:mad:
popping sound may be due to broken teeth on the pitman arm? well i found broken teeth on my pitman arm today when I was installing the THUREN heavy duty steering set up. gotta order a new one. dang.

So this means I need to wait to finish installing the whole setup. ill post a picture when there is more light out for a photo. yeah i know the nights are pretty bright out. .. my camera = a whole world of suck

[akram]

Give me measurements of it. Spline count, hole diameter, also if the taper is on top or bottom etc.. I think I have one from a dodge sitting at my house.