Cross over steering complete. (10 bolt)

[colonel mustard]

okay all...so I finally got around to installing my crossover steering. total invested was about 580$ give or take.

drag link came from ORD (95$)

cross over steering kit came from ebay which included (230.00 $)
factory dana 44 machined knuckle
WFO (made in Canada) steering arm
metal on metal drag link ends
cone washers and studs

2wd steering gear box. remanned. cardone brand. (148$) on amazon.
PS. mine required the adjuster to be loosened. Cardone has lost some quality over the years. if you can afford a new gear box then I would recommend doing so. that being said...I got lucky and mine seems to be pretty good.

I also put on a new power steering pump and PS lines since I was already into the system which cost me another 100$ for all of that.

final thoughts.....

cross over steering is the only way to go. it takes a few to get used to driving with out a sway bar. a couple of postives

the turning radius is very noticeably tighter. I wasn't expecting that. very very very awesome. I find it hard to believe that the companies making these kits are really saying anything about how much tighter the steering gets.

another thing to note is that it doesn't have to cost you 1200$ to get this done. I pieced it out and got it done for sub 500$

another awesome thing is when you are flexed out...you don't loose steering. it goes exactly where you want it to go. all the time.

it also really cleans up the looks of the undercarriage.

downfalls...2 wd boxes are getting hard to find with a quality rebuild. and are super expensive new...like 600$. wtf right?
it also takes a few minutes to used to driving without sway bars. maybe its in my head...but I do notice it. not to a level where I miss the sway bars.....just something to take note of.

 

[colonel mustard]

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Steering knuckle and steering arm all ready to go

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Out with the old

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All hooked up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Craig 85]

FYI Currie makes some universal splined sway bars kits if you ever want to add it.

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[77 K20]

Looking good! What is the clearance between the spring pack and the draglink? I'm probably going to have to order one of ORDs spacers since I'm running the zero rates in the front also.


So no weird steering issues around the city or highway? While researching crossover I found a lot of vague posts mainly on the expedition portal site saying how much some HATED crossover and they will never, ever do it. Makes it "undrivable" unless you are rock crawling. And it was from some very mechanically minded people with some great builds. "Larry" was one of them with the awesome blue K10 with an 8.1 engine in it. He also has a similar setup in a Suburban...

I have the Reid knuckles on, just need the rest of the stuff but work has been threatening shift changes which would then dramatically cut my pay (to the tune of 23.5%). So I'm holding off for now.

My turning radius sucks so it is great to hear it can be improved again.

 

[shiftpro]

Nice to hear from you Steve, it's been a while. Your rig and well made posts are always appreciated.

Your truck is more anti-sway bar sensitive with those wonderful multi leaf packs than say, a ROUGH Country 4 spring over sprung pack.
Or even a stock 3/4 ton leaf pack without sway bar (anti-fricken-sway bar) and stockish tires you would never miss it.

But these trucks sure wheel off road better with the bar, stock or otherwise. But then short travel shocks become the limiting factor.. as you know.

 

[shiftpro]

But I just gotta ask....
Why not a D60..?

 

[bucket]

The turning radius is tighter? Or do you mean in steers quicker? If the knuckles turned all the way to the stops before, there's really no way the radius could be tighter.

Now quicker steering, I can definitely see that. Various makers of the steering arm might put the drag link hole in a slightly different location. A little bit of difference in location there can make a big change, much like a different ratio in the steering box.

And fwiw, my experience with crossover on the street is good so far. It drives as well as a truck can with large swampers on it, and certainly no worse than my last rig with big swampers that sported the stock steering.

 

[dvdswan]

But I just gotta ask....
Why not a D60..?

You don't always need a D60. Unless you have a torque monster and are running larger than 36" tires a D44 is much simpler and cost effective IMO. Plus, like anything else that is sought after, the prices go up. Around my parts D60s are like gold and people ask 1k-2k for a used axle.

 

[colonel mustard]

Nice to hear from you Steve, it's been a while. Your rig and well made posts are always appreciated.

Your truck is more anti-sway bar sensitive with those wonderful multi leaf packs than say, a ROUGH Country 4 spring over sprung pack.
Or even a stock 3/4 ton leaf pack without sway bar (anti-fricken-sway bar) and stockish tires you would never miss it.

But these trucks sure wheel off road better with the bar, stock or otherwise. But then short travel shocks become the limiting factor.. as you know.

good morning...sorry for the delay....work is stupid busy lately.

so update,

I am use to the added sway now and isn't a big deal. some of the added "sway" I was feeling was from the worm gear on the rebuilt gear box being to tight. so I loosened is up a bit and viola...she rides great now.

my bump stops are my limiting factor right now. but your right about the shocks. I have what ORD recommends for shocks for my application. but I would like to upgrade to bilsteins when I blow these.

I haven't been on the rti ramp since I did the x-over steering to see if there was any articulation gained. I have been told there would be by random board member. I have my doubts. we shall see.

thanks for the interest in the build

 

[colonel mustard]

But I just gotta ask....
Why not a D60..?

D60 by me are $1600 in roughshape. so right away your infor the cost of the axle, a rebuild, probably gear ratio correction also. in short...money lol.

You don't always need a D60. Unless you have a torque monster and are running larger than 36" tires a D44 is much simpler and cost effective IMO. Plus, like anything else that is sought after, the prices go up. Around my parts D60s are like gold and people ask 1k-2k for a used axle.

I believe the 10 bolt front will hold a 37" tire wheeling everything im going to wheel with the horsepower I have. D60 may be over kill at the moment. plus I need to put a kid through college some day lol

 

[colonel mustard]

The turning radius is tighter? Or do you mean in steers quicker? If the knuckles turned all the way to the stops before, there's really no way the radius could be tighter.

Now quicker steering, I can definitely see that. Various makers of the steering arm might put the drag link hole in a slightly different location. A little bit of difference in location there can make a big change, much like a different ratio in the steering box.

And fwiw, my experience with crossover on the street is good so far. It drives as well as a truck can with large swampers on it, and certainly no worse than my last rig with big swampers that sported the stock steering.

thanks for the question...

to clarify I meant both actually. the response time is quicker for sure. and more accurate. but I did a series of turns and figure 8's before I did the swap sure enough it turns a tighter radius. now here the thing....I did an axle swap at the same time so there may have beensomething binding up in the old axle/factory steering linkages. hard to say for sure where I gained the extra radius decrease at. but I assure you that it is noticeably there.

 

[colonel mustard]

Looking good! What is the clearance between the spring pack and the draglink? I'm probably going to have to order one of ORDs spacers since I'm running the zero rates in the front also.


So no weird steering issues around the city or highway? While researching crossover I found a lot of vague posts mainly on the expedition portal site saying how much some HATED crossover and they will never, ever do it. Makes it "undrivable" unless you are rock crawling. And it was from some very mechanically minded people with some great builds. "Larry" was one of them with the awesome blue K10 with an 8.1 engine in it. He also has a similar setup in a Suburban...

I have the Reid knuckles on, just need the rest of the stuff but work has been threatening shift changes which would then dramatically cut my pay (to the tune of 23.5%). So I'm holding off for now.

My turning radius sucks so it is great to hear it can be improved again.

I will check the clearance when I get home tonight for you...its a few inches for sure right off hand. but don't quote me on that. I did get the raised steering arm (not from ORD) and it seems right. I have custom leaf packs from ORD so I had no choice but to get a raised arm.

how thick are the zero rates?

 

[dvdswan]

I believe the 10 bolt front will hold a 37" tire wheeling everything im going to wheel with the horsepower I have. D60 may be over kill at the moment. plus I need to put a kid through college some day lol

I've seen a Dana 44 axle tube turn (plug weld broke) on 37s. Not saying it wouldn't happen with smaller tires and the guy was climbing a large boulder. Moderate wheeling Dana 44s and GM 10 bolts do just fine.

 

[shiftpro]

D60 by me are $1600 in roughshape. so right away your infor the cost of the axle, a rebuild, probably gear ratio correction also. in short...money lol.



I believe the 10 bolt front will hold a 37" tire wheeling everything im going to wheel with the horsepower I have. D60 may be over kill at the moment. plus I need to put a kid through college some day lol

I can certainly understand. Big parts step up in price big time. Personally I would NEVER wheel 37s on a 10 bolt. I won't even run a D60 with the stock stub shafts, that neck down to the same size as the 10bolt/D44.
If you run a locker on the front diff... be careful!
Thanks for the reply.

 

[shiftpro]

good morning...sorry for the delay....work is stupid busy lately.

so update,

I am use to the added sway now and isn't a big deal. some of the added "sway" I was feeling was from the worm gear on the rebuilt gear box being to tight. so I loosened is up a bit and viola...she rides great now.

my bump stops are my limiting factor right now. but your right about the shocks. I have what ORD recommends for shocks for my application. but I would like to upgrade to bilsteins when I blow these.

I haven't been on the rti ramp since I did the x-over steering to see if there was any articulation gained. I have been told there would be by random board member. I have my doubts. we shall see.

thanks for the interest in the build

I highly recommend Doetsch shocks. Family run in Cali. You would want the mono-tube rebuildable.
http://www.shocksandsuspension.com/showitems.asp?dc=1
They will valve them for you truck and how you use it. You can upgrade by adding reservoirs later. If you want to change the damping they will
set you up with the parts to do it your self.

You won't get more articulation from the cross-over, just keeps the steering working when twisted. Removing or disconnecting the anti-sway bar WILL
give you more articulation as long as your shocks are longer.