Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

Damn good price for those Treps.

 

Posted this in my build but figured I might as well do it over here too. Any suggestions. SAS with toy axle, and now with tg 4" springs.

So we have been messing with this for a few days now and want to get some other opinions. The problem we are having is that the steering bars (Tie rod and drag link are what we have been calling them) rub on the passenger side when the driver side is up and passenger is down basically making so we cant steer and the weight of the axle and tire is sitting on the steering arm and springs. We narrowed it down to that we rotated the spring perches and pointed the 3rd member at the transfer case causing about a 5 degree difference between a stock axle and the axle under it. That 5 degrees seems to equal about an inch that the knuckles were turned forward since we didnt rotate the knuckle the balls. I had some 5 degree shims laying around so I took those and threw them in and flexed it and it seems to help as with using a skys flat pitman arm. So our plan is to get skys high steer arms since they are shorter and hope everything clears with the shims. If they do, then I will take the second axle I have, truss it and move the spring perches out but dont rotate them (leaving it with stock settings). If they dont clear with the shims and skys arms, we are not sure what to do and want to know what you guys think. COuld also pull a leaf out but trying to avoid doing that right now. We were also thinking about limiting the down travel to right before the steering touches the spring. Any ideas what else we could change to avoid doing that? Thanks guys.

 

Considered actually rotating the knuckle balls? Caster is way forward and could cause squirrely steering and/or slow or no return to center.

Or not moving the perches will keep the geometry between arms and springs in a position less likely to contact.

 

We may try rotating the knuckle balls. Really not something we want to mess up and dont have a jig. We moved the perches out wider but was thinking of not rotating them on the 2nd axle.

 

Yeah bought a diesel and built a trailer for a reason. I might run it down the freeway on some 38's

 

Need some ideas for fixing this disaster. Besides the gapping hole in my firwall, I'm not sure the rag joint solution was a good one.

Damn hack

 

Maybe this can help you out

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/tacoma-and-4runner-firewall-plate/

It's for a first gen Tacoma buy may work

 

I have a 1st gen and used the firewall plate from Trail Gear. It was not a perfect fit, so a small bead of silicone was needed to seal the gap.

In terms of the steering shaft, i ended going with a custom piece from PSC. You can't find it on their website but they built one for me. It was not cheap...but It saved me a ton of time and it is actually a great part.

 

I might just order that to try it

 

You recall roughly how not cheap it was? Couple hundred? Sounds like a good idea

 

I would recommend trying the FROR firewall plate over the Trail Gear one. The tube/hole portion on the TG unit wasn't even round and I couldn't get the TG steering seal to fit. Ended up throwing it out. I don't recommend the TG seal either. I have it mounted (but obviously haven't used it) and it's already tearing/cracking.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend Woodward for steering components. Great quality, tech, prices, and selection to make custom setups. I used them for mine and couldn't be happier. I'm sure they can build a steering shaft for you. If not, it's easy to weld the components together yourself.

http://www.woodwardsteering.com/

Here's the first setup I did. Toyota splines on one side of the u-joint, and a Woodward spline on the other. Woodward splined stubs welded into DOM tube, and an identical u-joint on the opposite end.

DSC00019 by Jonathan Krajnak, on Flickr

DSC00018 by Jonathan Krajnak, on Flickr

DSC00023 by Jonathan Krajnak, on Flickr

 

@SGTCap This plate sucked asshole, at least for me. All the problems @45acp had with his trail gear plate, i had with the fror unit. The inner hole was not round and the seal didnt fit inside it, none of the bolt holes were the right size or lined up, and it fit the firewall like shit. Make your own, i would have been time ahead making it out of plate with an angle grinder over cussing at and modifying that POS firewall plate.

 

Alright, guess I'll make my own. Thanks for the heads up guys

 

What a shame that no vendor seems to get these plates right. Jeez...it's just a pieceof bent steel with a hole in the middle.

 

Pretty sure i yelled all this exactly, 3hrs into getting the fror one to work.

 

Well shit. Didn't know that these plates had these sorts of problems. I retract my suggestion.

 

I also had the same issue with the TG plate.. Ended up saying "Fug it" and ran it in with self tapping screws..

 

Mine is held in with two factory screws and foil tape and the shaft is sealed with sheet rubber i got from menards and foil tape. Waste of money and an evening and a half of of time dicking around with that plate.

 

I keep seeing this reoccurring trend of the issues with this firewall plate. I didn't have nearly the trouble as anyone that has posted regarding fitment. I actually was even able to fit the plastic "cover" aesthetic piece. Only thing I can think of is that everyone who has had this issue has pushed the steering box as far forward as possible and so now the angle of the steering shaft in "shifting" the alignment of this plate.

Ideas, thought? Just curious.

 

Mine was all the bolt holes were in the wrong spot and too small, and the seal didnt fit in the center hole. I moved my steering box closer to the firewall so that affected the center hole (was ready for that), however the seal didnt even fit before i got the shaft in.