Barely Turn Right With MRAP wheels & Super Singles

[Hummer Guy]

Title pretty much says it, I finally got my MRAP wheels and 395s on the M35, I love the tires and the ability to cruise 55mph easily but the radius on my right turn is very big. The tires rub on the pitman arm/drag link castle nut when trying to take any sort of hard right. I have the waterloo power steering

 

[Cajunkr]

Title pretty much says it, I finally got my MRAP wheels and 395s on the M35, I love the tires and the ability to cruise 55mph easily but the radius on my right turn is very big. The tires rub on the pitman arm/drag link castle nut when trying to take any sort of hard right. I have the waterloo power steering

Hey! So I’ve been researching this as much as possible to try and avoid this issue. In your opinion, looking at the tires and setup you have, how can this setup be changed to avoid the rubbing? Move the box higher up into the fender to clear or at least give more room? Or move the box back towards the axle to open up the space that it sits in? I’ve just been looking through pictures and trying to picture it on mine but I only have NDT’s. Also, how many inches is there from the front of your tire to inside the front fender brace? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Hummer Guy]

Hey! So I’ve been researching this as much as possible to try and avoid this issue. In your opinion, looking at the tires and setup you have, how can this setup be changed to avoid the rubbing? Move the box higher up into the fender to clear or at least give more room? Or move the box back towards the axle to open up the space that it sits in? I’ve just been looking through pictures and trying to picture it on mine but I only have NDT’s. Also, how many inches is there from the front of your tire to inside the front fender brace? Sorry for all the questions.

I'm going to look a bit more at it, I believe my pitman arm wasn't pushed far enough on the steering box, I grinded the little edge piece on the steering box to push the arm farther back on the splines but I didn't take the truck out for a test drive yet to see if it made a difference, from just looking at it, it seems like I have a little bit more of a right angle. The best way to avoid this is most likely to go with the A3 wheels or the special made ones on Eastern Surplus. I'll mess around and check everything to see if I can get my right angle turn back. I do have some 1/2 inch spacers laying around that's for the rockwell axles, that may give me enough offset to avoid dragging on the drag link.

I'll measure it, but I know its a bit far off from touching the fender brace

 

[Cajunkr]

I'm going to look a bit more at it, I believe my pitman arm wasn't pushed far enough on the steering box, I grinded the little edge piece on the steering box to push the arm farther back on the splines but I didn't take the truck out for a test drive yet to see if it made a difference, from just looking at it, it seems like I have a little bit more of a right angle. The best way to avoid this is most likely to go with the A3 wheels or the special made ones on Eastern Surplus. I'll mess around and check everything to see if I can get my right angle turn back. I do have some 1/2 inch spacers laying around that's for the rockwell axles, that may give me enough offset to avoid dragging on the drag link.

I'll measure it, but I know its a bit far off from touching the fender brace

Thanks! I already have the MRAPs and 395’s, just not on the truck yet. I’m still resurrecting it. There’s a steering gear for a Volvo rig that has the pitman arm sandwiched between the frame rail and the steering box. I just need measurements to see if the box will fit between the wheel and fender brace. M100-pqw32 or thp60-004 are the two variants I’m looking at. It’s just hard to picture them in place. I need to make a wood template of the box to see how much room is left.

 

[sue]

We have 53” and had to get a new pitman arm out of a truck junkyard to
make it work.

 

[Hummer Guy]

We have 53” and had to get a new pitman arm out of a truck junkyard to
make it work.

Do you know what truck that pitman arm went too?

 

[sue]

Do you know what truck that pitman arm went too?

Sorry off the grid for a while, no I just asked a truck junkyard to find one about this
leanth and this diameter and spline.

 

[Hummer Guy]

I've finally done my homework on this, seems like the wheels to use are these: MRAP wheels with 7" back spacing 10 bolt 13.187 can fit M35A2 with adaptor plate | eBay they have 7inches of backspacing compared to the 10.9 inch of backspacing on the MRAP wheels I have on. I do have some 1/4 inch wheel spacers but I doubt it'll make much of a difference.

Second option would be these spacers: 2.5 Ton Wheel Spacers | Rockwell/Meritor | Innovative Machining Solutions | Maine

 

[gringeltaube]

.... seems like the wheels to use are these:

Those will stick out a lot, on the front axle.
Ideally you want something between 8.5 - 9.0 inches of BSP, measured with the adapter plate already bolted on.

 

[Hummer Guy]

Those will stick out a lot, on the front axle.
Ideally you want something between 8.5 - 9.0 inches of BSP, measured with the adapter plate already bolted on.

Yea, it seems like my best bet would be the 2inch spacers, that would bring my wheels backspacing from 10.96 to 8.96, that should still let my wheels stay under the fender or flushed

 

[Hummer Guy]

I installed the 1/4 plates, I will test drive the truck later today or tomorrow to see how my right turn is, I took some measurements and even with 2inch spacers, the tires would stick out a bit pass the fenders, I will look and see if I can find some 1inch or 3/4 spacers on the market since the lugs are approximately 3/4 inch long. I'm mainly trying to get enough right turn where I can easily turn on a 2 lane street without damn near going in the ditch

 

[Hummer Guy]

Well, maybe I should've adjust the steering stops, the pitman arm finally ate itself up inside and left me with no steering