Stock draglink travel in inches?

[Trango]

The title says it all.... what is the throw of the stock draglink, with stock steering stops? I am about to fabricate a new pitman arm and I'd like to know how much travel the steering really needs..

Yes, I could jack up the axle and swivel it (and still might) but it would be great to have a measurement from a stock truck.

Would anyone be able to throw a square on the frame and give me a lock-to-lock throw of a stock truck? If not, no worries, but it would be a fantastic point of reference to have, and would be much appreciated in advance.

BTW, my current ram-assist box pushes the drag link 15" fore and aft... something tells me this is a bit much.

 

[rosco]

You might not be able to get that measurement, unless some one is holding the steering wheel against the stops, while the measurement is taken. It still might be hard to do, unless the weight is off the axle (its jacked up).

Lee in Alaska

 

[Trango]

I just did the front axle swivel.

From what I can tell, the draglink, as measured at a point approximately 5" out from the frame rail and approximately 23" fore of its position at neutral, swings approximately 8" between steering stops on the frame.

The Tie Rod, stop to stop, experiences a transverse movement of approximately 9 5/16". This seems about right, since I run 2 steering axles on my buggy, and having removed the steering stops on both, I run a 10" ram lock to lock.

I have a ram here that is 7 3/4", so I'll probably couple this somehow to either pitman or draglink, with just a hint of angularity/vertical offset in its frame mount to accomodate a draglink that throws 8".

The kicker is that, even with the single-style wheels I made with lots of backspacing, I still hit the stock bigtruck dragink that came on this salvage steering system. I am thinking of ways I can either reverse the mounting position of this on the draglink or run a Spherical Rod End (single shear) or massive Tie Rod End on the inboard side of the draglink.

Either way, this project, which was supposed to be so easy, has entered "Art project" status.

 

[55Cameo]

I put full Hydro steering on my Deuce. I purchased a 3"x9" double ended ram from PSC. It has a 9" stroke designed for the Deuce. It takes mine right up to the stops at the end of the travel.

 

[Trango]

Very cool. Just curious: Did you do a hydraulic pump to an orbital, or did you drill and tap a steering box?

BTW, I left town for the 4th, and much to my dismay, the steering elves did not visit me and work out an ideal solution to my steering design conundrum.