18x1.5 Left Thread Tap = HD Nissan IFS Steering Links $95

[Trench_rat]

I have had my adjusters in for a while now and they sure can take a beating ie. i broke a cv but my steering is sweet. The first thing it showed up is that my UCA bushes were rooted which i had never noticed with the original steering. I also found it didnt like to self centre properly like it should , i know this to generaly be a castor problem but as that hasnt been touched i dont know how to explain it? anyone else found this with 2wd mod?

[lax2wlg]

Adjusted your torsion bars lately? That effects caster.
Camber and caster are both set by the shims/washers on the UCA bolts, caster is determined by the number of shims on each of the 2 bolts (relative to the other bolt) holding the UCA in place.

Make sure you use hardened washers, not shims.

In my case with 1.5" lift the caster and camber is returned to original specs and no shims or washers are needed.

I wish DEATH INC was still around this site, he is an alignment expert

[Heath]

Solid axles don't suffer from bump-steer 'per say'.

You never drove my hilux then. as the suspension worked up or down the front wheels turned slightly. When raised, it was .... interesting if you werent expecting it. Sudden braking was scary.

[lax2wlg]

That is correct, I never drove your Hilux.

Difference between roll steer and bump steer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer

Its sort of a tomahto/tomato thing, I think we're both pretty much talking about the same thing

[Trench_rat]

I havent adjusted my torsions in 18 months , should i have? i understand the camber castor stuff and it recieved a full alignment after i did my bushes so i know them to be in spec. I had a look underneath this morning and noticed that my draglink rises up at the idler end and the grease nipple is just touching the chassis , im wondering if my idler arm is not the correct part.

[lax2wlg]

I havent adjusted my torsions in 18 months , should i have? i understand the camber castor stuff and it recieved a full alignment after i did my bushes so i know them to be in spec. I had a look underneath this morning and noticed that my draglink rises up at the idler end and the grease nipple is just touching the chassis , im wondering if my idler arm is not the correct part.

I thought you were running the dual steering boxes?

Fullthrottle had that issue when he first put in his 2wd draglink. Turns out his idler arm was bent.

Idler arm bushes are also very important. I was just assuming we had all switched to the dual boxes and forgotten the idler arm ever existed.

[Trench_rat]

Its a brand new idler with a brace , i never noticed the contact when i first installed it so i may of bent it afterwards. It might be time to seriously look at dual boxes

[Heath]

That is correct, I never drove your Hilux.

Difference between roll steer and bump steer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer

Its sort of a tomahto/tomato thing, I think we're both pretty much talking about the same thing

Sorry my message came across as being a bit bitchy . Was meant as a joke - I need to use the icons a little more

[derk]

somebody better let lvvta certifiers know bump steer dosent exist on solid axles any more

[lax2wlg]

Its a brand new idler with a brace , i never noticed the contact when i first installed it so i may of bent it afterwards. It might be time to seriously look at dual boxes

Idler brace will stop it bending but it will not stop minor movement of the idler shaft.

Sorry my message came across as being a bit bitchy . Was meant as a joke - I need to use the icons a little more

All good, I took it as a friendly comment Anyhow I should probably have said 'unmodified, standard, unlifted solid axles,' not just 'solid axles'

somebody better let lvvta certifiers know bump steer dosent exist on solid axles any more

If by 'bumpsteer' you mean any type of unwanted steering input that occurs after you've jacked up your the front of your solid axle 4wd with million inch shackles and made no modifications to the steering, then yes, it most certainly does still exist.

[Trench_rat]

the idler brace will stop the shaft bending , does nothing for the cast arm though ,i sat my old idler against it last night and yep its about as straight as elton john

[lax2wlg]

I have one set of these left if anyone is interested.

Feedback I'm getting is that they are standing up to 35s no worries.

I wish I could find a distributor of 555 tie rod ends in NZ. They really are excellent quality.

[Crash bandicoot]

hey lax, autolign in palmerston north supply the Sankei 555 suspension components.

or you can get them direct out of the states for US28 dollars a set. the shippings a killer though.

[kiwipete]

I have yet to fit mine, all the parts are here waiting.................

[poss682]

hey there guys has any one had any issues with these fouling on the steering box arm/End of certerlink under full compression? and witch TRE is the reverse thread, the 4wd outer or the 2wd inner

cheers in advance

[poss682]

Anyone? .... and also what is the year and model for the 2wd navara that you get the parts from?

[lax2wlg]

hey there guys has any one had any issues with these fouling on the steering box arm/End of certerlink under full compression? and witch TRE is the reverse thread, the 4wd outer or the 2wd inner

cheers in advance

I havent had any issues fouling, nobody had reported an issues either. I suppose it may be a possibility if the lower control arm bushings/tension rod bushings are completely shot, then if it takes a solid frontal hit and the lower control arm moves fore/aft slightly. One of the purposes of the tension rod is to absorb frontal impact. However even then, I cant see it leading to damage (although a little contact is obviously not ideal)

Anyone? .... and also what is the year and model for the 2wd navara that you get the parts from?

For this particular setup (HD adjusters), you keep your standard 4wd outer tie rods (as outers), and use 2wd outer tierods (any year 1986-1997) as inners.

However there was only a small batch of the HD adjusters made up. If you are looking for some, I think Churchurdan was selling his since he is going SAS.

Otherwise, if you want to do the 'standard' 2wd steering mod, I have some custom tapped Moog heat treated adjusters and inner tierod ends still available, pictured below. One of the tierod ends is a top quality 555 item. The other is just a normal brand but is new/unused. All you need to do is add your existing 4wd inners (as outers)



This is the 'standard' 2wd steering mod. The design is Pretty much the same as the Toyota IFS linkage (though the Toyo has a smaller centerlink, they even had a recall on the pre 1989 models because they were shearing the centrelink clean in two!) and solves the Nissan's problem of bending tierods due to weird geometry:


For the sake of comparison, this is the 'HD' 2wd steering mod


Feel free to PM if you're interested
Hope this helps

[stovanovich]

Toying with the idea of finally doing this 2wd conversion, you still got your standard bits for sale Josh? Or heck, anybody got a "HD" adjuster for sale?
Can anybody confirm whether a cert is required or whether we can get away without due to the actual parts being OEM from another vehicle.

[Crash bandicoot]

Family of production is the same. No issue with cert as long as parts were fitted to any other d series chassi

[lax2wlg]

I'm afraid I dont have anything available at the moment (other than whats on my rig).

Kiwipete had some HD adjusters he was trying to sell after switching to a LandCruiser.

[hamboy]

Cert is required for the steering box/idler arm mod, im in the process of a design approval for it to become an LVVTA approved modification. Josh's adjusters can't be cert'd without a design approval and an engineers certificate.

[lax2wlg]

May as well have him inscribe the approval on a papyrus leaf and send it floating down the f**ing River Nile.

Anecdotes aside, That design approval would be easy to obtain, after all its a piece of threaded rod for Gods sake. But whether or not one would jump through these nosey, draconian hoops is a question of economics.

Depending on the cost to obtain the approval, If you can only sell 5 to 10 sets a year, its not necessarily a viable option.

But who told you that?
Ive been told contrary things. The regular 2wd mod requires some machining anyhow.

You cant change the oil on the thing without a cert these days.

[hamboy]

You don't know the half of it mate, the LVVTA system is geared toward scratch built hotrods, not our strenthend 4x4s. The design approval has been away for six weeks now and won't get looked at till mid-January The whole system is stupid

[MultiPahy91]

Do you happen to know the length of The adjusters?

[lax2wlg]

Sorry I don't have it on hand. The outer tie rod is still weak spot in this setup though, I realized. Could improve on it by extending the adjuster and using a bigger non shanked outer

eg FJ80 tie rod, taper reamer is easy to find too...

[MultiPahy91]

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try my luck with the nissan outter and inner. Noodled 2 inner 2wd tie rods 4x4ing already! I have two 10" lengths of 4140 but that seems a little long. I'll have to mock up to find the right length.

[lax2wlg]

Nice, yeah I did that originally when experimenting, works fine... damned sight better than the curved inner anyway



I cut the stud off an old tie rod end and screwed two adjusters together with it. And by some lucky chance its the right length. ie you can set the toe.

[danielbeek]

Hi Lax,
What was the length of those 25mm HD tierods adjusters you had made up? Did I read correctly that you had them made in Auckland. Would you mind giving the name of the engineering company you used? Cheers.

[lax2wlg]

Sorry I don't know the dimensions.
Hard to find tooling for LH fine thread but I worked with another ORE member, 'thread tapped' the material using a LH 18x1.5 rod end.

Interesting to look back on this mod as I continue to plan the next stage. Two options I'm looking into:

1) Keep the existing linkage design, upgrade all the rod ends to GM 1-ton. Custom draglink using 1-ton tie rod ends, ream the damper mount for inner tierod (3rd from the left in the pic below). This requires reaming pitman arms and steering knuckles too, but they have almost three times the bearing surface area so will last a long, long, long time in this application. Toyota FJ80 tierods on the other hand are the pretty much the same bearing surface area as WD21.

GM One-Ton Hardware:


For comparison, this is a Toyota FJ80 tierod end next to a GM One-Ton tie rod end:


2) Experiment with inverted Y-linkage steering setup such as you would find on a Jeep or Ford Twin Traction Beam IFS, but upgrade all the hardware to GM 1-ton also. Challenge would be getting the draglink/tierod to follow the arc of the A-Arms, but this system would reduce the number of moving parts down to same as a hi-steer straight axle setup. Idler steering box is deleted too = weight savings.

Option 2 looks interesting but I don't know how it would behave in terms of pulling forces, high torque situations etc. It might have a tendency to toe-in under heavy loads. Really its just a case of giving it a go, test, back to the drawing board etc.

Japanese method of 'kaizen' - continual improvement