[repairzit]

I have recently changed to a dana 44 1ton up front on my Jeep YJ and my question is: I have a Hi-Steer knuckle on drivers side but not on the passenger side. Can I connect my drag link directly to the drivers side or do I have to keep the original of connecting to passenger side? I know I would need to add Hi-Steer to passenger. Just curious if it is possible?

 

[Luckymac]

Welcome to the Forum repairzit,

Once you have the high steer knuckle installed on the passenger side, I'd see how the drag link fit and check for how all the moving parts worked in relationship to one another. I'd do the check with the axles supported on 4 equal height jackstands and observe the steering mechanisms as an assistant works the steering wheel back and forth, lock to lock.
One member here has high steering on his YJ and is knowledgeable about what you may need. @agalloch07 knows more about this than I do.

Good Luck, L.M.

 

[repairzit]

Welcome to the Forum repairzit,

Once you have the high steer knuckle installed on the passenger side, I'd see how the drag link fit and check for how all the moving parts worked in relationship to one another. I'd do the check with the axles supported on 4 equal height jackstands and observe the steering mechanisms as an assistant works the steering wheel back and forth, lock to lock.
One member here has high steering on his YJ and is knowledgeable about what you may need. @agalloch07 knows more about this than I do.

Good Luck, L.M.

Thanks for the info, I will do the suggestion

 

[agalloch07]

I am not a GM guru but this is what i learned from doing chevy steering on my D44. Later GM square body trucks (10 bolt) had a flat top knuckle on the passengers side only. The early square body trucks that had a D44 front had flat top knuckles but the passengers side knuckle had to be machined to accept a high steer arm.

The 10 bolt front and D44 front are very similar and you can swap knuckles between the two. But the D44 knuckles are tapered to run the tie rod ends on the top side. And the 10 bolt are tapered from the bottom and the tie rod ends are on the bottom. So you can not mix 10 bolt knuckles with D44 knuckles unless you drill out the taper and run heim joints.

This is my GM steering set up using Reid Racing knuckles. I ran the cross over on a high steer arm to keep it parallel as possible to avoid bump steer and maxing out the angle on the TRE's. But i kept the tie rod low because i have heard running it high will increase wear on upper ball joints.

I also had to run a pitman arm thats longer with very little drop. I ended up running a jeep WJ pitman arm that i had to modify the splines on. But i think there is a Ford pitman arm that i would have been better off with and i dont think i would have had to modify. I cant remember exactly what it was but i think it may have been off a 1979 F250. There is a website that sells pitman arms that lists it but i dont remember where it's at now.

 

[repairzit]

Thanks for the info.