steering shaft binding on upper a arm

[Sick5]

just looking for some picture of what everyone else has done when it come to your steering shaft binding on your Upper arm. im on airbags with a 2 inch cut crossmember. Running cpp upper arms.
Thanks

[SkinnyG]

I think most folks notch the upper arm to clear, but on the factory arms. That might be hard to do with tubular arms. 2" is quite the pancake for parallelogram steering - what if you went rack?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

I think most folks notch the upper arm to clear, but on the factory arms. That might be hard to do with tubular arms. 2" is quite the pancake for parallelogram steering - what if you went rack?

Correct. You can notch the OE 67-72 (73-87 HD/C20/C30) uppers to clear a 1.5" notch (barely).

Tubulars won't work because the bushing barrel is usually the culprit. I even purchased a set of the MMW brand 'Dodger' uppers to see if they might clear on a 1.5" notch & the bushing barrel was the point of interference. At a 2" notch w/tubular arms, you'll likely need to add multiple u-joints & a support bearing to the steering linkage or try an aftermarket/swapped R&P set-up.

[Sick5]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Correct. You can notch the OE 67-72 (73-87 HD/C20/C30) uppers to clear a 1.5" notch (barely).

Tubulars won't work because the bushing barrel is usually the culprit. I even purchased a set of the MMW brand 'Dodger' uppers to see if they might clear on a 1.5" notch & the bushing barrel was the point of interference. At a 2" notch w/tubular arms, you'll likely need to add multiple u-joints & a support bearing to the steering linkage or try an aftermarket/swapped R&P set-up.

well that's exactly what i did. cleared it. Not happy with the way it rides. I might try Rack and get it realign. it rides all over the place. ive checked ball joints and the inners with zero play. last thing is to get realigned and see if that fixes it.

[hewittca]

I recently did a 1.5" sectioned crossmember with a 1" body drop on top of that. I had to notch my upper arm quite a bit and then reinforce the area. This was all done to the stock arm. To correct the erratic steering you might have to flip the outer tierod from the top to the bottom of the spindle. When you section the crossmember, everything on the steering stays in the same location except the outer tierod, so you introduce a ton of bumpsteer. Flipping the tierod to the bottom eliminates most of this. I have mine set up like this and it steers very nicely.

[Grounded63]

Originally Posted by Sick5

well that's exactly what i did. cleared it. Not happy with the way it rides. I might try Rack and get it realign. it rides all over the place. ive checked ball joints and the inners with zero play. last thing is to get realigned and see if that fixes it.

What your describing, sounds like bumpsteer. You've altered the basic geometry relationship between the suspension movement and the steering linkage. An alignment won't fix that. Neither will changing to a rack, if you don't address the existing issues at the same time. The " easiest fix " would be to " just " re- mount the idler arm and steering box 2 inches higher.

Two of the main issues you have right now. Are that the outer ends of the center link are too long. And the angular relationship between the lower A arms and the inner/outer tie rods. As viewed from the front, is off.

[Sick5]

Originally Posted by Grounded63

What your describing, sounds like bumpsteer. You've altered the basic geometry relationship between the suspension movement and the steering linkage. An alignment won't fix that. Neither will changing to a rack, if you don't address the existing issues at the same time. The " easiest fix " would be to " just " re- mount the idler arm and steering box 2 inches higher.

Two of the main issues you have right now. Are that the outer ends of the center link are too long. And the angular relationship between the lower A arms and the inner/outer tie rods. As viewed from the front, is off.

I've experience bumper and that's not what is happening, I've already moved my steering components 2 inch higher. its more of a constant correction of steering. if i change ride high by making one side higher and the other lower it kinda corrects that. im going to put everything back together and go for another drive. but i do think its my camber

[Sick5]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I recently did a 1.5" sectioned crossmember with a 1" body drop on top of that. I had to notch my upper arm quite a bit and then reinforce the area. This was all done to the stock arm. To correct the erratic steering you might have to flip the outer tierod from the top to the bottom of the spindle. When you section the crossmember, everything on the steering stays in the same location except the outer tierod, so you introduce a ton of bumpsteer. Flipping the tierod to the bottom eliminates most of this. I have mine set up like this and it steers very nicely.

thanks for the info