Pigpen

[KrazyKarl02]

8274's are rated at 8000lbs. However the older ones came with a 2.5 hp motor, there is an upgrade to a 4.5 hp or a Bosch 6.0 hp that further improve line speed and add a little to pull power. google 8274, crazy people water cool and dual motor them...

[Sharpe]

My rear driveshaft vibrates like a mutha****a so I am going to get one re-tubed and balanced at BVD. I dont want to risk cracking another transmission case.

I got my front end torn apart on saturday. I am moving the axle forward ~8" and will be reconfiguring the steering so the draglink connects to the arm behind the axle. I am currently running a superlift 4" drop pitman arm and the drivers side spring kisses the draglink end on hard compression. I read about using a late 90's Jeep cherokee pitman arm on pirate. It has just enough bend in it to clear the frame but postitions the draglink end much higher than the superlift arm.

Here is the difference in drop between the two.


The only problem is that the indexing splines on the jeep arm are ~20 degrees off from what is "correct" for my Chevy box.

Here is the jeep arm on top of the superlift arm with the indexing splines lined up.


Now my thoughts on the jeep arm are to just run it, and correct the draglink adjustment (in this case, lengthen it). Could this cause any problems with steering geometry? I will be installing hydro-assist at the same time so I am not worried about bumpsteer.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

How are you going to fix the 'reverse steer' that you will get when you mount the draglink behind the axle?

EDIT: Can you just remove one of the splines on the steering box to allow you to mount the pitman arm 'straight'? It might be a bit ghetto, but would be better than having the geometry off ( I think)

[Sharpe]

Steering box from a fullsize van. They are identical housings but turn "backwards" because, in their stock application, they are mounted vertically with the pitman swinging out to the front (down).

[tigweld]

astro van box maybe, same(or pretty close) mounting pattern its what my jeep has

you beat me to it but I thought I remembered looking at a full size van and something else being different

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Ok, do you have it already? If so, the I am sure you have looked to see if the indexing spline is in the same place.

[Sharpe]

I dont have the box in hand yet but looked one over at work (in the vehicle) and it looked GTG. If the indexing splines are wrong I suppose I can swap the sector shaft out, I think only the worm gear inside the box is different.

[eight]

You can cut a spline in there with a sawzall. I've done it before, don't think it was on the arm I broke.

[Doug Krebs]

You can cut a spline in there with a sawzall. I've done it before, don't think it was on the arm I broke.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

x2

[Sharpe]

Well I've been bustin ass on this **** all semester and can see the light. The front suspension is done except for shock mounts. The steering is 95% done and seems to work. My draglink is ****ed though. The ends are completely seized in the tube. I dont have a vice so I tack welded the tube to our former vice stand, heated the piss out of it with a torch and leaned on it with a ~5' cheater pipe on a wrench. It worked a little at first but then wouldnt go any more so Clarke suggested trying to draw candle wax into the threads. We heated it again and smeared candle all over it. I'm not sure if any of the wax was actually drawn into the threads, but it made a ****load of smoke. This seemed to help a little as well, but while leaning on said cheater pipe the tackwelds (which were substantial) broke and I fell on my ass, hard. I decided brute force might not be the best strategy so we decided to try soaking it. We didnt have any PB blaster but I needed to flush my power steering system anyway, so I used the old ATF to soak it. I have heard it helps with surface rust, but I dont know about penetrating. One end is sitting in there right now and will stay there until I get back after in on wednsday. I dont really want to buy new ends and tube but that is the direction this whole endeavour is heading.

Besides that, left to do before Clayton:

Re-do rear spring perches
Rear shock mounts
Front shock mounts
Build lower half of front driveshaft
Install front and rear winches
Make temperature and oil pressure gauges work
Maybe get started on my tube bed and toolbox

[Doug Krebs]

I'll assume you galled the **** out of the threads some how. You could try heating the tube while you soak TRE in dry ice/liquid nitrogen.

We've had to do this at work a couple of times. Sometimes it only goes a couple of threads at a time and you repeat.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Sharpe, push comes to shove, I have my old drag link from the beast at the house that is no longer in use.

[Sharpe]

How long is it? Threaded for drag link ends?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

It came off of my ORD hydro-assist kit. I have no idea on the length. It has tre/dre's on it. If you don't have highsteer yet, I have the arms for it if you want those. I will just send you a PM on it.