Forward swing outside the frame rail steering box?

[Slander]

The box we're talking about breaking dwarfs the Toyota box in every way other than number of people online who think it's magical just because it packages well in some popular rigs.

There's a steering box comparison thread on the old side with part dimensions (shaft diameter, splines, piston diam, etc).

Yea no shit, I have one installed on my truck right now, the big ass ford box. It's also noted on the first page that I have one, fucking jeep people

 

[Thornbird1]

I could fit in a pillow bearing on the bottom, sort of like the Dodge Ram steering box braces.

Mine breakage was purely torsional, the splines were twisted and then a nice clean shear. But you maybe right about other failures that slowly fatigue there way to a break.

 

[Sean]

I LOVE scout 2 boxes... I've got three vehicles getting it(one converted, two in progress) The problem is they are VERY hard to find. The third one I bought about 1-2 years ago was close to $200 used. You won't go to Autozone and get a rebuild off the shelf.

Sorry for bringing back the dead but I've got a brand new one built and ported for hydro assist from PSC that I've had for probably a decade or more. Was planning to put it in a SAS 4Runner project originally so I could move the axle forward.....now I"m just going full hydro instead. Hmmm....was going to get rid of it and if I ever needed forward swing, was going to look at the Ford boxes instead. Is the Scout II box that much better?

 

[Projectjunkie]

Mid 70's ford 2wd trucks have a forward facing arm and sit outside the frame rail!

Old post, but the 2wd box is inside the frame and rear facing pitman when in front of the axle
the 4wd box is outside the frame and front facing

 

[Sean]

The box we're talking about breaking dwarfs the Toyota box in every way other than number of people online who think it's magical just because it packages well in some popular rigs.

There's a steering box comparison thread on the old side with part dimensions (shaft diameter, splines, piston diam, etc).

Steering Box Tech Thread: Size, Power, and Strength

www.pirate4x4.com

Just a reference point (hoping I'm allow to post a link to the evil site, but if not...mods please remove and my apologies in advance).

 

[Slander]

After ditching that big ass Ford box for a classic Toyota IFS and hydro assist setup, this year, i should have done that years ago. Way easier to package the ifs stuff, even with moving the axle forward. The pitman arm on the forward swing box got in the way of everything, at least running histeer on leafs, and I had to chop out 90% of the inner fender to fit it. The steering shaft ended up being like 4" long with some crazy ujoint angles. On the trail it sucked and constantly was overheating, even with a big ass cooler, it did drive really nice on the street though. This was on a 1st gen Tacoma for reference.

 

[Sean]

I know this isn't directly applicable to the thread since it's mounted inside the frame rails, but '99+ Superduty boxes are forward swing and seem to have larger sector shafts. 2011 and newer are larger still....but are very expensive.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I know this isn't directly applicable to the thread since it's mounted inside the frame rails, but '99+ Superduty boxes are forward swing and seem to have larger sector shafts. 2011 and newer are larger still....but are very expensive.

99+ is a bolt in replacement for 80-96. Pitman arm is a tad longer too IIRC

 

[Sean]

99+ is a bolt in replacement for 80-96. Pitman arm is a tad longer too IIRC

Yet they are still relatively short...like 6" or less; right? Is there much in the aftermarket world for longer and/or dropped arms for these? With the popularity of lifted Superdutys, I'd think dropped ones would be common, but longer ones, not so much....and I'm not sure I'm comfortable heating/bending a dropped one to get length. I feel like it might be better (if one needed a longer arm) to cut the splined portion off the arm and weld it into a piece of flatstock of the appropriate thickness.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Yet they are still relatively short...like 6" or less; right?

Yeah, it's a pretty minor change. Should be able to find pictures online.

Is there much in the aftermarket world for longer and/or dropped arms for these? With the popularity of lifted Superdutys, I'd think dropped ones would be common, but longer ones, not so much.

Dropped, yes. longer no

.and I'm not sure I'm comfortable heating/bending a dropped one to get length.

Cut and weld two together. Should be real easy to make a nice long joint, do a full V-grove (well, probably a half from each side) slap a 3/8 fish plate on each side for good measure and never worry about it again. You will break boxes before you fuck up a properly fabricated arm. Look at all the racers running fabricated arms.

I feel like it might be better (if one needed a longer arm) to cut the splined portion off the arm and weld it into a piece of flatstock of the appropriate thickness.

You could but it seems unnecessary IMO.

 

[Grendel]

Sorry for bringing back the dead but I've got a brand new one built and ported for hydro assist from PSC that I've had for probably a decade or more. Was planning to put it in a SAS 4Runner project originally so I could move the axle forward.....now I"m just going full hydro instead. Hmmm....was going to get rid of it and if I ever needed forward swing, was going to look at the Ford boxes instead. Is the Scout II box that much better?

Just seeing this. I'd be interested in it.

 

[Sean]

Just seeing this. I'd be interested in it.

Apologies; I wasn't trying to sell it. May still use it on the 4Runner. I was just trying to see if it was really that great of a box compared to other options out there.

 

[Grendel]

Apologies; I wasn't trying to sell it. May still use it on the 4Runner. I was just trying to see if it was really that great of a box compared to other options out there.

Yes, they're decent. My last customer's job I did was a Scout. Sent it to Redhead to be rebuilt.

 

[Sean]

'08-2010 Ford SD ported box spec comparison of PSC and RedHead.

PSC Ram Assist Vs. RedHead?

So I'm looking at a '09 SD box ported for hydro assist. The PSC is $995 and the 'upgraded' and ported Red Head is $1032 with a $400 core that PSC doesn't charge. I have a box as a core to send that I spent $100 for from a local JY....and I'll keep the pitman. So the Red Head is probably ~$150...

irate4x4.com