DirtyComanche

That's what I thought too. But the pipe wrench actually just ripped metal off the plug. Hence I didn't try the vice grips and figured I'd start asking about extractors.

Yeah, there's a stock perche still there; I never got around to cutting it off. Maybe I should since the axle is out anyways. That's 3/16. I thought it was 1/4 but didn't measure it until I had cut it... I doubt it'll tear the bracket on the tie-rod, but the one on the pumpkin I'm a little more worried about. I couldn't put the bolt through it very far back in the bracket because of the shape of the ram. I might weld some plate to the top of the pumpkin bracket it make it thicker. The bottom isn't really a problem as it has a tension nut welded to the pumpkin/bracket. I think I'll be just giving it a shot and carry plugs. If it tears off, well, then it wasn't strong enough.

Yes. That ram could. But. the steering box, while it is an orbital valve of a sorts, is built so that the pitman arm provides control for the valving in it. If you don't have a drag link, you'll turn the wheel and the pitman arm will go to full lock in that direction and kill all pressure to the ram. With an orbital valve ment for full hydro steering it can be done. I'm not in the mood to buy one. They ain't cheap! Also, if you go full hydro normally a double ended ram is used so the fluid volume to move it either direction is equal. Or you'll have to turn the wheel 5 times to go left and only 3 to go right...

Uh, every post by edter54 should go.... Add abadmoenceder09 to that list too.

The origonal ones were. I blew up a couple AC-Delco units then said F' it and pulled an all origonal May of 89 mitsubishi starter and haven't had problems since. Knock on wood.

I'll put it on top of the tie-rod, right by where it was. If the bracket I welded on cools quickly enough I'll go back out and do it. I braced up the bracket on the tie-rod a bunch, and the otherone too. But, I don't have the right bolts/nuts so I can't finish it for a while... Grr.

Or has the spam been getting a bit thicker recently? :nuts:

Well, if you can stick... It's cheaper. It just takes longer unless you use really thick rod. But, you can do cast steel/iron with it too. I'd NEVER do that with a MIG. Edit: As I was unsure I checked and you can get high-nickel wire for a MIG to weld cast steel/iron. I mean, my AC/DC lincoln can do 225A AC and 135A DC which is plenty from the amperage standpoint unless I'm planning to try welding 1/2" steel overhead...

Looks like this.... Image Not Found (It's only tacked up, yes the metal isn't clean, no that's not a 6" ram) Comments? I have a clearance problem right now, but the angle grinder will fix that and allow me to have full steering travel in both directions... Think that bracket on the pumpkin is going to let me weld it in enough places? It's going to be like 9" of weld... Seeing about 2000lbs in sheer? Somebody tell me it'll be fine or I'm going to add more to it. Gotta make a new bracket for the drag link too. Turned out the tie-rod side of the ram had to be exactly where the old one was.

So, you're braggng because your wife can teach you how to use a computer? Mah, what's this world coming to? Good score. :cheers:

An XJ kit should fit as well as it would fit an XJ. But, be prepared to cut things up. I've never seen a coilover kit for an XJ. But I've never looked. For the most part you can get as good of performace out of regular coils/shocks. If you're building an ulta-light vehicle, yeah, coilovers could work.

A friend of mine has them on his YJ. You have to do some work to make them fit on an XJ/MJ though as you'll have to remove the old coil tower and make a new mount and tie it in. This often leads to having a lot more internal bracing and crap.

That works for droop, but, the axle will downtravel more (on each side) while flexing. I was suggested the F-350 shocks. But, anything that's not OEM has to be ordered in either way, so I might as well get the PORC shocks. Another option is monroes, #34687 is a 13" travel shock. But, that would require moving the axle mount up... Blah. If nobody local comes up with something used I'll call PORC and ask about shipping.

Well, then, that's the easy way.

Welding stores. Equipment suppliers. Etc. I'm not talking about thermite...

Forklift is the standard practice. You're supposed to flex it out to determine not only needed travel but the mounting location. If you're running a fab shop, great. If you aren't, you go by what other people did or guessing. For 6" lift using the stock mounts in the front end, 12" is just about ideal. But, it depends where you want to put your bumpstops (if you've cut fenders, run large tires for the lift, etc).

I've never seen an aftermarket track bar that I actually liked. I think jeep desinged it wrong to start with, and nobody is going to sell a bar/bracket that's really different. The mount on the axle should be the same height as the tie-rod (which shouldn't be an inverted Y), and the tie-rod should have been on top of the arms cast into the knuckles. Then the frame side bracket should be higher to reduce the sheer leverage on it. The joints should be something nice and rebuildable (rod end with an insert) and should be oriented in the direction which offers the most travel. But alas, no, I'd have to build something like that myself.

You'll want 12" fronts. Rear is up to you. The real answer is to lift it, flex it, measure, then buy.

He means 20K. I hate people who think their $#!& is gold.

I'd buy stick. But that's me.

Oh, when I looked in the shock category all that was listed was ranchos overpriced crap. Guess I missed that.

Gears must be set-up properly or they'll be non-existant by the time you test-drive it around the block. But, you can swap them from one axle to another using the same shim stack-up about 90%~ of the time... Providing the housings are the same casting.

Can't risk damaging the seals in the ram... At least, I'd rather not risk it. They're ony good for a couple hundred degrees. But it's out, so, w/e.

I got it out. A little filing and then the vice grips got 'em. Now to figure out how to mount this bloody ram.

Rounded head, that is. Turns out the ignoranus who put the one of the plugs in my ram tightened it down way too much, then they painted over it. As it was an internal wrenching (allen) head plug, it's now round. Really round. I can't cut it. The surface behind it has to be flat for the fitting to seal. Do any of those reverse cut bolt extractor things work? I'm really thinking of just taking it back and bitching. But, I didn't buy it locally, so it'd burn up time. I'm gonna go try the vice-grips before bed though. I wish...