reverse high steer

strange1

strange1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Location
Elkin
Anybody running reverse high steer on a dana 44/10bolt.
Any good reason not to?
I am currently running high-steer. But with approx. 4" wheelbase strech up front, I am having interference problems with my tie-rod and pitman arm.
 
NOt sure there would be a lot of differences, but I run it on my 60. I can't think of anything but positive things for that design.(If, what you are talking about is the tie rod going over the pinion)
 
Yes, thats it. Seems like I heard something about extra stress on the ball-joints. Looks to me like the stress is just in a difference place.
 
There is extra stress on the ball joints and tie rods by moving to the back. It is mainly due to the design of the axle itself. With the steering in front of the axle it isn't always fighting the self centering characteristics of the design. Naturally the front two tires want to pull back to center. This will put the entire system in tension (tierod in back) instead of compression (tierod in front) which is a little tougher on the parts. There are more forces at work that are better with the tie rod in the front, but that gets into physics and I don't know how to explain all of that. Of course this is minimal IMO compared to the beating of a tie rod with a rock.
 
I had never actually thought about the stresses involved until now, but its not because of the self centering. The steering components actually do better in tension than compression. You see tierods bend in all the time, but have you ever seen one rip apart?

However, you are definitely creating more stress on the ball joints. I will explain. For this discussion, lets assume that the draglink connects to the passenger side high steer arm, and the tie-rod runs from one high steer arm to another. Moving the tierod to the back will have no effect on the stress when the passenger side tire is in a bind, as the drag link is still the component inputting force at the same location. However, when the drivers side tire is in the bind, the force on the passenger side ball joint increases hugely.

For rough figures, lets say the tie rod center is 5" from the ball joint center and the drag link center is 2" from the tie rod. If you are inputting 1000 pounds of force with the drag link, you are getting 1400 pounds of force on the tie rod to move the wheel, and 400 pounds of lateral force in the ball joint. When you move the tierod to the back, assuming the same 5" to tierod and 7" to draglink from balljoint, you get the same 1400 pounds into the draglink, but you generate 2400lbs of lateral force in the balljoint.

In summation, flipping the steering to the back will increase the load on the passenger side ball joint by approximately 6 times, and have no affect on the drivers side.
 
Thanks Justin. To be correct though, mine is just a standard hi-steer setup. I have thought about doing the reverse setup when I stretch the front one day, but hadn't thought about the forces till now. I think the thing to do is have the draglink AND tierod behind the axle, but that gets complicated on coil sprung vehicles due to suspension travel.
 
I still think that they do better in compression, they just don't hold up well to lateral forces. The bending of steering components is due to a force that isn't parallel to the steering component. In tension it has no choice but to be in plane with the steering. Either way these forces are not that big of a difference between highsteer and reverse high steer. It is the balljoints that would take the beating. The self centering force due to geometry would be using the ball joint as a leaver point. The steering would be doing the same thing on the other side of the ball joint. In a front steering setup there is no steering force acting on the rear of the ball joint.

now I am confused, I guess it is time to pull out some paper and a pen.
 
If you look at the rough diagram below, it may clear it up. As you can see, when the tierod is countering the draglink in a standard setup (left), the forces act in opposite directions. When it is countering the reverse setup, the forces act in the same direction, which is where the problem occurs.


Can yall see the link? Why isn't it a picture on here?

Well, nevermind. Now I don't have the file with me (its at work). Just draw arrows with the way the tierod would be resisting the force of the draglink for both setups and it will make sense.
 
Nope, its not workin Matt.
 
Oh...its been a while since i've seen yours matt, i was thinking it was reverse... i just remember thinking, how does all that stuff not hit eachother when it flexes... I do remember it looking very strong though.
 
Back
Top