The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk solid axle drop

I just put an after market solid axle in. 3 to 3 1/2" drop. But now my tie rod wont clear my springs unless I flip it upside down. Is that cool or will it affect the way the truck is supposed to steer? thanx

1947 1/2 ton 5-window flatbed

Sounds OK to me.
However, you may need to borrow a tapered reamer of the correct size and angle so you can ream the bell cranks from the other side.
You may want to consider using larger tierood ends where you have to do this. That way the bell cranks can be reamed to fit in the whole thickness of the bell crank. If you use the old ends and ream from the other side then you only get contact on the taper for 1/2 the thickness.

Rather than reaming out the steering arms, you may consider unbolting them from the spindle, flipping them, swap them side for side and reinstalling. That's how they used to do it in the '50's when they lowered a solid axle. I would think that would be safer than removing metal from an already relatively thin part to begin with. you may also consider heating and bendig the steering arms to allow for clearance, there is an article on this in the current issue of Ol' Skool Rods.

I did see that article in ol skool rodz. That seems to be the best option. But as far as flipping the steering arms. . .looking at the way it is configured. . . That wont work I need the drivers side steering arm on the drivers side to connect to the box. . .and switching the steering arm to the top of the spindle wont clear the king pin. Does anyone have a picture?

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that WHEN you get a flat tire you won't be scraping the road with your tie rod ends. (or the nut that holds holds them)

Check to make sure your tie rod ends are tappered. Mine aren't. I have mono leaf springs and a Mor-Drop axle. I just flipped the tie rod ends to the bottom. My truck is a 1940, but I believe the tie rod ends were the same on the advance design as well.

Check first though. I could be mistaken.

When I installed my Moor-Drop we just heated the steering arms and bent them down. If you do this be sure to have the arms off the truck, heat, bend then submerge them in a bucket of sand or ash to let them cool slowly. I also had to fine tune the upper end on the driver's side to cure the bump steer this caused, easy deal.

Just like JiMerit, I heated and bent my steering arms down with a torch to clear the springs with my dropped axle on my 48 1/2 ton. I made a new tierod and used 5/8 heimjoints on the ends.

-Rich

So the tie rod runs under your springs with the newly bent steering arms?