Invest2m4

Behold, Artec Sterling 10.5 tone ring kit. Would have been nice if there were instructions... What's typical - turn the hub to 3/1000" larger than the ID of the tone ring?

Maertz

I need such awesomeness for my front and rear lame ass fords... My make shift still annoys Me.. Your work is slowly motivating me more.. My build thread is dead to the world at the moment lol

Invest2m4

Haha. Hold those thoughts until mine is actually driving. It might just capitulate and fall apart.

Invest2m4

Made some progress this weekend. Got my new high steer arm from WFO Concepts. WFO reamed the arm and my pitman arm for one ton drag link ends.

Also got my tie rod. I spent the coin and went with the rock proof tie rod from Bullet Proof Steering. The rod alone weighs something like 25 lbs. Made from 1.5" x .50" wall, Tuffdom 520 (a very cool material). The spherical rod ends are no joke and come with 3/4" F911 bolts. The company mainly makes steering parts for government and aerospace. They are the best of the best and only Bullet Proof can sell them. The tolerances are insane and the ends should last almost a decade. Overall, I'm really impressed.

Got everything measured for the drag link, so that is in production. Also assembled and welded the fuel pump ring (have to send the inner ring in to the tank guys so they can have it in the tank before it is welded).

My current issue is I may not be able to run the tie rod flipped. I have so much up travel that it is going to hit the pitman arm. May try to angle it down and see how that looks.

The main hold up now is the track bar. I've been waiting on an offset frame side bracket from VKS. Thought I would have it last week, but still no sign of it.

Invest2m4

Also found a clearance issue with the steering shaft and the strut tower. Nothing a 2.5" hole saw couldn't resolve.

Maertz

How close is your 1.5 super dom to the diff cover. I like that option. I did 1.75x.25 but i had to clearance my dif cover a bit.... If i recall correctly your sterlings have a longer steering radius, but not sure if you will use it when on a stock steering box?

Isnt it crazy all the little stuff you notice lol some of those simple little bolts are a pain.

Invest2m4

It is not very close to the cover. The tie rods are all custom. They won't make it until you measure for length and offset. I could have had it bent tighter (and at first was a little confused as to the amount of clearance), but turns out it was a blessing. Any less and it would hit the frame side track bar bracket.

Good question on the steering box. To my knowledge, it will not limit the turn radius. I even asked PSC and they were not aware of an issue.

Just ordered my hydro parts today. Went with a PSC ram, resi, and pump. Building the rest myself. Should be able to do it all for around $900. Way better than the $2100 PSC charges...

Maertz

Good to know ive always wondered, but never measured to test. To hard to tell by feel also with the wheelbase change..

Invest2m4

Things are moving along. I forgot to take pictures before assembly, but had the hubs machined for the Artec rings. Cost for machining: case of Miller Lite. I have a 6 speed, so I also decided I may as well replace all the e-brake hardware and shoes.

Got the hydro assist 90% installed. I'll have to get more pictures. I split the difference on budget kit and PSC. I ordered the PSC ram, resevior, pump, and JK brackets. Cooler from Speedway and then hoses and fitting from a local Parker store. A big thanks to Ringer for sending me a list of part numbers so all I had to do was hand it to the guy. All in for everything, including shipping and steering fluid, I have $1k into it. Why someone would pay $2200 for the same thing doesn't make sense.

Tapping the box turned out to be a pretty easy project. Only thing that sucks about installing hydro is the mess from steering fluid. A fruity yet nauseating smell...

Also got a rear tire on. Wanted to see just how phat that a## is going to be.

DunnyBunny

Looking good.