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Thread: Saginaw Steering vs. Bell Crank

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Saginaw Steering vs. Bell Crank

    Hello,

    I've been looking at future steps in my CJ-3A project, and in a recent conversation was told about Saginaw steering as being safer and more controllable than the existing bellcrank that my Jeep has.

    My goal has been to try as be as original as possible, though quite frankly this appears to be getting more and more difficult to do. The main question I have is, is there as big of a safety issue with the bellcrank that I should consider using a Saginaw steering mechanism, or should I continue to try to go old school/original?

    Thanks,
    J

  2. #2
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    Hey Jmetz, 48 Cal Willys here. I have the same steering system on my truck as you have, I believe. The only changes I made were a power steering assist as well as a steering damper. My old arms get tired of trying to turn a manual steering vehicle especially when parking. The steering damper helps with sudden shock say when on trail and you het a rut or rock or if you are cruisin the streets in San Jose in front of the Winchester Mystery house and curb a tire because you were distracted, the steering wheel wont break your wrist as it gets jerked out of your hand. Good luck and Happy New Year.

  3. #3
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    I had wondered about the dampener. Thanks for the advice. Where did you get it from?

  4. #4
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    Came with the truck I just refurbished mine. KW sells them but I think you can get from anywhere.

  5. #5
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    Cool. My steering needs some serious re-examining. Thanks for the tip.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Jcmjr1959's Avatar
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    Safe steering should be a priority , just last week my wife and I were joy riding and experienced what the Internet blogs call " the Death Wobble " I was driving and a little spooked by this , my wife claims she will not ride until the problem is solved....just this weekend installed a new steering stabilizer on the jeepster....have not driven it yet but I will let you know....

  7. #7
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    Take a look at your tie rods as well. This may sound silly but you may want to also check your lug nuts. Yes I am speaking from expierience. I hate the death wobble. Most recently expierienced it in my neighbors vw bug. It was the tie rods. 40 MPH and I thought the car was going to shake itself apart.

  8. #8
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    can be caused by a dodgy tire as well.
    one of the trucks at work ( late model isuzu 550 ) was getting the wobbles at randum might do it today then be fine for weeks then do it a couple of times and be fine again. took a while to find it but eventually when we sent it to have the wheels balanced they discovered one of the half worn tires was going out of round when spun.

  9. #9
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    This has all been *extremely* helpful. In all the research that i've been doing about this, I have not found one single person advocate keeping the original steering as a preference over the updated conversion. I never had any intention to simply cart the CJ around to shows - I always wanted it to drive it!

    Thanks for all the advice, I think I feel much more comfortable with my decision now.

    J

  10. #10
    Senior Member Jcmjr1959's Avatar
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    If the old original steering is working I would keep it , I was saying make it safe though , I am keeping the steering I have but will have to install seals and new parts I'm sure in time,
    Cal the tie rods seem good lugs all tight , the stablizer is small and was weak so that was the first thing I replaced now I will be checking other parts as time goes on....
    Dave as for the tires they have plenty of tread and look in good shape but I think they may be old because they feel hard which could be a problem as well at taking the bumps in the road....

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