Moving steering box forward

[mortimersnerd]

Anyone tried relocating the steering box forward? I'm moving the front axle forward a few inches and was thinking it might give me a little more room. Would probably also mean notching the crossmember, but that's not the end of the world. Thoughts?

 

[Kurt]

I have only toyed with the idea of moving the steering box forward, in order to lengthen the wheelbase. Otherwise, my trail rig that has quite a bit of articulation has worked fine, with the steering box in the stock location.

 

[SteveL]

Tonto moved his front end forward. He had the f-150 4x4 box{like a 4x4x2} but didnt reverse the direction with a 2wd box. This aimed his pitman forward and it worked for him. Not sure he comes on here anymore but I run into him once in a while @ breakfast

 

[Prizefighter]

I am wanting to do the same thing and didn't want to start a new thread.

How far forward can I move it without getting into my grill? I don't want to narrow the front or cut a lot out of the grill but want to move it forward a few inches and run up to 37s. I'm going full width and will be cutting the stock coil towers out to replace with the wider towers. I have the 4x4x2 box to use but also have a 4x4 box if that helps.

 

[Desert Thrasher]

I moved mine forward 3.5". 4x4x2 box. The body mount is the major limiting factor, you have to cut deep into it. I only had to cut the lower lip of the grill and of course the core support. 3 inch body lift probably helps with the clearance though. You could probably move yours back 2.5-3" no problems. Here's some pics of what's involved.

 

[mortimersnerd]

I moved mine back a little more than an inch. Because I was only stretching my wheelbase a couple of inches this was enough. Much more than that and you run into clearance issues with the cross member. I'm also having to heavily modify the sheet metal to accommodate turning at full stuff. This isn't helped by my using 12" travel coilovers with the equivalent of 3.5" of suspension lift and a 2" body lift.

 

[Prizefighter]

You could probably move yours back 2.5-3" no problems.

I moved mine back a little more than an inch.

Thanks for the replies. Both of you guys said back, did you mean forward?

Here's a pictures I took of my current steering box and my 78 Bronco steering box for comparison. By looking at the measurements in the pictures, does that mean that I could move my axle forward about 6.5" (or is it 13.5-14" by adding the two distances together) and it would be set up like a factory 78 Bronco if I mount my box in the stock location? Since the pitman arm is about that far forward of the box, instead of 6.5" behind it?

I'm also going to run 3.5" suspension with about 2" body lift. I thought about cutting that body mount out and welding a hoop there that goes around the box and rest the body lift on that platform.

 

[mortimersnerd]

Yes, forward. If you turn the pitman am around you'd need to move the axle forward at least 10 inches. You'll likely need to fabricate a custom crossmember.