Power Steering Redux

I emailed Warn and while they couldn't get me dimensions, they sent me the instructions. They responded within 8 hours, which was awesome and makes it easy to see why Warn has such a good CS reputation.

Anyway, looking at the instructions, it says to use the existing 5/8" holes on the frame horns. One of those holes is currently covered by my bumper mounts, which I am not changing. So, it looks like I would need to make custom brackets, but could still use their channel mount.

I will start another thread on the best way to accomplish that when i get there, but int he meantime, I was thinking about welding a 5/8" nut on the inside of the frame rails where that hole is so I can use it later on.

I only had a bit of time last night, so rather than spend time mocking the steering, I welded the new body mounts together. I am starting to get the hang of welding:

 

It has been a couple weeks since I have been able to work on the Jeep again. That pesky thing called work keeps getting in the way...

Anyway, I finally started to swap my body mounts from the ones the PO had which created 1.25" of lift. By doing this, the steering shaft just barely touches the motor mount. So, I am going to notch the mount where it hits and weld in a piece of DOM tubing to give adequate clearance. Just one more thing to do.

I did get the frame boxed and the steering box mount welding on. I spent some time playing around with the settings on the welder and seem to be getting really good penetration now. As with most things, all it took was a little patience.

At this point my goal is to have everything buttoned in by mid June so I can be ready to take this up to the Sunapee, NH area mid July for vacation. If that happens, I will post something in the Trail Rides forum to see if anyone in that area is interested in cruising some of the Class VI roads with me (aka showing me some of the roads... ha)

Pictures to come tomorrow.