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with Jeff Pollock
Sky Manufacturings Over the Springs Steering (OTSS)
As with most projects, when you think you are done something else changes. In Back to the Basics, I was concerned with building a good looking daily driver and mild trail rig for my wife. But as most projects go, changes were in the future. The motor in her Zook was beginning to consume quite a bit of oil and rather than rebuild the stock 1.3ltr, I decided I was going to build the 1.6ltr/8valve I had sitting in the garage. In order to fit the complete 1.6ltr motor (more to come on motor the build up soon) in her Zook I either needed to modify the oil pan or add more lift since you need at least 4 of lift to clear the stock 1.6ltr oil pan. Luckily I found a deal on some used 3 lift springs so I decided to go the route of the lift. The next problem was what steering set-up to go with to correct for the steep angle of the drag link. I decided to call Sky at Sky Manufacturing and order his Over the Springs Steering (OTSS) set-up. This set-up comes with a new arm, bolts, rod ends and a new drag link.
The quality of these components is superb! The neat feature of this set-up is that it uses a Toyota rod end on the steering arm and a Zook rod end at the pitman arm. They are right and left hand threaded rod ends so adjustment is simple. The drag link is extremely beefy and it dwarfs the stock Zook drag link.
Installation of this system was very simple. It took approximately 30 minutes or so to install and most of the time was used to try and get good pictures. The hardest part of the installation was removing the stock drag link from the pitman arm. Then we removed the stock drag link from the tie rod. After that, we jacked up the right front tire and supported the axle with a jack stand and removed the right front tire. Then we removed the two bolts that hold the caliper in place and slid the new arm into position.
After that we installed the new bolts supplied with the kit and tightened them down. At that point, the hardest part was over with and all that was left to install was the beefy drag link equipped with the new rod ends. Next we checked the alignment and we were back on the road without any nasty bumpsteer. This mod raised the drag link about five inches, which made it almost parallel to the tie rod.
Next was the initial test drive, the zook steered with ease and the bumpsteer that we had been experiencing without any steering modifications was gone. My wife and I have been driving it for a few days now improved handling and easier steering since this mod.
Contact:
Sky Manufacturing 3580 Marcola Rd Springfield, OR 97477 (541) 736-3743skymfg@aol.com http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/
08/11/10 15:12:14
