Building a 14-bolt rear steer axle: PART 1 

Part 2 is already out. Subscribe to my channel and scroll through the vids and you will find it.

Part 2 will have most of the juicy info; like figuring out where to mount the control valve, routing lines, getting enough out of my pump, measuring for custom shafts, and clearance issues.

fillet vs butt....

@@husq2100 All welds, if you don't want to grind bevels all day I would do the gap on all welds of 1/4 or thicker welding, if you can see the weld burn thru to the back side you have 100% penetration, that the ultimate goal

.188" wall DOM tube. The plate is 3/16" AR400 plate left over from making my skid plate. Gussets for the ram mount are 1/4" mild steel.

@@chrisdesertdog2162 you’re fun to watch; someone so knowledgeable. Thanks for the info!

I bought the JK new in 2008 for $19,000; paid it off and did the work myself. My wife's TJ was bought wrecked on a salvage title for a few grand and built-up/fixed in my garage - Just like her YJ and XJ before. Buggy was originally built with all junkyard parts back in 2010, and I slowly upgraded parts over the years. My rigs are built with blood and sweat more than money.

Not required on a 14-bolt; the carrier used in these is stronger than a full-case locker. Most company's "14-bolt lockers" are of this design.

Nope. Just personal use.

You need to make sure you drill your hole at a perfect 90* angle to the installed position with the knuckles straight (the hole will be offset around 10* to the arm so the heim sits flat). I drilled 7/8" (I think) holes to put the crane sleeves in. I then pressed in the sleeves, test fitted them and welded the sleeves in. The heims rest FLAT directly on top of the welded-in sleeves with no spacers. I sounds like you need to buy the sleeves from Crane, and hopefully you didn't drill the holes wrong.

@@chrisdesertdog2162 ok. I'll call them. I never got any sleeves. Thank you I haven't drilled them yet. I just built the steering trusses My friend told me he usually just drills them and drops a bolt in and calls it good

Ok cool they said I can go and buy a 1 inch .120 wall dom and use that as the sleeve. It all makes sense now. My friend just pribably cuts corners and then later if the holes waller out he sleeves them. Im gonna sleeve them now so I just grind welds and re sleeve later if need be

@@OffroadMilitia Just make sure you get the hole angle right so the heim sits perfectly flat on the arm with the knuckle straight. This is hard to do without a properly set up press, lathe, or mill. For future reference; I found out after I did mine that Crane sells pre-drilled arms.

no.

Yes, you just have to cut the tube on one side and re-tube the other side for the diff off-set.

In retrospect, I wish I did more negative caster in the rear. I'm running -2 degrees in the rear, and I wish I would have went with -6 or -7 in the rear. I found out from Jesse Haines that running high negative caster in the rear will actually slightly lift your rear axle up an inch or two when you steer it; and this can be used to clear obstacles when your diff or tubes get hung up on rocks. Old rear-steer trick that I wasn't aware of until after my build.

@@chrisdesertdog2162 nice to know. I guess there are pros and cons to everything. I would think the benefit you have with only 2 degrees would be a more aggressive biteminto a ledge next to you with the rear than if your tires were rotated down more. Maybe I will split the difference

Don't give up on that 211 - It's a fantastic machine! Yes, I use C25 gas set at 20 cfh. Practice, and practice more. Seeing the puddle and properly manipulating it is 90% of the task and the only way to be sure of your weld quality - so get a clear mask and use cheaters if you need to (I absolutely need them). Also, Don't be a slave to the auto-set on your 211, it's often better to fine-tune the settings yourself.

@@chrisdesertdog2162 yeah but with zero knowledge settings mean nothing lol.. Use cheaters? I don't have any buddies that can weld and then claim their welds.

@@chrisdesertdog2162 So i guess i am sort of just binge watching your videos for the hell of it, and i am on a tire video right now. Out of curiousity , what is your opinion on federal couriagiaiskhfouias mt whatever tires. I heard bad things, I have a set of 37s on 17s , i say i love them but i never really done anything crazy cuz i can't finish a rig. but at one point they were really cheap, now they have gone up in price unfortuanatly . but at one point i even seen as low as 180 bucks a tire. In theory it would technically be a daily driver but with insane offroad capabilities, now that level would be perception of course, i would never try king of hammers or nothing in it. i SAS'd my obs chevy and then had crazy death wobble and i just said f it , parked it and bought a k5 now its hanging out with the other one cuz i got screwed by a shop once again. ... I had no complaints with these tires driving on road, and even just messing around offroad nothing fantastic, you know just the fields around the house in 2 wheel drive i thought they were good, but i am far from expert offroader and i am sure it depends on the application of wheeling you plan on doing .

@@chrisdesertdog2162 It is crazy , i can drive my SAS with caster angle opposite of how it is suppose to be up to like 50 maybe , but when i put it proper it is the scariest death wobble you have ever seen, drove down street and said i am done after it scared the crap out of me, and i have jackknifed a semi at 70.... so i use to drive it with overload and that angle wedge piece on springs, i took those out and it made it undrivable .

@@chrisdesertdog2162 So , what do you think about adding coilovers to a leafspring truck? i know people would think it would look stupid. but the shop said one shock would be good enough and welded up my hoops. Basically i want to add a better shock than a cheap single shock. I can't weld to add another, and i'm positive one shock is not good enough. So i was thinking that a coilover would be perfect and not only that i could adjust it .. my suspension is super soft , when i hit the brakes my front end prolly dips a foot lol. I mean a coilover is just a shock with springs around it so why would that be stupid? i know people gonna tell me why didn't you just 4 link it or something at that point.

35-spline

@@chrisdesertdog2162 I assume you mean 30 spline inner with 35 spline outer? I don't believe you can get a Yukon GM 10.5" locker in 35 spline. Great video. You did an excellent job explaining things!!!!!