MODIFICATION: Solo Motorsports Mid-Travel Kit, SPC Cams, ICON ET Coilovers, Limit Straps (continued)
Next up, is the Solo Motorsports (SM) mid-travel kit. It's a pretty beefy piece of hardware.
Features:
Inner/Outer Tierod vs. Hiem Steering Rod
Modified lower control arm:
The control arm is OEM with bushings already pre-installed. It may not be obvious, but this control arm is modified. The lower ball joint hole was bored out to accept the lower uniball sleeve and hardware. I had SM bore it for me. It is a high tolerance 5/8"-3/4" taper fit perpendicular to the mount surface. Considering the critical nature of this mount, it would be wise to get it done professionally. It's not a job that should be done by hand. The goal here is reliability, not cost.
Lower uniball joint with tapered sleeve mounted using 12-point fasteners:
The SM lower uniball joint housing has a double shear heim joint steering mount compared the the OEM ball joint housing single shear mount.
Similarly, the inner heim joint is also double shear:
Because it's a heim joint, the bellows are no longer required. I'm considering finding an accordion boot that might fit to keep dirt and debris out of the rack and pinion. The inner heim joint bracket bolts in place. No modification is needed to mate it to the steering rack. I did add some green loctite, as advised, to ensure it doesn't come loose.
While I was in there, I took the liberty of installing limit straps. Because I no longer use a sway bar, the shock was the limiting component for downtravel. Can't have that. I set the length with a 1/4" before the shock fully extends. I followed a similar procedure to locate an appropriate mount for the strap as described for the rear straps. I used the, now empty, swaybar link mount as the lower mounting point.
All buttoned up:
Wheel and tire clearance:
I threw my rebuilt ICONs in place of the Kings simply because of the extra travel. Plus, it has been re-valved for 700lb springs set with 1" of preload.
With the addition of the lower uniballs, the limiting component is actually the upper uniball cup. It hits the spindle.
Theoretically, I can get another 1-2" of wheel downtravel if the shock was longer by an 1 inch and another 1-2" of uptravel if I shorten the bumpstops and trim the fender, which I may explore one day.
Next up, is the Solo Motorsports (SM) mid-travel kit. It's a pretty beefy piece of hardware.
Features:
- Boxed design
- Integrated upper control arm slug upgraded to 5/8" hardware (a step up from 1/2")
- Lower uniball conversion
- Double shear heim steering (inner and outer), also uses 1/2" & 5/8" diameter bolts
- Uses OEM 4WD hubs
- SM 1/2" vs. OEM 3/8" joint-knuckle mating bolts diameter
- SM ball joint 5/8" bolt with a sleeve that tapers up to 3/4" vs. OEM 1/2" bolt diameter
Inner/Outer Tierod vs. Hiem Steering Rod
Modified lower control arm:
The control arm is OEM with bushings already pre-installed. It may not be obvious, but this control arm is modified. The lower ball joint hole was bored out to accept the lower uniball sleeve and hardware. I had SM bore it for me. It is a high tolerance 5/8"-3/4" taper fit perpendicular to the mount surface. Considering the critical nature of this mount, it would be wise to get it done professionally. It's not a job that should be done by hand. The goal here is reliability, not cost.
Lower uniball joint with tapered sleeve mounted using 12-point fasteners:
The SM lower uniball joint housing has a double shear heim joint steering mount compared the the OEM ball joint housing single shear mount.
Similarly, the inner heim joint is also double shear:
Because it's a heim joint, the bellows are no longer required. I'm considering finding an accordion boot that might fit to keep dirt and debris out of the rack and pinion. The inner heim joint bracket bolts in place. No modification is needed to mate it to the steering rack. I did add some green loctite, as advised, to ensure it doesn't come loose.
While I was in there, I took the liberty of installing limit straps. Because I no longer use a sway bar, the shock was the limiting component for downtravel. Can't have that. I set the length with a 1/4" before the shock fully extends. I followed a similar procedure to locate an appropriate mount for the strap as described for the rear straps. I used the, now empty, swaybar link mount as the lower mounting point.
All buttoned up:
Wheel and tire clearance:
I threw my rebuilt ICONs in place of the Kings simply because of the extra travel. Plus, it has been re-valved for 700lb springs set with 1" of preload.
With the addition of the lower uniballs, the limiting component is actually the upper uniball cup. It hits the spindle.
Theoretically, I can get another 1-2" of wheel downtravel if the shock was longer by an 1 inch and another 1-2" of uptravel if I shorten the bumpstops and trim the fender, which I may explore one day.
Last edited: