72-93 Dodge Dana 60 Crossover 0-2" lift

After years of hearing people say you can’t do a  crossover steering conversion (best upgrade you can do for your old dodge steering/handling) to a 4x4 of stock height, we decided to make our own because it definitely can be done.

This is the pre-fabbed and powdered part to add crossover (with option for a new tie rod too) steering to your stock height or low lift 72-93 dodge.

This is shown mocked on a stock height ramcharger with original 1/2 ton 3 leaf negative arched sagging old springs on a kingpin 60. (The dana 44 with a high steer arm would be just fine too.) It fits well with the bump stop making contact before the sector shaft or rod end bolt with the leaf. This is definitely the extreme application and if it were the intended use, there is room to increase that necessary clearance, but most often the intended use is a 3/4 or 1 ton truck that originally came with the dana 60 and does have slightly taller leaf springs so this demonstrates plenty of room. 

This is a fully welded and black wrinkle powdered kit that can be put on your dodge in short order. 

 Unfortunately, crossover steering necessitates sway bar removal. You wont miss it.

Includes drag link, pitman arm, steer arm, and all attaching hardware.

The other part of doing a dana 60 crossover ,would be;

Requires removing the OEM 4WD steering box mounting plate, and shortening the existing steering input shaft or a new, improved u-joint steering input shaft to replace the craptacular factory pot joint. 

 (we always recommend our steering box brace, 

Nylon lock nut included for steering arm axle end, be sure to Loctite the threads on the pitman arm end  

If doing a dana 44 we would need to get you an additional machined flat top knuckle to bolt the high steer arm to  

This setup will solve your zero lift crossover issues and with work well with our +1” and +2” lift leaf springs too. 

Add our tie rod kit to completely upgrade your existing steering with 1.5” .250 wall super heavy duty tubing. Either in standard tie rod end or hd heim joint style rod ends. Available with steering stabilizer and options.

Due to the race type application heim joints, even though they are stronger than anything else available and are safe enough for racers, this should be considered an off road part. The only issue we ever face with these rod ends is rust from salt or brine. If you drive in winter weather with those conditions consider a coat of heavy grease or our rubber boot kits for the season or they will rust. It will still work fine but will look bad. We have them on trucks that don’t see salt but do see regular road use for years and look and perform well. Even in good climate conditions, spray regularly with a penetrant/lubricant to keep happy, quiet and long lasting. 

Questions Asked:

Hello, I have a 2008 dodge ram 2500 low miles no accidents never plows never sees winter and j barely drive it lol bit it chewa thru stock tie rods annually and "better quality" ones about the same. It does have 13.5 wide tires that I'm sure aid in killing the tie rods so I'm looking for a fix to end my yearly tie rod and alignment payments. Looking at your heim set up with track bar. What is the warranty on the heim ends? How much are replacement heim ends for when im out of warranty ? Just cause I'm a nervous Nelly on drilling my knuckles out, do you or know anyone that sells sleeves to go into the drilled hole to go back tapered God forbid this don't work out? Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you!

Answer: 

I like your question. You are absolutely correct, replacement tie rod ends are garbage, and “lifetime” only means they are willing to give you another set free later. One good pothole later and the are damaged. (We experience the exact same with ball joints but have great solutions for that too!) Not only are they bad ends, but replacement parts, even from “fancy” companies, still use stock geometry, which ties them to the lousy-by-design T style steering that has bad response built in. 

Our system reduces or completely eliminates bump steer. 

If properly installed (no binding throughout steering/suspension cycle, and occasionally sprayed with a penetrant/lubricant, we would expect our rod ends to last for many years. I am currently driving 5 year old steering on the 15 ram I am driving, no reason to replace. 

The entire rod end and hardware set for replacement is only $135 retail, but with a previous purchase, we will discount that further if needed. 

I have considered making a return to stock insert set, but never have because other than a lack of ability to set it up properly, there would not be any customers who want it. It would be an exercise in customer comfort and we are so busy it would not happen. 

We have had customers who wish to return to stock, but only based on frustration of an incompetent shop or maybe their own. Any situation like this could be solved with an hour and 3 wrenches. 

I would never consider anything less. Easy drill, easy setup, and ultimately I would suggest you become the alignment shop too, very simple for a live axle truck. (We can help)