Wow, can you believe it has been nearly 3 months since I last updated? I am very sorry for that. Rest assured, things have been happening. From attending SEMA to Randy getting married (another huge congratulations to him and his new wife), and then reaching Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the crazy things that happen at this time of year, the months have just flown by.
I was very excited when I got visual Christmas presents from Randy. He sent pictures of the latest work, he has been working on steering.
Have you ever bought or built a steering setup from scratch? I
never imagined the amount of calculations and details to put together a steering setup.
Do you want power steering? Hydraulic assist? Complete hydraulic?
Where will the steering box go? (I didn't have to work on this one).
What about your steering wheel? Shape? Size? Depth? Cover? Markings? Horn Button? Quick disconnect?
Do you want the entire wheel to have some adjustable features? Tilt? Telescoping?
These are just some of the questions I had to figure out in the past weeks and get answers to Randy at Extreme Overkill Fabrication so he could move forward.
After they all were answered, parts were ordered.
The original steering wheel from the 1985 4Runner was not going to work, but I wanted to keep with the original look as much as possible. So I wanted a 3-spoke wheel with a medium depth, but not a deep dish.
Next was size and texture. Have you ever actually thought about how big your steering wheel is? Me either.
After a ton of online reading, thinking about how I grip the steering wheel, and actually measuring both my vehicles at home, I had more of an idea.
I selected a Grant Steering Wheel that will work well for the build and budget. The cover is a fairly thick wrap for my big hands; but not too thick, so even small handed drivers will be able to control the wheel. I also opted for the center stripe (yellow of course). This is usually a racing feature, but will be a huge help for knowing when the tires are aimed straight down the trail.
Finally, I considered the attachment. Keeping in mind my build goal to allow many people to drive The Spike, I wanted a tilt wheel with quick disconnect to allow easier entry and exit from the buggy.
Pair all that with the hydraulic assist we have planed, and we had something to go on. Randy ordered all the required mounting hardware and steering shaft.
Check out these pictures as Randy has assembled a great setup to keep the tires going where the driver points them. Thanks Randy for the awesome work.
If you look close in this picture, you can see the new exhaust manifold and down tubes and how tight it was to fit between the engine and the frame.
Here is the steering box mounted to the frame rail.
A huge thank you goes out again to Randy at Extreme Overkill Fabrication. I know you have been busy with the shop and other things in life this winter, but you are still pushing forward and I appreciate it.
Follow my build on C4x4 Online Magazine, www.c4x4.com/Projects/Spike/Spike.html
Be sure to like and follow my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ProjecttheSpike/
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