M1028 Crossover steering

I am just about done with the cross over conversion from ORD on my 1028 with Banks Turbo setup, and have discovered that the drag link hits the exhaust. Has anybody else ran up against this problem? ORD doesn't offer much advice at all, and selections of pitman arms seem to be pretty thin.

I had no issue with the exhaust being any where near my crossover on non turbo 1009. your exhaust must be quite different. does your cross over tube cross in front of the engine instead of the back?
What lift are you running? must have 4 inch or larger to have clearance between pitman arm and springs.
your 1028 must be a very different setup

sorry, any where near my exhaust, i do not have a crossover and if i did it would be in the back of the motor not front.

here are some pics of the problem. The Banks exhaust for the LHS runs around the front of the motor, and of course, interferes with the crossover steering. The pics are a little deceiving, there isn't as much room between the frame and pipe as it looks like in the pics.

..... Ive never seen the exhaust ran that way before... Is this your down pipe from the turbo? Can you post more pics of this setup.. ( from pass side.. and if possible from the top...) I have the ORD High steer/ crossover setup.. and you are correct, your VERY limited on pitman arm, and I WOULDNT recommend modifing it in any way... ( your life and the life of others depend on that part being sound... ) I would simply try and reroute the exhaust...

looks like the exhaust was ran in a different mannor than normal probably so that the frame did not have to be notched. I think you are going to have to modify the exhaust in order to use the cross over steer system. I am planning on adding a turbo in the future and wanted to do something similar to your setup because I do not want to notch my frame or run the exhaust outside the frame rails. I guess I know now that that cannot be done. All of the turbo cross overs I have seen cross over behind the engine crossmember. There is a High clearance crossmember I think ord sells which raises the cross member a few inches. this may allow you to raise the banks cross over the couple inches needed for clearance. It is a lot of work to install but it may solve your problem.
If you figure out a way to reroute, let us know.

Trailhead - It appears that you may have the high steer rod installed instead of the crossover rod. I have ORD's crossover in my M1028 and the crossover rod is goose-necked, not straight. There is a good photo of this at post #56 of my rebuild thread (link below). My engine is not turbo'd, so I can't say for sure if the goose-necked rod will clear the pipe, but it sure looks like it would. ORD may have shipped you the wrong rod.

Hope this helps.

Sharecropper said:

Trailhead - It appears that you may have the high steer rod installed instead of the crossover rod. I have ORD's crossover in my M1028 and the crossover rod is goose-necked, not straight. There is a good photo of this at post #56 of my rebuild thread (link below). My engine is not turbo'd, so I can't say for sure if the goose-necked rod will clear the pipe, but it sure looks like it would. ORD may have shipped you the wrong rod.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Wow... Good catch Sharecropper... i didnt realize it the 1st time...




Trailhead, it seems you have the crossover steering bar, not the High steering bar... that is what Sharecropper is refering to... heres a quick pic of my cross over/high steer steering... look closely at my drag link,( from pitman arm) and the space between the links, hyrdo ram and oil pan... As Richingalveston said.... this configuration may allow you to keep the exhaust route as is, wih just minimal tweaking....








Richingalveston... I'm like you,... and havent started the turbo mod, yet... I was thinking of just cutting and rebloxing in Pass side floor board to clear down pipe... I DONT want to notch and weaken frame... but.... if rerouting as trailhead's rig... if that works,, it may be the way to go......

My drag link rod is bent as it should be. I actually have it turned a funny way in the pic that makes it looks straight. I did that for now because it makes it possible to steer and the link just grazes the exhaust. When it is installed in the intended manner, it actually interferes more and prevents you from making left turns. It does appear the only good option is to make a new pipe that offers better clearance.

Yes, good catch sharecropper, he appears to have the wrong rod.

I have not seen a banks installed but it appears his is different from all that I have seen.

Please send us some pics of the top side. I am interested in how the passenger side mannifold is set up.

I have been trying to get a creative with mine. In order to not cut the frame or run the exhaust outside the rail, I am considering putting the mufflers where the battery trays are and moving the battery trays to the underside where the muflers are. plan to add a couple of more batteries and thus I would put all the weight of these right in front of the rear axle (will have good boxes with skid plates) Instead of high up in the engine compartment. I was considering dumping the exhaust in front of the front tire or making it come out of the hood. I still want it to be street legal so I have to talk with my mechanic to see what will pass inspection.
My Turbo and exhaust is still in the thinking stage, I have a lot of other things to finish first.

wow, that rod looks as strait as can be in the pic.
I see you have the bourgeson shaft and new steering box.
you might see if ord can get you a custom bent rod where the bend is closer to the pitman arm.
The cheepest solution will probably be to take it to an exhaust shop

Where are you guys talking about notching the frame? The banks kit was installed by the book and there was no need to notch anything. The exhaust after the turbo is tight between the frame and engine but no frame mods needed. Maybe some slight notching of the crossmember and "softening" of the pipe in key areas with a torch and A little pressure from a floor jack I might be able to gain the clearance I need.

when you install a turbo from a 6.5 on a 6.2 the cross over pipe exits the rear of the engine on the driver side goes down and over behind the cross member and back up where the non turbo exhaust on the passenger side normally exits. The new cross over tube goes into the back of the exhaust manifold on the pasenger side. The turbo input comes from the side of the passenger manifold and the exhaust from the turbo has to go back through the same hole the cross over tube is now coming through. There is not enough room on passenger side for both pipes thus the frame either gets notched or the exhaust from the turbo is run outside the frame rail.

I do not want to do this so I am interested in how your passenger exhaust manifold is designed since you cant be using a 6.5 exhaust manifold with the cross over coming into the front.

some pressure on the pipe, and then some light torch work was enough to get me what I need for the time being. I'll snap some pics and post them up later. I can also post up pics of the rest of the turbo setup, I remember there were some requests in earlier posts.

I just got my ORD Kit in the mail yesterday and I have to agree with everybody else that drag link looks really straight. So besides this headache how did the rest of the install go? Cant wait to get mine on this weekend and finally have a rig that steers decent.

Yes, the drag link on my truck looks straight int the pics. I had to turn it to a goofy angle to minimize the rubbing just to get out of the garage for the time being. I assure you it has the dog leg bent into it. Now that I have been able to massage the exhaust into place, there is no more rubbing and the drag link is installed as intended. My first driving impression is good. Turning effort is very low, turning radius is much improved, and the truck no longer dives to the right under moderate to heavy braking. I think I still need to turn the steering shaft one spline to the left, and shorten the adjustment on the drag link because the truck wants to drift right while driving, it seems the box just wants to find it's center and rest there. Overall very happy with the results. I also highly recommend changing out the steering shaft while you're in there, I used a Borgeson double u-joint shaft because the rag joint was shot on mine. Steering is actually responsive now,

My hydro and cross over set up

cucvnut, I see you got the competition bump stops, with the lift you have do you ever hit those stops, i have 4 inch with zero rates and I dont think mine will ever hit the stops but I would like to know if it is possible

No I have never hit them i have been thinking about making them longer, i need to address the rear ones also.