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Project
Jeep CJ-7
Installation of a Saginaw
Gearbox
Mounting Bracket
that means business |
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With the
installation of an AGR Superbox 2 and an AGR High Performance Power
Steering pump to turn my Super Swampers, I
could no longer trust my stock bracket to hold the Saginaw gearbox
onto the frame. So I made a call to my friend Mike at OK Four Wheel drive
and asked about a power steering gearbox mounting bracket that I had
heard about. Besides the seriously beefy
construction, this bracket moves the steering box 1 inch forward which
would give me the extra room I needed to clear my pitman arm from my
tie rod. Then I could get rid of my pitman arm
hack job. Mike hooked me up with this SERIOUS aftermarket Saginaw Gearbox mount.
When you compare this massive bracket to the stock CJ two piece stamped steel,
there not even in the same ballpark. Laser cut 3/8"
steel. Serious beef. I'm not sure about the manufacturer of this
bracket, apparently it's from a small mid-west shop, but I ordered from OK Four wheel Drive in Stewartsville
New Jersey (www.ok4wd.com, 908-454-6973). If you give them a
call and ask for Mike, tell him Ralph sent you and ask for the CJ
Saginaw gearbox mounting bracket that I bought. |
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Here is a few pictures of comparison between the stock CJ,
stamped steel Saginaw mounting bracket on the left and the new,
larger aftermarket Saginaw gearbox mounting bracket. A few
things to note about this new heavy duty bracket are: the diameter
of the steel it is fabricated from, 1/4" and 3/8" steel
welded together and gusseted. The top horizontal piece of the
bracket has more surface area with a third bolt hole for an
additional 7/16" bolt. Also the new mounting bracket
moves my Saginaw gearbox one inch forward with fixes the issue of my
pitman arm hitting the tie rod on compression of the driver side
suspension. A plus for this bracket is that it is a bolt on
minus a little trimming of the front frame cross member to clear the
Saginaw gearbox hoses (see below).
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First order of business with the bracket is to give the bare metal a
paint job. I thought it would be a crime to paint this massive
bracket anything but a bright color so I chose red. Then the
AGR Saginaw gearbox was bolted up to the bracket using the spacers
that came with the bracket. I replaced the hardware that the
AGR gearbox came with, which was grade 5 hardware. As with
everything else on the Jeep, I used grade 8 hardware instead.
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Because this bracket moves the box forward about one inch, I had to
notch the frame crossmember a little. These next three shots point out where I had to trim a small notch
in the CJ-7's front cross member to clear the AGR Superbox 2 power
steering fluid hoses.
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I used my angle grinder to notch the frame just enough to be able to
get the hoses on without any contact.
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I trimmed the notch a few times in between test fitting the AGR and
bracket to the frame.
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Finally with enough clearance to install the hoses I mounted the AGR
gearbox and the new gearbox mounting bracket to the frame using
grade 8 bolts.
The following are a few pictures of the gearbox and bracket
mounted up.
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An underside view |
This picture shows the extra clearance I gained by moving the
steering box one inch forward. |
AGR pump installed. |
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The Good the bad and the ugly.
The Good. So what do I think of it?
Massive. Super strong. It won't be this bracket that
breaks I can tell you that. Moving the gearbox one inch forward
was a huge plus for me. I needed the room with the Dana 44 axle
and the aftermarket tie rod and drag link causing contact. The
extra room will be helpful if I ever go with a reverse shackle.
The Bad. Not much bad. It is a little on the
expensive side at 150 bucks but after thinking of a way to fabricate
my own, it saved me a lot of trial and error and headaches.
The Ugly. Yeah, I like ugly. This thing is so
massive that you don't want to hide it. Paint it bright red like an
in-grown toe nail.
The Pitman arm hack
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Above, my hack job to eliminate contact between
the tie rod and the pitman arm. Note, I don't recommend doing
this. It was a temporary fix. The Jeep now had a new factory
pitman on the AGR Steering Gear.
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Serious Skid-Plate protection for the Oil Pan for under 20 bucks!
