So the only thing I really have to worry about it lengthening brake lines then really. My fuel lines, and clutch lines are all aftermarket braided lines. And I don't have an e-brake currently. I think I can probably make some drop brackets for my idler arms. Idk, I haven't really looked into it too much yet, I was just out looking under my truck and the thought of it came to mind. Ill post it up here if I end up acting in it

 

Another idea for the steering is asking the FJ and land cruiser crowd about drop pitman arms. I think you could get away with relocating the idler down

 

to your knowledge, has anyone ever done a manual rack and pinion swap on these? Cuz it would be easy enough to get the steering shaft to go straight down to a rack, and make some brackets to mount the rack on the subframe.

 

None that ive seen or read about. Dont think anyone has gone past searching for a off the shelf rack from another vehicle that will work with the width needed.

 

How much clearance are you looking for? What about a small body lift or modifying the sheet metal?

I have only seen one claim of someone who did a R&P swap on these trucks, but they never added details or posted any pics of it to prove it

 

I need about 2in probably. i considered a bodylift, but i dont really like the look of them at all, plus it would make my motor look all weird in the engine bay. I didnt see the one post on here of the guy who used the AE86 subframe with rack and pinion. i considered that but those subframes are super hard to find and usually expensive when you do find them :/

 

Thinking of it again. You wont have to mess with the steering that much. The drag link can remain in the original place along with the steering box/idler/pitman arm. The tie rods are whats going to be the issue. You would have to find a way to make them mount from the top as opposed to from the bottom. Heims and high misalignment spacers is all i can think of

 

I didnt even think about flipping the rod ends to the top. Thats genius. If i only do 2in, flipping to the topside would give me everything i needed. Even if i had to cut the rod end off, sleeve it with a couple crossholes and thru pins for strength and weld a bung in. Only thing that would make me cringe is drilling out the spindles to accept a bolt instead of a tapered joint. But i guess ive cut everything else up on this banana so fuck it? lol

 

Pretty much lol. You get to a certain point where you do what you gotta do to get it where you want

 

Like you said, you've already chopped into this truck - so might as well just keep modifying stuff to your needs

I'd probably tub the firewall so nothings hits there. On the wheel openings maybe cut them out and weld on some universal steel flares. I've also seen on many vehicles where people cut/splice the finished wheel opening back onto fenders higher up so they look factory to those who don't know any better

For the steering - I figure if you can shoehorn that v8 in there with a backwards exhaust, you can likely figure out how to convert it to R&P steering without a full subframe swap I'm no engineer, but if I was planning to toss this truck around a dirt track with that size tire, I'd probably go toward beefy heim joints on that steering and brace the hell out of everything, then when it breaks make it better/stronger!