UTK TRE vs. UTK Heim steering kits

Ok so my 97 XJ is still running the 19 year old all original steering with 271,000 miles on it. Turning my 33s is less than stellar to say the least. I want to upgrade to something stronger, spend less than $350, and be fairly simple to install i.e. no moving of the track bar bracket or sway bar mounts. I know crossover steering and hydro assist is the bees knees but I don't wheel my Jeep that hard or that often to need all of that.

I have researched this like crazy but I want to see some of your thoughts and experiences on both the Chevy one ton inverted T steering and the Heim style?

These are the two kits I am considering:

Chevy TRE
http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.c...ing-Upgrade-Inserts-Included?cPath=1231_2092&

Heim Steering
http://www.bleeoffroad.com/item/standard-steering-kit

Both are within my budget. The Serious kit can be aligned on the Jeep without removing anything but my options for a diff cover are limited. Plus tie rod roll but between the poly bushing for each knuckle's TRE and adding "The Cure" from Ruff Stuff to the TRE where the drake links meets the tie rod, that should almost eliminate that. The him steering is cheaper but with the bend in it, I would have to remove the helm ends from the knuckle and the pittman are just to adjust it.

Out of those two I would do the Chevy TRE kit. I did that but over the knuckle which required a ton of work but UTK will perform the same. The deadspot might make you crazy at first but you will get used to it. It only really stinks when the road has ruts from all of the traffic driving on it.

Add money to that budget for a Clamp for a steering stabilizer if you want one. Besides off road only I am not sure why someone would want a heim over a TRE (especially on 33s).

If you really cared about turn radius NWF sells a piece of machined metal that links the drag link to the tie rod then you could use offset TREs on the knuckles but that is a whole other mess to deal with.

Id go tre's, simply for the easier maintenance and parts availability especially on a mostly street driven rig. and they'll probably last longer

themauler said:

Out of those two I would do the Chevy TRE kit. I did that but over the knuckle which required a ton of work but UTK will perform the same. The deadspot might make you crazy at first but you will get used to it. It only really stinks when the road has ruts from all of the traffic driving on it.

Add money to that budget for a Clamp for a steering stabilizer if you want one. Besides off road only I am not sure why someone would want a heim over a TRE (especially on 33s).

If you really cared about turn radius NWF sells a piece of machined metal that links the drag link to the tie rod then you could use offset TREs on the knuckles but that is a whole other mess to deal with.

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I am leaning more towards the TRE kit simply because its got a proven relaibilyt stand point but reviews are not very consistent about whether these kind of kits hit the diff cover and track bar axle end mount too.

The dead spot thing seems to be hit or miss too. Some say they have virtually no dead spot and some says its awful and the rest are in between. The Serious Offroad kit includes two poly spacers to help stop it. Ruff Stuff came out with a product that that call "The Cure" which is the same concept as the poly spacers except theirs is made of Delrin which is supposed to hold up a lot better than the poly spacers. Ruff Stuff also says to put theirs on the TRE this on the tie rod side of the drag link instead of on the TREs at the knuckles. Now with the poly ones on the knuckles and the Ruff Stuff spacer on the other TRE at the drag link, that would seem to nearly eliminate the Tie Rod roll to me, which is what I will definitely do if I go with that kit.

trippled said:

Id go tre's, simply for the easier maintenance and parts availability especially on a mostly street driven rig. and they'll probably last longer

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Thats really where my head was at on it. I was just trying to get a little more insight into the two different kits.

Everyone I talked to about getting the Blee setup said you'd probably have to make a track bar to avoid bump steer. When I called him to confirm this he said its not 100% needed but their would be minor bump steer.