WJ steering prices?

Looking into doing the WJ swap and was wondering what the costs can be and where did you get parts.

XJCRAWLER said:

Looking into doing the WJ swap and was wondering what the costs can be and where did you get parts.

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90.00 at a junk yard entier setup :arrowr:

$150 for MOOG parts new
$50 at the wrecker

Was that knuckles and calipers too? I've been searching for the last hour for a thread on doing the swap, and hadn't find a good one yet. Help?

XJCRAWLER said:

Was that knuckles and calipers too? I've been searching for the last hour for a thread on doing the swap, and hadn't find a good one yet. Help?

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No you only need the drag link and the tierod assemblys. its a simple bolt on 15 minute job

Isn't the WJ steering a crossover setup?

oops, I mis-read.

I converted to the stronger but similar ZJ steering

XJCRAWLER said:

Isn't the WJ steering a crossover setup?

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Yes, and if your at the junk yard pull the tie rod, drag link, and knuckles. The brak set up also if you dont want to try and reuse yours. TJ calipers and rotors are the same and sometimes cheaper and more abundant.

I will preface my comments by saying I am not an expert. I have asked 's own Mark Hinkley for much of this detailed information. I am however curently finishing the WJ steering-knuckle-brake conversion. I'm happy to answer any questions that I can as there is little information on the net and some of it is not correct. JKS has the best write up by Mr. Hinkley in the "fab" section.

We obviously have some confusion over the WJ steering-knuckle-brake conversion. This should not be mixed up with a ZJ V8 steering conversion that is a steering swap only. If you just want slightly stronger tie/drag links then the ZJ V8 swap may work for you.

The WJ setup makes for a very nice polished D30. For myself I do not see running any tire over 32's and am very happy with 31's right now. Unfortunately I do not wheel near enough so my 2000 is mainly drivin on road. With these parameters and money issues I decided to stay away from an expensive custom 44. Yes, my D30 is custom, but the parts are not hard to find. Trust me I love to overkill build, but the 44 buy the time it's shipped to Kansas is alot more expensive.

The start of this whole project started with buying a '92 HP D30. I needed to build over time, wanted to drive my XJ till the weekend of the swap, and wanted the improved strength and shaft angle of the high pinion. The knuckles were purchased from a yard for a '99 WJ for $100. The 1/4" spacers are needed for proper axle joint alignment. I used The JKS's because of the full circle and strength. Several people have used washers, but I'm not! I made an additional spacer to fit inside the knuckle and outside the unit bearing to keep the press fit contact close to stock. The rotors are WJ's and unit bearings are XJ, all Advance auto. I bought new ball-joints and tie rod/drag ends from Jeep. The steering links are from JKS. The swaybar axle end location will need to be modified, but that will be done once mounted. I also will use my 297 axles from my 2000 Jeep. The swaybar has to be change due to the much improved drag link angle. I used JKS's relocator and will redo my exsisting JKS tracbar to fit.

I have yet to decide wether I will go full out high steer since I'm only at a 4" lift. The WJ links are actualy lower than the axle tube and that just seems wrong. On the flip side at 4"s a high steer may be too much and hit the motor when flexing.

OK, ask away as I'm sure I left something out.
Angus

My Badd! was thinking ZJ, read too quick

great info Angus got pics?

Yep, I forgot some stuff.

The WJ rotors need to be redrill. I used an old rotor off the donor front end and a drill press. Not hard to do, but try and be precise. The rotor does not depend on the lug holes for roundness so if you are close that is fine. I bought the updated calipers, caliper brackets and shoes from Jeep for a 2003 WJ. You will notice real quick that the brakes are a huge improvement!

I am esentialy engineering the lift out of my front end. The steering and front shaft will have better angles if not close to perfect. The brakes should make up for the larger tires. One note, my XJ came with 16' wheels and have no clearance issue, 15" wheels will.
Angus

Angus said:

I will preface my comments by saying I am not an expert. I have asked 's own Mark Hinkley for much of this detailed information.

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Sorry, had to giggle at these two sentences.

Original question...

Knuckles $140 from junk yard
Rotors $100 new from dealer
Loaded calipers $200 new from dealer
MOOG TREs $90 new from NAPA?
RHD WJ TRE $60 new from dealer
linkages cheaper than JKS...
JKS parts Dont remember but they were on sale at the time
Goferit inserts $45

Other things to consider...

15" STEEL wheels will fit without stick on weights and enough BS. I run 16" wheels but have used a few different black steel wheels ranging from 4" BS to 3.5" and all fit. I also have the latter bigger calipers. I bought all the JKS swap parts which made it much faster and easier to finish. Also the hubs need to the correct ones to have the proper rotor to caliper clearance. The 90 to ?? hubs need apx 1/4" caliper to knuckle spacer. The pre 90 hubs fit just right. I have heard 99 and newer fit also but not sure.If you want to run it Over the knuckle and use WJ TREs good luck finding the knuckle side DL TRE at a yard. Its a RHD part and is almost double the price of the other WJ TREs. I 1st ran this with straight linkages mounted UTK and had several issues with the drag link. As you can slightly see in the pics the sway bar mount is bent over which was MUCH worse before I bent it back. This also made the turning distance to the left suffer bad. In the pic the wheel still has more room to turn without hitting. Heres some pics I took for another member here just the other day.

I just finished doing this. I basically got my calipers/pads/rotors for free, made all my brackets and steering linkages and I'm still easily into it for $350.

I flipped the tie rod and drag links so I have decent clearance. the steering is 100% better no bumper steer or wobble of any kind I am currently running without a stabaliser either.

if I was buying the stuff at anywhere near retail I'd probably just build a D44.

yes looking back a D44 or even a 60 would have been the best option. Dont get me wrong the brakes and steering is great BUT its still a D30...

LOL we musta been posting at the same time!!

in a nutshell I think it's a great swap but more involved than fist appears and if you can't shop the parts around probably cost more than it's worth