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1 ton steering mod - a question...

fuzzydog

NAXJA Forum User
Location
BC Canada
I'm putting in a 6.5 long arm lift and want to address the steering and considering options.

In looking at the JCR 1ton conversion instructions I see that the wide end of the knuckle taper (bottom of knuckle) BEFORE reaming is the same as the narrow end of the taper (top of knuckle) AFTER reaming. So I'm wondering, if you are going to the trouble anyway, why not ream from the top down and do an OTK flip at the same time? It just seems like a given that that is the way it should be done but the instructions don't say anything about it. Has anyone done this or does anyone know of a reason not to do it?
 
A lot of people do that. You have to do a lot of trimming at the edge of your coil buckets and relocate your swaybar mounts to make it fit, and I believe JCR has to modify one of the TRE's before they ship. Call JCR and ask them about it, they are very forthcoming with the details.
 
cal said:
A lot of people do that. You have to do a lot of trimming at the edge of your coil buckets and relocate your swaybar mounts to make it fit, and I believe JCR has to modify one of the TRE's before they ship. Call JCR and ask them about it, they are very forthcoming with the details.

It's been covered. JCR will make it OTK if you want, but you will have to clearance some things.
 
Winks00XJ said:
And if you OTK then you have to relocate the TB on the axle end which means a shorter TB.

can you elaborate on that? I'm trying to picture it in my head and can't quite see how the TB (track bar, right?) gets affected?

BTW - thanks for the input all - I did search and just couldn't find anything definitive..
 
in the stock location, the trackbar mount on the axle end is mounted on the front of the axle. When you are at full lock, the tierod (especially JCRs) doesnt have any bend to it (till it hits a rock) and so it interferes with the stock bracket. by going OTK, it still interferes with the trackbar just at a higher point. So relocating the trackbar allows you to sit it on TOP of the axle instead of forward.
 
At the bottom of this link is a picture of a knuckle extension

http://kevinsoffroad.com/steeringupgrades.html

Heres the PITA...I emailed kevin about it. He gave me the number of the supplier of the steering system Price $700.

I called the supplier and they don't sell the knuckles alone. What a pain.
Through further conversations, I mentioned support for 1 ton TREs and Heim setups...NOPE. And it isn't over the knuckle either....but clears the buckets and no need for trackbar relocation.

Asked about future development and sale of the knuckles alone to support 1 ton steering and heim setups...NOPE.

So to the INVENTORS our there...Or better yet...HEY JCR!!...Take the idea off the picture...Make it 1 ton and Heim supported..PATENT IT and you can make your retirement.

And if you don't mind...Send me a set of the knuckles please :D
 
thought I should share, here's what JCR told me....


To go OTK,

You need to:

Cut/trim the front off the coil buckets
Remove/Relocate the sway bar end link mounts
Possibly, cut rotate and reweld trac bar to not hit the draglink
(depends on the brand, and mount of the trac bar)
And you will lose about 3/8" of steering lock on both sides, so you need
to shim/adjust the steering stops out.

We did this on a jeep here in our shop. It took one of my best
fabricators around 5.5 hours to install. It was a PITA. This is why we
don't offer it as a kit and we are sure to let everyone know that it is
NOT easy. Even though some ppl in online forums say it is.
 
Hmmm, I just did this a couple weeks ago.


I didnt call and talk to JCR before I ordered, so they sent me a kit for UTK. I didnt realize that one of the TREs is tappered, but if I had thought about it, it would have made sense. If you want to do OTK, call them or email and they will set you up right the first time, instead of what I did and goofed up.

For cutting and trimming and all the things that have been said. I had to cut off the sway bar mounts. Thats it. I didnt have to mess with the coil buckets or anything like that. The thing is though, the next thing to hit aside from the sway bar brakets was the track bar. A simple adjustment of the steering stops, and all is well. Im willing to lose a couple inches off my turning radius for heavy duty steering. I am running no sway bars, so Im not worrying about relocating them.

Also, people talking about relocating the track bar, it really depends on the Jeep and how much lift there is. Each Jeep will be different, so dont start talking about having to weld on a track bar braket unless its really needed. I have about 6'' of lift, with REs heavy duty track bar. Right now I have a 1'' drop pitman arm, and I think Im going to go with a stock one, and everything will work.
If you want a deffinat answer post some specs and we can see what your doing.

edit: If you are moving the track bar up so it doesnt hit the steering, then I can see the reason for that. But if its to get better angles, not worth it at all.
And personally I thought it was a fairly easy swap to do. Took a lot of time to ream those stupid knuckles and pitman arm, but it took about a day. And thats with a couple trips to the hardware store and a fan belt going out on the other jeep.
 
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You could also get the DownEastOffroad.com high steer. I have the High steer that they offer and it is very beefy and the kit is awesome. With everything you need to do the job. You supply some tools, and several hours of labor and you end up with a nice steering setup. One word of warning is the cost of the kit..... Its not cheap and some people will not want to spend the cash on a D30.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing.
 
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