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chevy tre's? is it that easy?

CV95XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hinckley, IL
so basically my steering is shot, I need new steering. I was going to get the rugged ridge/ omix ada kit. but they are backordered for a while, and I wasn't too happy with their service anyway, so I am thinking of building my own. I have heard a lot of guys use chevy 1 ton tie rod ends. In my head it sounds so simple, but I know it probably isn't, so Im going to tell you my plan, and then you guys can correct me.

I want to go to the parts store, buy 4 chevy 1 ton tre's, go buy some tubing, cut it to length and get the inside threaded for the tre's. Im just going to build it under the knuckle for now, but im not sure if I want to keep the stock setup (inverted T) or run the drag link all the way over to the knuckle (how hard would that be?)

one more think, do the chevy tre's just fit on my d30 knuckles, or do they have to be reamed out, if so how do you ream them? is their a tool I can get or does a machine shop have to do it? I know I sound like a total newb, but I don't really know much about this stuff.
thanks for any help guys.
 
You will have to ream the knuckles, pitman arm, and the pass. side TRE as its originally designed as a steering dampener. Its supper easy, just takes some time.


I bought my reamer from snapon, but I dont remember what it is, or the specs. A search should pull it up for you.
 
www.jcroffroad.com has the part# to the snap-on reamer. I have one I used for my steering worked great.
 
You can either cut threads into the tubing itself or you can use threaded inserts for the TREs. I'd probably go with inserts - if you strip an insert, you can replace it. If the tubing itself is damaged, it is harder to repair.
 
You won't be able to just ream your knuckles and add the steering as it will hit the Sway bar mounts. Your current set up goes forward some and then crosses the front of the vehicle in front of the sway bar mounts. CHEVY TRE's use DOM tubing either threaded or Bungs welded in and goes straight across and will interfere with the sway bar mount. unless I am missing something here it will not work for you. Go out and look across the vehicle and see if it will interfere.

As for the Reamer I have the one from Snap on and the handle broke the first night, so I put it in my drill and finished reaming the holes which was a lot easier than doing it by hand. Actually it was so much easier I drilled them to deep and had to replace the knuckles.
 
Its probably cheaper to buy the JCR steering setup than to build your own. They buy the supplies in bulk and the whole setup shipped will cost about what the DOM will cost you.
 
family TJ said:
You won't be able to just ream your knuckles and add the steering as it will hit the Sway bar mounts.
It will???? Last time I checked mine did not interfere with 'em.
Your current set up goes forward some and then crosses the front of the vehicle in front of the sway bar mounts.
IIRC it's one of the grand cherokee setups that does that.
As for the Reamer I have the one from Snap on and the handle broke the first night, so I put it in my drill and finished reaming the holes which was a lot easier than doing it by hand. Actually it was so much easier I drilled them to deep and had to replace the knuckles.
There is a whole thread here someplace about reaming knuckles. I used air ratchet and it worked perfect. Btw, ream once, measure twice.
 
family TJ said:
You won't be able to just ream your knuckles and add the steering as it will hit the Sway bar mounts. Your current set up goes forward some and then crosses the front of the vehicle in front of the sway bar mounts. CHEVY TRE's use DOM tubing either threaded or Bungs welded in and goes straight across and will interfere with the sway bar mount. unless I am missing something here it will not work for you. Go out and look across the vehicle and see if it will interfere.

As for the Reamer I have the one from Snap on and the handle broke the first night, so I put it in my drill and finished reaming the holes which was a lot easier than doing it by hand. Actually it was so much easier I drilled them to deep and had to replace the knuckles.
Yeah, I dont think you have to worry about the sway bar mounts and track bar hitting until you do OTK.

When I did mine, I had to chop off my mounts and massage the track bar mount a bit for them to fit.
 
Easy job for any experienced fabricator, do your research first and its a piece of cake.

Cost around $ 200 for me to make. And I used 4130 tubing 1 3/8 x .188 wall.
tubing $60
TRE's $100
Hex Tube Inserts $40
Jam nuts for TRE's (Free at Junkyard)
I did have the reamer and all the drill bits so that justified doing it myself. Otherwise i'd say its cheaper to buy a kit. Or go with a ZJ V8 tie rod , new drag link, and oversized tre's.
I also recommend that GTAW be used for welding in tube inserts, plus it makes the part look better.
 
www.completeoffroad.com

It's bronco site, but same things here. Cheap prices, And shipping is very fast.

I used the partnumbers from this website and went down to napa for TRE's. Got my inserts and jam nuts from C.O. Also got m Dana 4.89 gear set from them. Great guy.
 
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