Steering box brace IYHO

I just wanted to know In Your Honest Opinion whether I would advantage from adding a steering box brace.

My Jeep will be mostly be street driven. The most "off road" it will see might be snow and light trails (if even that). I will however be installing a very quick ratio steering box which can add a little extra stress when making quick turns / changes.

Will a brace (either cross frame or reinforcing plate) aid in robustness, fatigue resistance, steering response, etc. Or is putting on a brace a waste of time for anything that wont see off roading and there are no worries about problems if its only street driven?

I'm gonna have the box off in the next few days and if it will advantage me to have a brace, I'll put one on before the new box goes in.

Thanks

If its only going to see the street, maybe add a cross frame brace in the future if you wanted to. Other wise, the factory did a good job so far. Unless yours is starting to show signs of crackage or wear, then Id consider it.

Thanks for your response 12gauge, anyone else have any thoughts on this?

I think I would do it now before it does start cracking.. There is nothing wrong with a stronger mount..

Also it's a street driven jeep now.. what about in a few years?

I just used some fender washers 1 1/4 inch and longer bolts. I could not get them in 7/16 so I drilled out some 3/8s. Used 3 pre bolt because the F washers I can get my hands on are a bit thin. May also need to do some trimming of the washers on one bolt.

I would opt for the C-rok steering plates before the steering brace so you protect your framerail...but thats my opinion. but its always good to protect and reinforce just in case/

Well, I've found some time while the used box is getting rebuilt, so I'll be attempting to make my own brace from a pattern I found in a thread here on Naxja. I agree, it would be better to reinforce just in case.

Anyhow, thanks for all your responses.

Can you post or pm me the pattern? That would be a good project for shop.

how u think he found it?

Search...

I have the MORE steering box brace and the C-rok inner plate (front bumper has the outer plate built in). If you are replacing the steering box for light offroad duties, I would recommend the C-rok inner and outer plates if I had to choose between the C-rok system or the steering box brace (MORE, Rustys) Since you are going to replace the box and have it out, easy to throw in the C-rok plates for added strength and peace of mind. Oh yea, there are other systems similar to the crok as you may or may not know but the idea is the same. For my setup it may be overkill but to me thats a good thing.

skyjackedxj96 said:

how u think he found it?

Search...

Click to expand...

Couldn't find it.

Yes, do the C-rok plates first. I've seen a few times where just using a MORE or Rustys style brace will help tear the box from the frame. Flexin' a bitch on a stock uni-body.

CreativeSN said:

Can you post or pm me the pattern? That would be a good project for shop.

Click to expand...

CreativeSN said:

Couldn't find it.

Click to expand...

I might be able to find it again, but it turns out the dimensions were a little off. I'm going to modify it and I'll try to post the drawings. I don't know if some jeeps were off from others.

I'm going to design it so that it doesn't interfere with the bumper bracket.

Here's the original picture I got dimensions from.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78263&highlight=steering+reinforcement

I have fixed the top hole as it was off a bit as compared to the OEM spacer. I however haven't verified the bumper bracket holes.

http://home.comcast.net/~catndogproductions/steering_box_plate_1to1.pdf
(1 to 1 drawing, print and trace. check your print properties for "scale to 100%")

http://home.comcast.net/~catndogproductions/steering_box_plate_w_dim.pdf
(with Dimensions)

These are not my design. Credit due where credit deserved.

I'm not going to be using this design. I'd rather not bolt up to the bumper bracket holes, so I'll be cutting it to clear the bumper brackets.

Here are the brackets I'll be making. Printouts are actual size, set your printer to scale to 100%. Print and trace.
http://home.comcast.net/~catndogproductions/steering_box_plate_inside_1to1.pdf
http://home.comcast.net/~catndogproductions/steering_box_plate_outside_1to1.pdf

SuperRA said:

Thanks for your response 12gauge, anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

Yes.

The steering ratio has no effect on the amount of stress/strain imposed on the chassis by the box. All the ratio does is affect how difficult it is for you to turn the steering wheel, and with power steering that's not a concern.

Tire size and tire pressure are the things that will put more stress on the chassis at the steering box mount.

Eagle said:

Yes.

The steering ratio has no effect on the amount of stress/strain imposed on the chassis by the box. All the ratio does is affect how difficult it is for you to turn the steering wheel, and with power steering that's not a concern.

Tire size and tire pressure are the things that will put more stress on the chassis at the steering box mount.

Click to expand...

This is my train of thought on this at least from my experience.

Any type of increased acceleration will put more reactive force back into the vehicle. When you modify a motor to output more HP/torque, you need to beef up parts to be able to handle the increased force, i.e. stronger axles, trans, engine parts, motor mounts. When you modify brakes to increase deceleration, more force is put back into calipers, mounts, hubs, etc. Granted most of these parts are strong enough to handle more force already the way they are, the increased stress/strain is still there.

So why should this differ when accerating the vehicle away from a straight line? I don't believe it does. A quicker ratio steering will do that in fast turns, quick lane changes, slolems (sp?). Now will the stresses on the chassis increase enought to matter in my case, I don't know, but seems the consensus is "better safe than sorry".

I guess a more valid argument would be why the @#$% would I do it in a Jeep. Well, I guess I'm just that anal, I hate bus like steering in anything. If I drove busses, I'd wish they'd have quick ratio steering LOL.

Anyways, hopefully people will find the brace patterns useful.

I'm not arguing against using a brace. I'm just pointing out that the ratio of the steering box has no effect on how much stress is transferred from the front suspension to the frame through the box. A quicker steering ratio actually provides the driver LESS mechanical advantage, meaning that for the same amount of work you perform, you transfer LESS force into the steering box.

You're talking to an old-time autocrosser who routinely converted Javelins and AMXs to quick-ratio manual steering boxes. Your understanding of the physics and mechanics involved is flawed. Try it with manual steering and you'll understand.