Tie rod upgrade questions

Ever since I went to 33s I swear I can feel the tie rod flex when I'm turning. So far I haven't destroyed it on a rock but it's only a matter of time.

So I'm looking at tie rod upgrade options and although I'd really like to go to a cross over type and eliminate the tow change as the suspension cycles as well as having to realign it every time I change anything in the front suspension, those solutions are a bit pricey for right now.

The inverted T types seem to have an issue with dead spots and the XJ sees a lot of road use too so I'm not keen on that.

That leaves the basic tie rod upgrades like the V8 ZJ, Big Daddy, etc. I'm leaning away from the V8 ZJ because of the downward bend making rock contact more likely. I've noticed that some of the straight tie rod upgrades use the factory TREs (Big Daddy, JKS) and some use bigger (Rusty's). Does the larger TRE help or does it just mean that I'll bend the drag link instead if I hit it? Do the larger TREs bind sooner when drooping?

Any other considerations I'm missing?

Zj tie rod works great, bigger tres,larger solid tie rod .if you have a really high lift, OTK is the way to go.

I have the Big Daddy tie rod upgrade. I really like it! Its beefy and is WAY better than my 1 ton inverted T setup. Throw a tie rod flip on it and your golden.

Nothing wrong with inverted Y steering, in fact it's very positive since the drag link goes straight to the knuckle. Inverted T works great but only when there isn't much angle on the drag link.

I run inverted Y on the buggy with 40" tires and race in King of the Hammers. A little tow change while the suspension cycles is insignificant.

Cherokeekid88 said:

I have the Big Daddy tie rod upgrade. I really like it! Its beefy and is WAY better than my 1 ton inverted T setup. Throw a tie rod flip on it and your golden.

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I got the Big Daddy too. It was cheap and beefy. I doubt it would flex without breaking something else first.

Don't know much about the company, but they've been talked about a little bit here on ::.

Seems like a decent option for upgrading just the tie rod for less than $70.

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...en=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-SHDTR.

stoneattic said:

So I'm looking at tie rod upgrade options and although I'd really like to go to a cross over type and eliminate the tow change as the suspension cycles as well as having to realign it every time I change anything in the front suspension, those solutions are a bit pricey for right now.

The inverted T types seem to have an issue with dead spots and the XJ sees a lot of road use too so I'm not keen on that.

Any other considerations I'm missing?

Click to expand...

Since you are mentioning inverted T and crossover, I believe you have some terminology mixed up.

Crossover steering is not inverted T. Cross over is a drag link going from the pitman arm to the steering knuckle, then a separate tie rod connects the two steering knuckles. Inverted T is its own category.

One consideration you might want to look in to is the WJ conversion. You use the WJ steering knuckles, calipers, and draglink and tie rod, and you have a true crossover steering set up. I know a few people who have this set up and enjoy it very much. Look a little more into this set up.

How about the Blue torch fab's cross over steering bracket for the D30/D44? It looks pretty beefy and is cheaper than the WJ conversion.

http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_29_30&products_id=447

Mutant_Xj said:

How about the Blue torch fab's cross over steering bracket for the D30/D44? It looks pretty beefy and is cheaper than the WJ conversion.

http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_29_30&products_id=447

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How is that cheaper than the WJ conversion? Both instances you will need new tie rods, and new draglinks, as well as a new trackbar and mount. The WJ stuff can be had for relatively cheap if you pick it up from a junkyard, or off of someone selling it. I saw the knuckles and calipers being sold for $150 (same price as that bracket) the other day. As an added bonus on the WJ system, you have a dual piston caliper for added braking.

If you're looking at 33"+ tires on a D30, the WJ conversion is the only way to go IMO.

I was on 31s with stock steering, track bar, and brakes with worn out ball joints, hub bearings, and u joints. The axle needed a total overhaul.

If you haven't done steering or a track bar yet, you need to do them anyway with a WJ conversion. You end up with beefed up steering, track bar, brakes, without the issues of inverted T or Y steering.

I only found Wj's at a Jeep junkyard and when I asked the guy running it how much he wanted for everything it was a lot more then BTF's bracket and some heims.

Mutant_Xj said:

I only found Wj's at a Jeep junkyard and when I asked the guy running it how much he wanted for everything it was a lot more then BTF's bracket and some heims.

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Is he the only junkyard in town??? He just might have you there.

Thanks for all the replies.

I don't like the inverted Y for a number of reasons. I hate that just about any work on the suspension necessitates a realignment. I don't like the TRE angles although I guess a TRE flip would help.

I don't have the crossover and inverted T mixed. I was listing them as different options. I guess that wasn't clear.

I did look into the WJ set up and do like it. My wife has a WJ and I covet the steering every time I work on it.
But the WJ conversion is more involved than I was to get into right now. I believe you have to relocate the track bar and sway bar mounts as well as weld the spacers on the knuckles and re-drill the disks, which means that if I need new rotors then I'm re-drilling again.

I was looking at the simple solutions and I was leaning toward the driver side flip with an aftermarket tie rod like the IronRock mentioned. I was just wondering if getting one that uses the bigber TREs than stock makes sense or are there issuse like binding at droop because of the beefier TREs. The Bluetorch looks interesting but I wonder if that has the same issues are the WJ like track bar relocation, etc. I'm at about 5" of lift so the angle on the TREs aren't that great to begin with.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you right now. Don't have the money for what I would really like, but I'm sick of steering this thing with a limp noodle LOL.

I'm looking at doing the Iron Rock tie rod, retaining all my stock TRE's since they're still in decent shape, and using the Goferit Offroad tie rod flip insert for the drivers side. Total cost of parts is less than $90 (not including shipping) and will at the very least give me a little more peace of mind on the trail, and I can keep the stock tie rod as a spare.

Other factors that I think are playing into my sloppy steering are a very tired steering gear box and pump. So down the road when money permits, I'm considering the YJ box swap and upgrading to the WJ pump. All things combined should give good improvement over stock.

I used 3' of 1.5" OD .25" wall DOM with 3/4" x 16 tube inserts for the tie rod and Dodge tie rod ends ES2847R ES2848R. For parts store searching purposes use 1991 Dodge Ramcharger. Total amounted to around $100 even for the rod ends and all the hardware (jam nuts etc.) which I feel is worth it. The Dodge tie rod end is slightly larger than stock (3/4" vs. 11/16") and has the same taper as Jeep.

EDIT: Looks like tgoff beat me to it.......took me forever to find the pics!


I run the factory draglink with a beefier tierod. I run 33's and have had no issues with steering at all. Tierod has weld-in nutserts that accept 3/4 ton Dodge TRE's. They are the same taper as the XJ factory TRE's but the shank is larger.(3/4" IIRC). Rod is 1.5"x .25" DOM.

Does that tie rod still use stock tre's?

builder said:

Does that tie rod still use stock tre's?

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If you read the two posts before your's..........


They use Dodge 3/4 ton TRE's. Part numbers are listed above as well.

:wave:

builder said:

Does that tie rod still use stock tre's?

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EDIT --> See above post

Another Pic

Morty'sXJ said:

Don't know much about the company, but they've been talked about a little bit here on ::.

Seems like a decent option for upgrading just the tie rod for less than $70.

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...en=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-SHDTR.

Click to expand...

I have the iron rock tie rod upgrade it is a heavy duty piece for sure