MGrobe
NAXJA Member #968
- Location
- Chicagoland-area, IL
I have a 98 XJ that I am looking to do the WJ knuckle/steering/brake upgrade to. I have killed way too much time searching this morning trying to find good posts that discuss this. Needless to say I haven't quite got all of the information I need so if you have any of the answers for what I am looking for I would appreciate it.
My 98 has been suffering from bumpsteer for sometime which has been caused in part by the steering angles and undoubtedly some worn out front end components. Contributing to the problems are the ball joints, worn tre's and undoubtedly some tired CA bushings among others. Since I am going to be doing such a massive amount of work, I think now is the time to pursue the WJ conversion/upgrade.
My 98 I figure stands anywhere from 4" - 4.25ish" up front. Unfortunately I don't have an easy way to measure the front anymore. I purposely have built my XJ low to the ground due to my physical disability making it hard to get into anything taller on a daily basis. Do you think this lift height will pose a problem? I do have ACOS up front so I can tweak it some but rather not as the height is right at my comfort level.
I would prefer to do a crossover steering setup utilizing 1-ton TRE with DOM or Chro-Mo tubing. Does anyone have the part numbers for the Chevy TRE's? What diameter and thickness of tubing will I need?
I will need the knuckle off of a WJ to do this and I have seen some varying numbers as to what year to get. Does it matter or should I get whatever is cheapest? Plus if the DS knuckle is cheap should I get both or doesn't it really matter?
After the knuckle is reamed out do I needed to buy some tapered inserts from goferit or someone similar??
For ball joints, I have read that the lower ball on the WJ is slightly different than the XJ. Should I pursue the appropriate year ball joint for whatever WJ knuckle I get or just stick with balljoints for the 98 XJ?
I don't have any swaybar brackets to get in the way as I ground those off 2.5 years ago so those should be a mute point.
Raising the trackbar will be interesting to say the least, but I am going to hold off on that piece for now.
Will my 98's hubs work for this or will I have to buy another year? I'm hoping I get by with these as they are only a few years old, but I am unsure of their health. I realize I may need a spacer from JKS to get the hub at the proper alignment/spacing. If anyone with a similar year that can tell me if they needed it for sure would be helpful.
That's the majority of what I need to start lining the purchasing of the beginning parts up. I'll ask more about calipers and rotors later as needed.
My 98 has been suffering from bumpsteer for sometime which has been caused in part by the steering angles and undoubtedly some worn out front end components. Contributing to the problems are the ball joints, worn tre's and undoubtedly some tired CA bushings among others. Since I am going to be doing such a massive amount of work, I think now is the time to pursue the WJ conversion/upgrade.
My 98 I figure stands anywhere from 4" - 4.25ish" up front. Unfortunately I don't have an easy way to measure the front anymore. I purposely have built my XJ low to the ground due to my physical disability making it hard to get into anything taller on a daily basis. Do you think this lift height will pose a problem? I do have ACOS up front so I can tweak it some but rather not as the height is right at my comfort level.
I would prefer to do a crossover steering setup utilizing 1-ton TRE with DOM or Chro-Mo tubing. Does anyone have the part numbers for the Chevy TRE's? What diameter and thickness of tubing will I need?
I will need the knuckle off of a WJ to do this and I have seen some varying numbers as to what year to get. Does it matter or should I get whatever is cheapest? Plus if the DS knuckle is cheap should I get both or doesn't it really matter?
After the knuckle is reamed out do I needed to buy some tapered inserts from goferit or someone similar??
For ball joints, I have read that the lower ball on the WJ is slightly different than the XJ. Should I pursue the appropriate year ball joint for whatever WJ knuckle I get or just stick with balljoints for the 98 XJ?
I don't have any swaybar brackets to get in the way as I ground those off 2.5 years ago so those should be a mute point.
Raising the trackbar will be interesting to say the least, but I am going to hold off on that piece for now.
Will my 98's hubs work for this or will I have to buy another year? I'm hoping I get by with these as they are only a few years old, but I am unsure of their health. I realize I may need a spacer from JKS to get the hub at the proper alignment/spacing. If anyone with a similar year that can tell me if they needed it for sure would be helpful.
That's the majority of what I need to start lining the purchasing of the beginning parts up. I'll ask more about calipers and rotors later as needed.