Help me pick a steering upgrade. I have a dead spot.

[RCP Phx]

Rugged Ridge is identical to the JCR except no poly spacer and at half the price. Same moog tie rod ends and the RR drag link I think is even thicker. Buy the RR one and get the spacer from JCR. With either setup, put the steering shock on the drag link together with the poly spacer most of the dead spot is gone.

Noob!:nono: Anyway,everyone here knows that the RR set-up is TOTAL garbage.It does not use std 1-ton ends and they are not "off the shelf" items like Chevy ends.Also the RR set-up can no way be compared to the JCR gear!

 

[xjnewbi]

I really like the Offroad Only Uturn setup but holy price tag!! I think I'll be doing the Currie setup soon - really same system as stock (inverted Y) but much beefier. Currie can also use the Goferit tapered insert for OTK on drivers side - knuckle needs to be reamed though. That's the cheap and easy OTK setup - then again you're not really going for that. It's still tempting though, isn't it?

 

[High2by]

I'm running the JCR OTK and I have the dead spot with the spacers also. I have seen the Currie in action on some very used/abused rigs and if I had to do again, I would go with the Currie setup.

 

[SleeperXJ]

I've run Currie for almost 4 years now (after bending my stock tie rod). I've never had a problem with it. Very solid.

 

[jcroffroad]

I really like the Offroad Only Uturn setup but holy price tag!!

We had to weld a U-Turn draglink back together in Windrock. I hope they changed their design on the multiple connection joints on the DL, but I am not sure.

 

[monkeyevil]

Rugged Ridge is identical to the JCR except no poly spacer and at half the price. Same moog tie rod ends and the RR drag link I think is even thicker. Buy the RR one and get the spacer from JCR. With either setup, put the steering shock on the drag link together with the poly spacer most of the dead spot is gone.

I'm pretty sure your a Rugged Ridge shill, so I will be short. Our steering is NOT identical. Neither we nor RR uses Moog ends (though they will work with our steering if you wanted to pay the $200 they need for a set.)

Any extra thickness in the wall of the RR DOM (I'm pretty sure we are talking .031 here) can be quickly nullified by the fact we use USA steel and they use whatever steel you get in China.

A steering stabilizer does not cure a dead spot in the steering. It dampens the dead spot though... so you have a slower dead spot. :cheers:

 

[monkeyevil]

On an another note.

I personally have never sugar coated our steering. I'm a fan of inverted T because of ease of changing alignment, the strength of a wheel to wheel tie rod, and the lack of toe changes based on ride height and suspension travel.

Obviously the down sides are wheel to wheel tie-rods promote crosstalk of road feedback which can bring any death wobble causing issues front a center. Depending on angle the drag link is trying to push down, or pull up the tie rod before it tries to move it side to side (the dreaded dead spot.)

This is heightened in the RR and our kit because the large TRE body has lots of misalignment before it hits the knuckle in either direction.

How to cure this?
1. Ream the knuckle as deep as possible while still having enough thread engagement for the castle nut.
2. As shallow a drag link angle as possible (OTK)
3. A spacer to prevent the passanger TRE from turning.

The third option is not our design or idea, Jeep used it as a fix to dead center steering on the J-truck. Is it a perfect solution? Not really, but certainly helps.

So if the benefits of an inverted T setup are important to you, and if you like being able to get TRE's at any auto parts store where you happen to be wheeling, I'd recommend our steering. If your looking for the best feeling steering for on the street; your lifted a bunch and your not going to run OTK, I'd look at other options.

 

[dgrigorenko]

On an another note.

I personally have never sugar coated our steering. I'm a fan of inverted T because of ease of changing alignment, the strength of a wheel to wheel tie rod, and the lack of toe changes based on ride height and suspension travel.

Obviously the down sides are wheel to wheel tie-rods promote crosstalk of road feedback which can bring any death wobble causing issues front a center. Depending on angle the drag link is trying to push down, or pull up the tie rod before it tries to move it side to side (the dreaded dead spot.)

This is heightened in the RR and our kit because the large TRE body has lots of misalignment before it hits the knuckle in either direction.

How to cure this?
1. Ream the knuckle as deep as possible while still having enough thread engagement for the castle nut.
2. As shallow a drag link angle as possible (OTK)
3. A spacer to prevent the passanger TRE from turning.

The third option is not our design or idea, Jeep used it as a fix to dead center steering on the J-truck. Is it a perfect solution? Not really, but certainly helps.

So if the benefits of an inverted T setup are important to you, and if you like being able to get TRE's at any auto parts store where you happen to be wheeling, I'd recommend our steering. If your looking for the best feeling steering for on the street; your lifted a bunch and your not going to run OTK, I'd look at other options.

and that right there ladies and gentlemen is why they are an awesome vendor. the admit the upsides and the downsides of their product.

i will note that with my jcr steering setup i had a pretty steep draglink angle, which does increase tie rod roll. i think this setup would be perfect at lower lift heights than i had, or a wj setup to flatten out the draglink angle.

 

[AIbandit]

I had 2 currie set ups on my XJ's worked great made on road feel better and off road much stronger. Took it on the rubicon a few times smacked it on some rocks never bent anything.

Other then that Ballistic Fab makes good shit. No experience with their steering just brackets.

 

[MoparManiac]

Where is the "None of the above" option?
Not sure which Ballistic kit you were talking about (they have several, with different options). I'd just piece together your own with good quality rod ends. It'll be cheap, effective, and last awhile.
If you don't want rod ends and you are keeping the stock D30 knuckles, peice together you're own inverted Y with 1-ton Chevy TREs. It'll be cheaper than the "kits" out there, and you'll probably end up with a bunch of leftover tubing (which is handy for your friend's that need steering or for about a million other uses)

This doesn't make much sense to me, if you are replacing it anyway, why not? Its the same cost.
It does to me as well, IMO there are better options.

Correct me if you know of a way to do inverted-y with the GM TREs, however the ES2233L doesn't have enough misalignment to be used as a draglink end.

I looked into doing this when I was putting in my HP44.

 

[98xjjeeper]

Ballistic Fab 3/4" Hiem kit. Non others come close. Beefy as hell. No dead spots. Simple as can be. Awesome flex and gives you awesome angles. TRE are a pain to take on and off. With hiems there are no need for remembering long part numbers and trying to find a source to get them. I have this on my DD and when i wheel, i wheel hard so i went with the same setup my friends with buggys have and think it is one of the best upgrades ever. Feels solid going down the highway at 80 and responsive crawling.

 

[XJEEPER]

I have had the Currie for about 4 years now. Just now replaced the tie rod end at the pitman arm. This system is great, I have had no problems with it at all. No dead spots, strong, and works perfect IMO.

I've run the Currie setup for 2 years and I have about 30K miles on the linkage, 10-12 multi-day wheeling trips in that timeframe, so mainly highway miles. It started feeling sloppy after the last trip offroad and I can see that the pitman arm TRE is needing replacement.

When I installed the Currie setup, I chopped off the draglink axle end and sleeved on a threaded, weld-on insert and a Teraflex 1-ton TRE so I could run it over the knuckle and have replaceble ends.

I'll be selling my OTK Currie steering in a few weeks when I get my WJ knuckles installed.

 

[JRW7072009]

We just got one of these in for a customers JK and there pretty bad ass if we could find a way to make it work for a XJ it would be pretty beefy. Its 1 5/8 solid bar used with stock JK tie rods ends, it probably weighs 30lbs.
http://www.rockkrawler.com/index.php?r_intro=no

 

[sunburned]

My Currie steering has done me pretty well so far. Feels great on the street and I've bumped it into plenty of rocks offroad. I don't think it's possible to break it.

 

[knucklehead 61]

why not fab up a o.t.k. set using heim joints, 4130 tube, threaded tubing ends? will this type not work properly?
i want to replace my steering bars & am following this thread, but there is certainly no clear winner so far...

 

[RCP Phx]

why not fab up a o.t.k. set using heim joints, 4130 tube, threaded tubing ends? will this type not work properly?
i want to replace my steering bars & am following this thread, but there is certainly no clear winner so far...

Heims suck for a DD,but the set-ups all suffer from the same design either way!

 

[dgrigorenko]

Heims suck for a DD,but the set-ups all suffer from the same design either way!

they do?? thats weird... i guess race cars and trucks all got it wrong! do tell how they suck for a DD:conceited

 

[monkeyevil]

they do?? thats weird... i guess race cars and trucks all got it wrong! do tell how they suck for a DD:conceited

Most race cars don't drive in rain, snow, salt, etc... and if they do they swap them out frequently. These seals will help that problem.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Seals-It-Heim-Seals,1528.html

Second issue with heims is mounting them. A heim on an OEM knuckle is probably mounted in single sheer. While bolts aren't designed for this type of load, a .675 or .750 grade 8 bolt is typically of sufficient strength to handle it. The issue comes from the tolerance of the hole drilled in the knuckle, which is certainly not good. No matter how tight the fastener as the load cycles back and forth the softest materal starts to wallow out.

OEM gets around this with a tapered fit... the tighter the nut, the closer tolerance the hole to the fastener (TRE in this case.) If you have ever seen a d44 high steer arm mounted they use the tapered washers for the same reason.

There is a pretty cool solution for this if you have no other way than single sheer and you don't want TRE's. It's GM taper so your going to be reaming anyway.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Adjustable-Tie-Rod-Adapter-Stud-to-Heim,3333.html

The other solution is to somehow capture the heim between another mounting tab. This will make much less of a bending load, and limit the deformation of the knuckle hole.

 

[RCP Phx]

Most race cars don't drive in rain, snow, salt, etc... and if they do they swap them out frequently. These seals will help that problem.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Seals-It-Heim-Seals,1528.html

Second issue with heims is mounting them. A heim on an OEM knuckle is probably mounted in single sheer. While bolts aren't designed for this type of load, a .675 or .750 grade 8 bolt is typically of sufficient strength to handle it. The issue comes from the tolerance of the hole drilled in the knuckle, which is certainly not good. No matter how tight the fastener as the load cycles back and forth the softest materal starts to wallow out.

OEM gets around this with a tapered fit... the tighter the nut, the closer tolerance the hole to the fastener (TRE in this case.) If you have ever seen a d44 high steer arm mounted they use the tapered washers for the same reason.

There is a pretty cool solution for this if you have no other way than single sheer and you don't want TRE's. It's GM taper so your going to be reaming anyway.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Adjustable-Tie-Rod-Adapter-Stud-to-Heim,3333.html

The other solution is to somehow capture the heim between another mounting tab. This will make much less of a bending load, and limit the deformation of the knuckle hole.

X my life! Ever seen a sprint car with "Death Wobble",HELL yes!

 

[98xjjeeper]

Heims suck for a DD,but the set-ups all suffer from the same design either way!

I don't think so. Good Hiems and seals will last you a long time. The thing that kills them is mud. But then again who likes mud Haha. I have been running the ballistic kit for a year and it is just as solid as the day i put it on. A 5/8ths bolts torqued properly will be more then strong enough. It isnt the hole that keeps the bolt from sliding. Its the friction between the heim and the mounting surface. The reason for a hole to wallow out would be from someone being scared to get on it with the wrench and tighten it up good. This is unlike a tierod end where is is the reammed hole that keeps it in place no matter how tight you get it. So when the hole does wallow out even a little then you are SOL. And when you have to remove a TRE, most of the time the ball will spin and not let you tighten it good when you reinstall.