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OBO u-turn steering

SLAYER

NAXJA Forum User
Does anyone have this kit? The good and the bad?
Looks pretty nice, especially when not having to do a bunch of cutting and welding for install. Ive been looking at the Downeastoffroad.com kit but theyres looks quite insane too install.
Anyone have any insight?
:guitar:
 
SLAYER said:
Does anyone have this kit? The good and the bad?
Looks pretty nice, especially when not having to do a bunch of cutting and welding for install. Ive been looking at the Downeastoffroad.com kit but theyres looks quite insane too install.
Anyone have any insight?
:guitar:

I have it. IMHO...

The Good: No more steering slop. No more dead spot caused by the inverted "T" steering that I had before. VERY easy to install, requires no modifications to your rig other than installing the brackets. Beefy tie rod and drag link. Uses standard TRE's which are cheap and easy to replace, if broken.

The Bad: It's expensive. It messes up the "Ackerman" on your rig (if this can even be considered bad... I have yet to notice it being "bad". Search for it if you don't know what it is). It uses standard TRE's, which are cheap and not as strong as 1-ton TRE's or heim joints. The rods are heat treated, so you shouldn't weld anything onto them.

I just took mine through the Rubicon (yeah, "so what?", I know...) and smacked it on rocks many times... no dents or bends in the tie rod. I don't have hydro assist steering (rock ram) so the TRE's were never put under too much stress (I think).

It was worth the expense, to me, to install a true "crossover" type steering setup without the hassle and time involved in replacing knuckles and drilling out taper holes. I think I spent about an hour installing it and have been very happy with the results.
 
Ok so i wrote it wrong(ORO). Typing too fast.
Any ways about the ACKERMAN AFFECT.
By installing this ORO steering system, i will be decreasing my turning radius? Or just the traction at high speeds?
Im not in jeepspeed or anything, and not taking crazy turns at a million mph.
First off why did jeep desighn the inverted Y tierod and draglink?
Im deffinately going to have to take a class on steering.
 
jeep designed it that way because it's cheap and easy to implement mass production wise. It's also perfectly adequate for stock height and tires.
 
So jeep wanted to save money and it works.
If someone did not want to upgrade their steering and instead got a drop pitman arm with the 5.5 inch lift so that the tierod and draglink went back to stock geometry setup, could this deter bumpsteer?
And the q that i asked before does the Ackerman affect only really matter at high speeds. The only pics i saw of this were a race car not a jeep with inverted y steering.
The things i am most concerned about are:
Turning radius
Bump steer
Handling
Link stress
Tire wear
 
you will have bump steer if the draglink and trackbar are not parallel.
If you get a drop pitman arem you'll have to drop the draglink an equal amount.
A drop pitman arm will put more leverage on the box, make sure you do something to beef up that area of the uni body.
Akerman will affect high speed stability most, but it would also marginally accelerate tire wear.
It should not affect your turning radius noticeably.
 
So with ORO kit, the cons would be speed stability and tire wear. And will help eliminate bumpsteer?
Heres a picture of what my steering looks like right now.
steering002.jpg

steering001.jpg

steering003.jpg
 
Besides the fact that u have oily crud all over your steering components and your starter.
Your tie-rod and drag link angles look like poo.
Quik fix go get a ferrit insert for the driver side. And flip the tre.
As far as bump steer, i dont think there is any way of getting rid of it with any steering setup, besides lowering it back down to factory status.
 
Alright shimmy and tubehead. hahaha
I am def in need of a gasket job and cleanup. Next oil change.
But as far as angles, when i took it in to get it alligned he said he barely had to adjust it, and didnt charge me.
If it is alligned then why do i have such f@#ked up angles?
 
because of the lift, no matter how you align it, it wont change the fact that it is several inches higher than it was designed to be.
 
Screw it, im just going to get the ORO kit. The cool thing with that kit is if i everwant to take it off, i can just put the old stuff back on. The bad thing is, its expensive.
 
thats a lot of coin, you that set on keeping the 30?
 
Well ive been thinking about that one. Since i am not the welding fab master i really dont have much of any other options. How much would a hp dana 44 cost. Then after that i would have to spend again on the steering stuff. Ive seen others work on installing ford 44's, waggy's and ect, looks like that is above my skill right now. In the future when i learn more and have mastered the welder and knowledge of doing the fab work i will then proceed.
Other than that does everyone have bump steer on there 5.5 inch and up kits??
Is there anything i can do in the mean time that doesnt cost $600 to help take it away?
Look at my pics and tell me what u think besides its dirtyness. hehehe.
 
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