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tell me your opinion best bang for your buck on steering upgrade

J

jcshaney

NAXJA Forum User
Location
portland IN
97 Cherokee 4.5 " rough country lift with there track bar 33" tire moderate wheeling and a dd. So tell me what is your opinion for steering upgrades stock zj or aftermarket or? Lets here them.
 
I have read about the reaming the for 1 ton steering is it as bad as some people make it sound? Where would a person go to buy the reamer you need to do this ?
 
a simple tie rod upgrade will suffice, but ZJ stuff is garbage. dont waste your money.

if you have the coin, the currie stuff is bullet proof and doesnt give you the problems of the 1ton inverted T steering.

if you have the ability to cut and weld, you can make a better steering setup using heims rather than a DIY inverted T system.
 
I very capable of welding and fabrication. Are you talking about a true cross over steering set up? Are heims safe on something that see dd duty.
 
VAhasnoWAVES said:
a simple tie rod upgrade will suffice, but ZJ stuff is garbage. dont waste your money.

if you have the coin, the currie stuff is bullet proof and doesnt give you the problems of the 1ton inverted T steering.

if you have the ability to cut and weld, you can make a better steering setup using heims rather than a DIY inverted T system.
Click to expand...

I plucked a ZJ tierod from a junkyard for 17$. It's wayyyyy beefier than a XJ tierod.


Your telling me that wasn't worth the money?
 
you can do anything you want with heims... but most will require correcting the track bar and addressing the coil buckets and sway bar links.

tie rod UTK:
Heim_Joint_Crossover_Steering.jpg


tie rod OTK:
Steering002.jpg


inverted Y:
standard.jpg


inverted T:
8356829636_29d8e82fb5_z.jpg



heims are 100% safe. just buy quality, and invest in safety washers.

the rule of thumb for any steering system is that your track bar and drag link need to be parallel and as close to equal length as possible.
 
Gary Briggs said:
I plucked a ZJ tierod from a junkyard for 17$. It's wayyyyy beefier than a XJ tierod.

Your telling me that wasn't worth the money?
Click to expand...

maybe they build them stronger out there in california, or maybe "beef" is an arbitrary term. is it stronger than the stock adjusting sleeve? yes. should it be described as an alternative to DOM for someone who wheels? no.

and thats the distinction people have to make on their own rig. "is it good enough for my use?" for me, its not. and i really dont feel i wheel that hard. i admit that i drive by brail, but every one of them that has bent bends OUT or DOWN, not from an impact. if your going to play in the rocks or like the mud ruts where your going to side load your tires a lot, the ZJ stuff is a waste of money.
 
Last edited:
I think we're not answering his question though, the title of the thread is "bang for your buck" and the OP says he "moderately" wheels. That would suggest he's not running "king of the hammers" or the Gnarly lines on the Rubicon.

Taking this information into account, the best bang for your buck is the ZJ upgrade. I'm not saying it's the BEST UPGRADE, I'm saying it's the best bang for your buck. I too moderately wheel my rig and the ZJ tierod is working great, if I did more hardcore wheeling and rock crawling I'd run the Curry.
 
bang for the buck?

whats a better investment? something thats bullet proof, or something that you will have to replace if you ever find yourself in a situation you didnt intend to get into? the ZJ stuff is a band aid at best... and your fooling yourself if you think its of any significance in terms of strength over the stocker. if it was strait... id agree. but the bends create stress risers where it fails regularly.
 
I would say considering the strength upgrade, currie with the savvy ultimate tierod would be the best upgrade for the average wheeler.

Sure there are cheaper options, but none of them will come close to it in strength and peace of mind. A ZJ tie rod is better than nothing, but it's only marginally stronger and it still fails. With savvy/currie, I have the peace of mind knowing my tierod will never bend, and my drag link will never fail.

There are also more hardcore options for those that are interested in custom fab work, but to do any of them right will cost you significantly more than currie in both time and money.

Really, 600$ is hardly any money to spend considering the importance of steering components
 
rockclimber said:
Sure there are cheaper options, but none of them will come close to it in strength and peace of mind. A ZJ tie rod is better than nothing, but it's only marginally stronger and it still fails. With savvy/currie, I have the peace of mind knowing my tierod will never bend, and my drag link will never fail.
Click to expand...
the stock adjuster measures just under .750 OD. iver personally used a high lift handle over one to get a buddy off of the trail... so why no one takes the time to sleeve the stocker is beyond me, and itd be very sturdy.


Really, 600$ is hardly any money to spend considering the importance of steering components
Click to expand...

this times a bajillion...

id never take junkyard steering components of unknown condition and put it on my rig and try not to suggest it to others as well. spares or trail rig only? have at it.
 
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