Sneak Peek - Steering Kit R&D at SFR

Cal kinda let the cat out of the bag a few days ago about our plans to offer a complete WJ high steer kit, and we've been attacking the project pretty hard for the last few days. Normally I wouldn't post all the details here until everything was finished, but both he and I have been getting bombarded by calls and messages about it so I thought I'd let you guys have a little look behind the scenes. There's also a bit more on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stinkyfab

So here's what's going on. We currently have an XJ in the shop that is lifted, but otherwise fairly stock up front, basically the perfect baseline vehicle. We have spent a ton of time scouring the internet and brains of everyone we know who has done the swap to find out about what works, and more importantly all the problems they have had. We then bought parts, a lot of parts. We got bearings for all sorts of different years and models, we got rotors from various Jeeps, Fords, etc. basically we bought every part anyone who has ever done the swap may have used so that we could verify what actually fits and works, and what needs to be done to get it to all go together and live happily ever after.

We spent a couple days measuring and test fitting everything and are pretty confident we now know what we need, both off the shelf and custom, and some customized off the shelf. We're still waiting on some parts to arrive, but are currently designing the most custom parts. Hoping to have something somewhat put together by next week.

I'm gonna start with some of the questions I've been getting a lot of...

1. When can I order it?
   Right now we do not have a time frame. When I feel that I've solved the problems, and put everything together properly in a way that my customers can easily read the instructions and install it'll go up on stinkyfab.com of course I'll be trying to do that ASAP
2. How much will it cost?
   Until I know what it costs me, I wont know what it'll cost you. Far too early to say, but it will be a far more complete kit than anything available right now, and at as affordable a price as I can make it.
3. Can I just order (insert part here)?
   We plan to offer a number of the custom parts separately. The kit will come first, and some parts will be kit specific, but most of it will be available soon thereafter
4. Will (SFR part) be compatible with (brand X) other part?
   This kit will include everything you need, so parts from other suppliers won't be necessary, however we are building with certain standard dimensions in mind so that there will be interchangeability.
5. What TRE, Brake Rotor, etc. will you use?
   Right now we're not going to release all of the details on this, because things may change as the R&D progresses. When the kit is finished there will be a detailed list of everything required.
6. What will be included?
   Right now we're planning 2 options. A basic kit that includes all the fabricated parts and a list of wear items (bearings, rotors, etc.) that can be purchased at your local parts store. This will enable people to decide if they wanna save money by buying Autozone china specials, or if they want to do the job right the first time and buy high quality parts. There will also be an option for those who want it all. This option will include everything you need start to finish so you don't have to hitch a ride to the parts store while your rig is on jackstands.

I appreciate the effort you are putting into this. I hope you will share the lessons learned in the process, even the ones that don't lead directly to your end product.

seriously looking at this mod here lately...so I am VERY interested.

Was kinda disappointed clayton stopped selling their front end kit.

This is something XJ community has been waiting for. A lot of research and some trial and error goes into the WJ swap. If you guys can hit the nail on the head that'd be awesome! Price will surprise people I am sure but this isn't your average Rough Country lift kit. It's definitely the best upgrade for a Jeep as far as on road and even off road perfomance! (aside from maybe a locker)

Yes, unfortunately people are probably going to compare this to the Currie Heavy duty steering, or the Ruffstuff 1 Ton kit, but it's certainly much more than just a steering upgrade. You end up with better steering geometry than either of those options, Significantly larger brakes, and better track bar angles as well. It's really 3 upgrades, steering, track bar and brakes. The total cost will be higher than some budget steering kits, but only because there's a lot to it.

Is their a minimum amount of lift you need to have to do this conversion ?

FWIW, clayton was also offering a kit at one point. Not sure they still are however.

I have looked at it.

They still have it on their website.

https://www.claytonoffroad.com/products/tjljxjzj-high-steer-kit

Their sway bar brackets look to be the best designed of any I have seen yet.

D.I.T.A said:

Is their a minimum amount of lift you need to have to do this conversion ?

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We will be determining this.

Anak said:

I have looked at it.

They still have it on their website.

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They have the basic kit, but no longer offer a complete kit. Honestly with a $5000 price tag, I'd be surprised if anyone bought it anyway.

There's also one big thing I see lacking there, and it seems to be lacking everywhere, and that's an actual list of what parts you need to complete the job. This seems to be the biggest place where people get lost and frustrated.

And just because no good thread is complete without pics, here's a comparison between the new and old rotors. Much larger diameter means much better stopping. The calipers are a lot bigger too, with 2 pistons instead of one.

And here's the donor all stripped down except for the trackbar.

StinkyFab said:

They have the basic kit, but no longer offer a complete kit. Honestly with a $5000 price tag, I'd be surprised if anyone bought it anyway.

There's also one big thing I see lacking there, and it seems to be lacking everywhere, and that's an actual list of what parts you need to complete the job. This seems to be the biggest place where people get lost and frustrated.

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I don't think they actually intend for anyone to spend $5k on that. They used to have that kit for a reasonable price. They now have a note that supplier issues messed up the program, and a request to give them a call. Sourcing some of the heavier, stock WJ parts locally would make sense to me anyhow.

Putting together the list of needed parts is indeed a necessary detail. It is rare that I see anyone mention new bolts for the unit bearings, but I have read that those are needed. I suspect many folks just re-use the old ones, but from what I have read that may not be a good idea. OTOH, once you get to the track bar it gets more complicated depending on what brackets are at each end and what style of ends someone wants to run. I am guessing that is not in the scope of this project, but someone needs to round up a bunch of those options and put them in one place for comparison.

If you need durability testing, I know a JeepSpeed team that would be willing to install it and run it. Suspension is based on a RE 5.5" kit.

Is that jeepspeed legal? I thought you guys had to run stock or currie steering?

Anak said:

OTOH, once you get to the track bar it gets more complicated depending on what brackets are at each end and what style of ends someone wants to run. I am guessing that is not in the scope of this project, but someone needs to round up a bunch of those options and put them in one place for comparison.

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We're going one better. Rather than rounding up options and adding confusion we're building brackets specific for the kit that will be included, as well as the track bar itself. As I said, we plan for this kit to be complete, not just another pile of parts that leaves people asking what else?

cal said:

Is that jeepspeed legal? I thought you guys had to run stock or currie steering?

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Steering is open. A couple teams run custom crossover setups, including the 2 WJ's that run with us. We run Currie, and while we have *never* broken a Currie unit, the toe change can make for some interesting high speed handling. We have been discussing the WJ setup for a while now.

StinkyFab said:

We're going one better. Rather than rounding up options and adding confusion we're building brackets specific for the kit that will be included, as well as the track bar itself. As I said, we plan for this kit to be complete, not just another pile of parts that leaves people asking what else?

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Can you add a brace for the track bar bracket that ties it to the passenger frame rail? Is that what the extra set of holes is for on the bracket?

That's exactly what the upper hole is for. That will be a later addition, and not part of the kit, but we wanted to allow for a brace in the future.

Here's the other bracket we've been working on. We looked at the various brackets that were available for both ends and decided to do our own for several reasons. The one that will really matter for you is that by tweaking the dimensions we were able to add roughly 2" in track bar length over the commonly available brackets that people are using now. This means better overall geometry and less bumpsteer.

Are you planning/designing an OTK steering version, or just a factory orientation? OTK reduces the trackbar axle mounting options.