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Steering Box/Junkyard Upgrades

shanesaw

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ramona, CA
I understand the 93-98ZJ Steering Box and the '99 Durango V8 4X4 boxes are upgrades for the XJ. Does anyone know if there are any big reasons one is better than the other? Does one have quicker ratio, better turning radius, different plumbing, etc. over the other?
 
I've used the Durango box in mine and frankly liked the XJ box better and pulled it out.

I'm not sold on it being an upgrade.
 
I understand the 93-98ZJ Steering Box and the '99 Durango V8 4X4 boxes are upgrades for the XJ. Does anyone know if there are any big reasons one is better than the other? Does one have quicker ratio, better turning radius, different plumbing, etc. over the other?

It's the WJ pump, not the ZJ. I ran that setup on my XJ and really liked it but it was part of the demise of my XJ. The durango box has a bigger piston and the WJ pumps more fluid so it just made turning easier. I had 33's and could turn with a pinky, literally. I ended up cracking the unibody, hindsight I should have got stiffeners or the CROK steering support.

IIRC a YJ box has a quicker ratio and 4bolt mounting. Supposedly the J20 box give you a great ratio and has a bigger piston BUT they are hard to find as a true J20 box.
 
The Durango box does reduce steering effort and are variable rate. The larger piston diameter requires a wider spacer between the box and frame. I ended up blowing the top off mine when my I was playing with pump mods, went back to stock and will be adding hydro assist because the typical box fail is a broken sector shaft which is the same diameter as the durango box.
 
1.5"x6" ram with stock box tapped for it. Saves the frame rail, and run a small psc pump pulley, which only works with 96+ belt routing. I'm running this on 33's and it works great, never gets hot, doesn't stress the frame rail.
 
does the durango box need differently shaped and cut pressure hose?

No you use regular XJ hoses but you'll need to swap the fitting on the pump from a WJ to the one on from the XJ.
 
1.5"x6" ram with stock box tapped for it. Saves the frame rail, and run a small psc pump pulley, which only works with 96+ belt routing. I'm running this on 33's and it works great, never gets hot, doesn't stress the frame rail.

Smaller pulley? On a factory pump?
 
I just got the durango box with proper unibody spacing and do not like the turn radius. i went to check out a couple other boxes nearby at parts stores and they all had the same radius so i figured i don't feel like opening it up and redoing it all.

I'm going to stick with a rebuilt stock XJ box. However I also bought the spacer made for the durango--it allows clearance in the unibody. will this spacer work with the stock xj box or will i have some issue down the line with centering, steering, etc.
 
Durango box has an internal spacer that needs to be removed to get the same turning radius. 3 bumps on the end cap need to be ground flush, and there's a spacer ring at the other end. Been down this path, still cracked frame rail on 33's. My solution was a stock box and a 1.5" 6" ram. Works great, and removes stress from the framerail.
 
The Durango box does reduce steering effort and are variable rate. The larger piston diameter requires a wider spacer between the box and frame. I ended up blowing the top off mine when my I was playing with pump mods, went back to stock and will be adding hydro assist because the typical box fail is a broken sector shaft which is the same diameter as the durango box. I like the XJ box better. Disposal Bin Rental was inexpensive because there was a lot of junk and parts left over and we had to do something with it. After so many breakdowns.
 
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