questions on 1 ton steering, drag link and track bar

Hi everyone, i have been working with this 1 ton steering update i installed. i have been upgrading stuff on my xj for quite some time. over the last year i have been working on my front suspension, and steering. i have had lots of trouble with the steering kit i purchased, and the vendor i bought it from is no longer in business from what i can tell.

currently after following some bad advice i am building a new drag link as i cut my last 1 too short, there are 2 tre's in there 1 is a 1 ton gm it is currently connected to my passenger side tre (backwards i know) the other 1, currently attached to my pitman arm i cannot find anywhere. is this just a regular gm tie rod end? also can i run 2 high angle tie rod ends on the drag link instead? or would that give me funky steering feel?



i know the image is hard to see, i can take the tre off the pitman arm and get a better picture of it if it would help to identify it better. but i think this is a standard tre used in many 1 ton steering kits?



here is the picture of the track bar at the frame, my track bar setup is about 2 inches shorter than my drag link. i think i can stretch it out about 1.5 inches before i am hitting my antirock, i am planning on fabbing up a new bracket here. which brings me to my next question, measuring heights. if i measure from the floor, my drag link is 17 inches, (measured on the back face of the tie rod where the drag link connects) and 24 inches at the pitman arm bottom face. my track bar is 19 1/2 inches center of axle mount bracket hole, and 25 1/2 inches at the frame side center bolt hole, am i measuring at the correct spots? i am running a zj pitman arm now that gives 3/4 inch drop. my angles were way off when i did the install first, i have dialed it in and now my bumpsteer is much better.



question number 3, but may effect last question. i am looking at the dog leg in my track bar, am i suppose to compensate on my height measurments because of the bend? also i believe the thread on the dogleg to be 1" and the dom tubing is 1.5 inches OD, doesnt leave alot of strength in my mind, anyone know of 7/8 18 threaded replacement i can use here? or am i over thinking this part ?

on the frame side i believe this to be a johnny joint? if i end up extending my track bar i will need to cut off and reweld the casing to the new track bar, anyone know what to measure to get replacements, i found one once, but got the wrong size.


this is my first buiild, and was way over my technical abilities at the time to put this together. i have learned alot since then, and would certainly change alot of the way i did things, and am already looking forward to my next build. i have come along way but am a bit stuck here. any help would be greatly appreciated.

if i cant edit posts i will have to apologize as i dont know what size these pictures are.

gah, it looks like it did not post any pictures.

will try this again.


https://imgur.com/eMVX6Ap


https://imgur.com/31mVbjA


https://imgur.com/joKmYvr

in case any of these dont work, they are the last 3 images in this album
https://imgur.com/a/HoSDR

the 2nd picture down actually shows the steering components new.

That type of set-up usually ends up with a lot of tie rod roll. There are ways to stop that roll but all of them require attention as they will wear. The trackbar angle(s) does not matter , only the mountings points.

thank you for the tip on the tie rod roll, i did a search to refresh my memory on it, and see a perfect picture of the tre i need to find, the info i see says standard gm 1 ton tre, me and the parts store guy have had little luck finding which 1 is the standard one, i think i have the right part coming tomorrow.

the angles i never measured, already made that mistake, and have since readjusted my track bar frame mount bracket and got a zj pitman arm to get the numbers i have today, but i didn't know if that dog leg part meant i had to compensate for it in my measurements or if that will maybe help extend the over all length of the track bar?
if i change where i measure from the rear facing tre to the front where the drag link tre actually sits on the passenger side, my measurements are alot closer to where i want to be because of the angle it sits on. i just want to make sure i am measuring the correct way before i make a bunch of new parts.

That type of set-up usually ends up with a lot of tie rod roll. There are ways to stop that roll but all of them require attention as they will wear.

Click to expand...

The Cure...for reducing the rod roll.
https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R1768.html
https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R2008.html

Pics look like your drag link could come up a bit (stock pittman) to better align with the track bar.

You want a high angle on the pittman arm, it's a longer TRE so it may work with your current drag link if its currently too short.

I have WJ knuckwes and run high angle on both ends but I don't see the need for a "t" style steering to have it on the axle side, just need it on the pittman arm. Moog ES2027L/ Moog ES2026R are the part numbers, see if they are same thread as your pittman arm side. The high angle are the same pitch as standard TREs but must be ran deeper.

if i use the stock pitman arm, my track bar and drag link angles match better by vision, but my measurements from side to side are off because that dog leg in the track bar makes the angles look right. it has confused me before. i have the high angle tre for the pitman arm. i was just lacking the other side tre on the track bar, i didnt know if i should be looking for just a regular gm tre or if it should be something else.

the wj knuckle conversion and bigger brakes may be soon on my list of upgrades, i have a feeling it may solve some of my steering headaches too.

and thank you lazy, i stumbled upon that last night, ordering 1 when i get home.

I'm a huge WJ swap fan. Better steering, better braking and add some beefy ball joints. Do it!
https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=913774&page=9