WJ Knuckle/Crossover steering and brakes

I have a 98 XJ that I am looking to do the WJ knuckle/steering/brake upgrade to. I have killed way too much time searching this morning trying to find good posts that discuss this. Needless to say I haven't quite got all of the information I need so if you have any of the answers for what I am looking for I would appreciate it.

My 98 has been suffering from bumpsteer for sometime which has been caused in part by the steering angles and undoubtedly some worn out front end components. Contributing to the problems are the ball joints, worn tre's and undoubtedly some tired CA bushings among others. Since I am going to be doing such a massive amount of work, I think now is the time to pursue the WJ conversion/upgrade.

My 98 I figure stands anywhere from 4" - 4.25ish" up front. Unfortunately I don't have an easy way to measure the front anymore. I purposely have built my XJ low to the ground due to my physical disability making it hard to get into anything taller on a daily basis. Do you think this lift height will pose a problem? I do have ACOS up front so I can tweak it some but rather not as the height is right at my comfort level.

I would prefer to do a crossover steering setup utilizing 1-ton TRE with DOM or Chro-Mo tubing. Does anyone have the part numbers for the Chevy TRE's? What diameter and thickness of tubing will I need?

I will need the knuckle off of a WJ to do this and I have seen some varying numbers as to what year to get. Does it matter or should I get whatever is cheapest? Plus if the DS knuckle is cheap should I get both or doesn't it really matter?

After the knuckle is reamed out do I needed to buy some tapered inserts from goferit or someone similar??

For ball joints, I have read that the lower ball on the WJ is slightly different than the XJ. Should I pursue the appropriate year ball joint for whatever WJ knuckle I get or just stick with balljoints for the 98 XJ?

I don't have any swaybar brackets to get in the way as I ground those off 2.5 years ago so those should be a mute point.

Raising the trackbar will be interesting to say the least, but I am going to hold off on that piece for now.

Will my 98's hubs work for this or will I have to buy another year? I'm hoping I get by with these as they are only a few years old, but I am unsure of their health. I realize I may need a spacer from JKS to get the hub at the proper alignment/spacing. If anyone with a similar year that can tell me if they needed it for sure would be helpful.

That's the majority of what I need to start lining the purchasing of the beginning parts up. I'll ask more about calipers and rotors later as needed.

The easy way to get the knuckle is to get On Terra flexes waiting list. Last time I heard they were Back ordered. Dont buy the steering setup from them, have acustom one made. I had the alumi fles crap, and it is so hammered that it is unbelieveable. http://independent4x.com/ Matt at this shop can make you waht you need if you go with the Terra knuckle. I know he did for me.



Patrick

Hey Patrick!

Thanks for responding. If you would have asked me last year which setup I was going to run, I would have said Tera's. But now due to towing reasons and a few others I am looking for the added benefits of the WJ brakes that this conversion provides.

I already have a set of 16" rims for daily driving and if I can't get my current 15" offroad rims to fit I will end up switching those as well. So a few of the barriers have been removed.

You have to have both knuckles and the complete brake assemblies.You will also HAVE to raise the trackbar.

I don't currently have any parts. The reason I don't is detailed in my rather large narrative which is looking for some part specifics. I intend to start purchasing them this week once I get some concrete answers.

I know about having to raise the trackbar. I will probably have my father make a bracket for that purpose or if all else fails buy the JKS/ORGS one. But that is at the tail end of the project.

RCP,

I re-read what you wrote and it sunk in right the second time. Yeah, I do need both knuckles due to the brakes. I must have had my mind on other cross-over setups the just replace or modify the PS knuckle.


Do you have any insight regarding the best range of year for the WJ parts?

I'll modify my narrative to correct the knuckle screw-up.

Well I am running a WJ conversion now for six months and love it. My 2000 was at 4" and now is 5". My best advice is to study Mark Hinkley's write up at JKS's websight. Look under fab parts, the tech write up is somewere there. I do not believe it matters what WJ year, just a 99-04, mine are from a online salvage yard. The 02 and newer brakes are the best. DC has a upgrade kit that includes calipers, brakcets, bolts and pads for under $150. I bought spacers from JKS. My steering is stock WJ for now, but the tie rod hangs low so I'll be changing. The rotors are aftermarket WJ that I redrilled on the drill press. The ball joint is different but it seems to work, just use the WJ ones.
Angus

I'm running the WJ knuckles and brakes on my 89. I used the JKS tie rod and drag link and used stock WJ tie rod ends off of a 2000 WJ.( Right and left hand threads) Works great so far. Did not have to relocate the track bar. Planning on doing the inserts and flip the TREs on top. Then the track bar might have to be relocated. Love the additional braking power. Used the regular XJ ball joints when I installed the knuckles.

Angus,

So you believe the 02+ brakes to be better. Okay, I'll put the question to bed and start shopping for 02+ knuckles. Do you happen to have a part number for the upgrade kit from Mopar? I take it that you got this from the dealer for the $150.

I also assume that you were able to use your existing hubs after you bought the JKS spacer.

I appreciate the feedback.

The WJ knuckles are the same. The calipers are different. Jeep had an upgrade at 02 that tried to stop rotor warping. The upgrade kit is something the dealer parts man should know well. Do not get hung up on the years and all the parts being from the same year. I remember using WJ ball joints but I bought parts over a 1 1/2 year period. Yes, I did have to use JKS tie rod and drag link. The stock WJ tie rods work fine unless you mount above the knuckle, then one of the drag link ends needs to be from a right hand drive.

The Chevy high misalignment drag link ends are Moog# ES2026R and ES2027L, they have 7/8" x 18 threads and the big taper pins. I don't remember the # for the tie rod ends. Dodge TRE's moog# ES2847LT and ES2848LT have small taper pins (same as jeep) and 3/4"x16 threads.

Most people seem to use the WJ TRE's (metric threads) and JKS links, but some said the JKS DL is a little too long.

You can either re-drill WJ rotors or buy 2002 Explorer Sport Trac 12" diameter rotors that are already 5x4.5 pattern.

Contact Mike Rollins (MJR on this board) for calipers - he has a bunch of Teves calipers (take offs) that he's selling for around $50 pair. Those should fit on 15" rims with maybe a little grinding, the newer Akebono calipers mean you get to buy 16" rims in addition to spending alot more than 50 bucks for calipers.

Here are some links with WJ swap info that I had bookmarked:
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/brakes/xj_wjbrakes03/knuckles/index.htm
http://65.42.106.152/forums/showthread.php?t=668383
http://65.42.106.152/forums/showthread.php?t=667802&highlight=wj+knuckle
http://65.42.106.152/forums/showthread.php?t=660940&highlight=hub

Thanks JonBoy.

I was just at the point where I knew my drag link would use the Chevy ES2026R & ES2027L. But was still unsure about the tie rod and the ends. This gives me some more to mull over.

By the way, this is the first I have heard of the Sport Trac rotors, anyone else can verify this?? Might be nice to get those in place of screwing around with redrilling. Of course price will weigh in on this decision.

Anyone know if the older brakes will work with a set of AR767's in 15" with 4.5" BS? I would prefer to keep my current offroad rims and tires for the time being, if possible.

Okay, I am wondering if anyone has used the ES2027L & ES2026R for DRE and ES2233L & ES2234R all with the appropriate jam nuts in a cross-over configuration.

I am currently leaning towards some chro-mo in a 1.25 OD and 0.812 ID tubing. My grandfather just passed away a few years ago and he used to be a tool and die guy. I grabbed a whole slew of taps, so maybe I got lucky and at least got one of what I need. This would help by a smidge to clear the diff cover on the tie rod.

Any thoughts?

MGrobe said:

Okay, I am wondering if anyone has used the ES2027L & ES2026R for DRE and ES2233L & ES2234R all with the appropriate jam nuts in a cross-over configuration.

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I tried using this configuration with a Tera High Steer Knuckle. The ones for the DL worked great, but the ones for the Tie Rod didn't since I was running them over the knuckle. Reason being that there wasn't enough clearance between the Tie Rod (1.25" O.D., .375" wall) and the spring perches, causing a dramatic lose of turning radius. I ended up switching out my TRE's for the ones for a WJ and getting a Tie Rod from JKS to go with those TRE's. The WJ TRE's are bent out a little bit, allowing for more room between the Tie Rod and spring perches. I believe that if you were going to use the ES2233L & ES2234R in the stock mounting position (under the knuckle) that you would be fine for clearance.

Hope that helps give you an idea. Goodluck!!!

I appreciate the feedback. I'll have to wait until I yank my axle and replace the knucks to tell if I might have the same issue. I am not sure if the reamed holes on the Tera and WJ knuckles are is exactly the same spot.

Does anyone know if using ES2010L instead of ES2233L will be any better?

Also, I am looking for a reamer on goodson.com, but can't find the one that Crash and a few others preferred. Any help there is appreciated.

http://www.downeastoffroad.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DEO&Category_Code=STHISTE

That is also an option if you don't mind droping the coin.

91 Jeep Project said:

http://www.downeastoffroad.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DEO&Category_Code=STHISTE

That is also an option if you don't mind droping the coin.

Click to expand...

Sometimes I don't mind dropping the coin on a complete solution, sometimes I do. This time here I am actually trying to piece it all together as much as possible.

RCP Phx said:

http://www.goodson.com/store/templa...?NID=237&SID=0ef6f1eb60a63beeedf40e68e87349f4

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Okay, FireFox didn't originally render the page right, so switching to IE did the trick... Of the four items listed, it would appear the one I need is listed below. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.


TR-216-2 Tapered Reamer 7/16in-1inx6 1/2in - $69.95
6 1/2in overall length, 4 1/2in flute length, 7/16in Small end diameter, 1in Big end diameter, 1 1/2in taper per foot.

Something not yet covered, but you'll need to clearance both spring buckets and he trackbar mount (completely remove it) in many configurations if you go over the knuckle. Those all are in direct line with the tie rod.

As for going above the axle with the trackbar, use the JKS bracket, get a good stout frames side drop bracket and make a completely straight track bar with a your eye to eye measurement (mine was 31.5" at full unthread with 2.5" of telescoping at full thread).

I had Bob at TnT do the trackbar since I was buying the frameside bracket from him and everything turned out great.