Aftermarket steering?????

[yossarian19]

Ruffstuff sells their kit as a Y link, same thing as JCR Offroad sells as an inverted T.
I did go to a Pirate post that agrees with Rockclimber...
Sigh. I never could remember which was which. Any case, my point about the geometry remains.

 

[rockclimber]

Ruffstuff disagrees and sells their kit as "Y" link.

and that's nice for them. doesn't make it correct.

 

[mtnbker]

Have you run my kit?

I've never seen your stuff. Very good prices, what one would you suggest????

 

[Serious Offroad]

what's different about it?

Buy one, run it.
Dual poly spacers go a long way toward greatly minimizing tie-rod roll.

 

[rockclimber]

Buy one, run it.
Dual poly spacers go a long way toward greatly minimizing tie-rod roll.

:roflmao:

 

[zachandandy]

Jb4x4 sells a bolt on high steer arm for the dana 30. I went from inverted t from rugged ridge that had terrible tie rod roll and wore out drag link ends frequently to crossover for $150. The drag link was long enough to move up to the new bracket and night and day difference in handling and life of tre's.

 

[yossarian19]

I hate to say this since you are running it, but that JB4x4 kit is a failure waiting to happen. The guy who designed it completely ignored the engineering of every OEM or quality after market parts company. No tapers or dowel pins locating it, threads of the bolt at the loaded portion, etc.

 

[zachandandy]

I'm not running it anymore as I run an hp44 now. I still don't see the failure waiting to happen as its held in by 6 bolts including the 3 that hold the unit bearing. If those 3 bolts were prone to failure you'd see a lot more unit bearings falling off? It's not an arm bolted to the top of the knuckle, it bolts to the top and back of the knuckle in 2 different planes, eliminating the need for dowels or tapers.

 

[yossarian19]

Hrm. That wasn't clear from the picture of it on their web site.
If I saw it in person I might feel differently.

 

[mtnbker]

Well it looks like the serios offroad is the way im gonna go. But still no thoughts about the RRO high steer kit????

 

[yossarian19]

RRO, I haven't heard much about them in a long time. What little I vaguely remember was along the lines of "bogus product, bad customer service". It could have changed.
I spoke to a guy who wheeled with some of the RRO guys. I was living in Park City, next town over from Heber (where RRO is / was based) and he seemed a bit hesitant to even talk about RRO.
This is all heresay, vague recollections & it's awfully damned thin to form a real opinion on. But it's all I've got, and it's all negative. Personally, I would go with a vender with more reputation.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

Well it looks like the serios offroad is the way im gonna go. But still no thoughts about the RRO high steer kit????

honestly I would stay away from that at all costs. I wouldnt run it if it was free.

 

[rockclimber]

the RRO is ****ing horrible geometry. they paid absolutely 0 attention to ackerman when they built it.

 

[mtnbker]

So im still confused on what to run on my jeep. Not sure about the RRO kit but other then that what does every one else run????

 

[yossarian19]

Depends on the application. "What everyone else is running" is not a good guideline, because there are more variables that will be important than a single kit can cover.
Since you are going to a 6" lift... I'd recomend a WJ swap & maybe a drop pitman arm, if the budget is there. Or a Dana 44 with high steer. What either one would accomplish is to raise your drag link mounting point on the axle side. It'd be good to lower it a little on the frame side with a drop pitman arm. Beef is beef - anything 1.25 solid or 1.5" DOM is going to be good.
If WJ stuff or a D44 aren't in the budget...
Drop pitman arm + currie steering, or you could run a Froelich steering kit & weld in tabs to make both steering rods mounted in double shear

 

[mtnbker]

So i already have a drop pitman arm in it now. So no on the RRO setup?? also No on the JCR setup???

 

[yossarian19]

Well, if it was my rig, I'd vote "no" on JCR. I don't think that type of steering works well on an XJ knuckle D30 at your lift height. This is based on theory - I haven't built one like that to find out. I think, though, this theoretical knowledge is backed up in the experience of others - that type of steering on an XJ knuckle is going to have too steep an angle, the tie rod will roll & you'll have a dead spot.
I personally would never spend a dime with RRO. For one thing, their web site just reeks of arrogance. Like that Metallica song... ignorance and arrogance go hand in hand.
If you have a drop pitman in it now and are definitely going to 6" lift... I would start looking at knuckle or axle swaps. Other people will tell you different but to me, the fix has got to come from geometry that I don't think you can get in an XJ knuckle.
OK - caveat - do your homework with google and find pictures of heim steering done in double shear on an XJ knuckle. It takes some fab work but it can be done and I wouldn't run heims any other way. Plenty of guys run heim steering without the trouble of double sheer but I, personally, wouldn't.
OEMs and racers are pretty well unanimous on this : steering is either tapered joints or double shear mounted.

 

[mtnbker]

Ya im not 100% sure on if im gonna go up to a 6" of lift. So lets just say im staying at 4.5" any thought on the Iron Rock setup. It uses Heims i think.

 

[sunburned]

Honestly? Spend a little money and buy the full WJ steering kit from Claytons. If you are broke, source all the stuff yourself, but you can't beat the price they give you on ALL of the parts needed for the swap, including mods like OTK TRE's.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1106966


If you just can't afford that, go with the Savvy kit that is basically a modified Currie steering setup with aluminum tie rod. And stay at 4.5" of lift.

 

[yossarian19]

IRO's steering doesn't impress me. I do like many of their products but their steering isn't one. Here's why,
They start with 1.25" solid. Great start.
Then they drill & tap it for 3/4" heims : smaller, weaker threads than the 22mm (7/8") stuff you get on your factory drag link. A step in the wrong direction.
The fact that it's heims, to me, is also a step in the wrong direction.
Then you have the setup of the heims. They want you to drill the steering knuckle out & mount not just one steering link, but two, in single shear and on a single bolt. That single bolt is hating life, I can tell you. When you push the drag link, through the top of the bolt, to passenger's, the tie rod is pulling it to driver's. It could only be worse if the joints were stacked on each other.
The kicker? They supply it with a 1/2" bolt by default & 5/8 if you specify.
1/2? Are you kidding me? WTF - that's the thread size of the factory tapered joint. With heims? Two of them? On single shear?
You'd need a lot more bolt than 1/2" for me to feel good about it and it would have to be an extremely close fit in a larger / thicker steering arm than the XJ has got.
Yeah... I wouldn't use the IRO setup on my steering.
On the other hand, their suspension parts seem to be well built.

It's an expensive purchase, but getting the WJ stuff from Clayton's gives you badassery in the brakes department, a full front end refresh, beefy steering & it corrects your geometry some as well. This applies to any WJ swap but Clayton's makes it simpler to get all the parts. Hell, it could only get better if they threw in a 6 pack or if Playboy Bunnies delivered it. Or some dudes. Whatever.