Steering box brace w/ OEM tow hook brackets?

[Red91Laredo]

I am planning on installing a Durango steering box soon and figured this would be a good time to install steering box braces (the kind that 'sandwich' the unibody between two plates). A few companies make these now, and they all look plenty beefy, so I'm sure any of them will work equally well (it looks like C-Rok is no longer in business, so I'm looking at the Iron Rock and JCR braces). What I can't seem to find out is if they're going to interfere with OEM tow hook brackets. I snagged the OEM tow hooks from the junkyard a while back and I want to install all this stuff at the same time. As far as I can tell the driver side tow hook bracket and the outer steering box plate basically need to occupy the same area.

I'm hoping this is as simple as installing the outer steering box plate first and then the tow hook bracket on top of it, but I don't know if that will mess up the alignment of other things. The OEM tow hook brackets have the bumper brackets welded onto them, so I assume that spacing the bracket over 1/4" or so (the thickness of the steering box plate) will cause the bumper mounting holes to no longer line up. I'm hoping I can just 'adjust' things with a BFH if needed, but I figure someone must have installed these two parts before and can tell me what they had to do to make them work together... any advice?

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

I'm hoping this is as simple as installing the outer steering box plate first and then the tow hook bracket on top of it

just do this.


if the OEM bumper doesnt bolt on, itd be easy enough to elongate the holes a little. personally experience... ditch the stock style tow hooks. they will bend the first time you pull on them. with a brace underneath of it, you probably wont damage the frame rails like i did, but im willing to bet money they bend.

 

[Red91Laredo]

I thought the OEM tow hooks were supposed to be pretty stout? Everyone seems to like the C4x4 tow hooks, and I believe these are what their design is based on, but with an additional bracket.

I'm planning on getting an aftermarket front bumper at some point which should both provide better recovery points and help reinforce the unibody rails, but for now I figured these tow hooks would do the job. I'll just have to try and avoid getting stuck I guess?

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

They will for over the brace. I have stock hooks with the c-rok brace. Works fine. And yes the stock hooks are pretty stout for what they are. But any kind of pull at an angle will bend the brackets. I tied mine together with a 3/16" piece of flat bar. Made a huge difference. Threw a few bolts into the core support cross member thing so it wouldn't move

 

[sunburned]

I bought the JCR 4 bolt steering box brace kit because I was putting in a YJ box. The kit sucked. Holes didn't line up at all. I ended up only using the inner plate from JCR and the outer plate that came with my Rigidco Bumper. The 4th hole for the steering box was impossible to drill out because you're going straight through the side of the top of the unibody.

 

[kenny811]

I did mine with a U bolt, 3/4" pipe, little welding. Took about an hour to build.

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[Red91Laredo]

They will for over the brace. I have stock hooks with the c-rok brace. Works fine. And yes the stock hooks are pretty stout for what they are. But any kind of pull at an angle will bend the brackets. I tied mine together with a 3/16" piece of flat bar. Made a huge difference. Threw a few bolts into the core support cross member thing so it wouldn't move

Do you have pics of how you tied the tow hook brackets together? Sounds easy enough but I haven't installed them yet.

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

here you can see it between the hooks

 

[Red91Laredo]

here you can see it between the hooks

Cool thanks. It should be really easy to add a brace like that and looks like it would be worth doing.

What do you guys think of JCR's setup for the steering box brace (what they call the Crusader Uniframe Reinforcement Kit)? They give you outer plates for both sides of the unibody rails. In theory this should help reinforce where the tow hook brackets bolt to, although I'm not sure how much the passenger side piece is really good for without also having a plate for the inside to 'sandwich' the frame rail.

Just trying to decide if it is worth the money... if a plate for the driver's side outer unibody rail to reinforce the steering box bolts is all that is really needed, IRO sells that for about $60 less.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

I have the jcr inner steering box brace. It made a difference vs the stock aluminum crap.
I also have a tube bumper that goes back and tires into the game rails with extra bolts, including the steering box bolts.
Tnt makes inner and outer string box brace. Only thing I see the pass side doing is if you ran a bar across to brave the steering box.
I chose the jcr inner brace as it was cheaper and they were having a sale.

 

[PowerRam1987]

I have the jcr setup. Definitely does its job. If you get it from them buy the steering box spacer too. Yours will be broken guaranteed. I didn't buy it, took my box off, spacer was broken, had to make one lol. Its worth the extra couple bucks. Some of the holes didn't line up good and i had to drill out a couple holes larger in the braces. Still a decent product in my opinion. MAKE SURE YOU SPRAY THE STEERING BOX BOLTS WITH PENETRATING OIL FOR A WEEK AHEAD OF TIME. If your bolts are seized into the ears of the box you will snap them removing the bolts. Then you need a steering box too

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

Cool thanks. It should be really easy to add a brace like that and looks like it would be worth doing.
the cross brace is a good idea. i was going to do it to mine, but then bought a real bumper.

What do you guys think of JCR's setup for the steering box brace (what they call the Crusader Uniframe Reinforcement Kit)? They give you outer plates for both sides of the unibody rails. In theory this should help reinforce where the tow hook brackets bolt to, although I'm not sure how much the passenger side piece is really good for without also having a plate for the inside to 'sandwich' the frame rail.
id suggest the frame rail tie ins to anyone running tow hooks. the problem i had with tow hooks after a few good pulls was that the ENTIRE frame rail was starting to deform. IMO, the lack of tieing into all 7 bolts on each side makes the tow hooks a subpar product. i wish i had pictures of the deformation i had on my frame rails. i have a set of JCRs tie ins, and they did not fit perfect, i had to hog out some hole. but in their defense, this was from a prototype bumper i received second hand. so things may be different now.

Just trying to decide if it is worth the money... if a plate for the driver's side outer unibody rail to reinforce the steering box bolts is all that is really needed, IRO sells that for about $60 less.
if money is a factor, there is a PDF online, you can make your own tie in brackets if you want. many do this and build custom bumpers off of it. you want a plate left and right. id also suggest the inner spacer for the steering box. mine isnt cracked like everyone says they do, but i imagine it does a lot for stiffening up the frame rail compared to the stock junk. i havent seen many made for the passenger side, it doesnt see as much force as the drivers side does with the track bar and steering box. but if you really wanted to, again, you could cheaply make one in 10 minutes.