honda069
jeepin0_1
- Location
- Pleasant Grove Ut
im looking to do a steering upgrade for my 2000 cherokee xj, does anyone know which ones are good, what should I put on it
what steering upgrade for xj
- Thread starter honda069
- Start date
Floydargue
New guy
- Location
- Salt Lake City
What part?
Which part of the steering are you wanting to upgrade? Are you runnung a stock D30 with original steering? I like some of the stuff tntcustoms has for steering, but sometimes their customer service suffers from their small staff. pretty stout stuff, though as far as cross overs and unibody mount reinforcement.
Which part of the steering are you wanting to upgrade? Are you runnung a stock D30 with original steering? I like some of the stuff tntcustoms has for steering, but sometimes their customer service suffers from their small staff. pretty stout stuff, though as far as cross overs and unibody mount reinforcement.
honda069
jeepin0_1
- Location
- Pleasant Grove Ut
yeah ive got the d30 and the stock steering, I was thinking over the knuckle or something like that
I had the rusty's steering on my old ZJ, and I didn't like it at all, had quite a few problems. however, I have heard really good things about the JCR steering, and you can do theirs OTK. once I get to that point, thats whats going on my current ZJ.
http://www.jcroffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=S6
http://www.jcroffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=S6
jsudar
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Cedar Hills
Put a four bolt box on it from a YJ and some reinforcement plates to keep the box from ripping off the "frame."
STAG
On my grind
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
*just to be 100% honest, and to give my .02, but putting any money into a D30 isn't feasable to me.... imho its easier/well worth it to uprgrade to a D44.. However if you were going to put steering upgrades onto the D30 these are what I'd do.
BlueTorchFab Double-Shear OTK steering kit- ~$150
Can be found here-> http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_29_30&products_id=447
BlueTorchFab Complete steering hydraulic assist kit '95-'02 XJ kit ~$1k
Found here->http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_69_77&products_id=409
http://bluetorchfab.com/store/images/yj6.jpg
BlueTorchFab Double-Shear OTK steering kit- ~$150
Can be found here-> http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_29_30&products_id=447
BlueTorchFab Complete steering hydraulic assist kit '95-'02 XJ kit ~$1k
Found here->http://bluetorchfab.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=66_69_77&products_id=409
http://bluetorchfab.com/store/images/yj6.jpg
wheelin4me
Member
- Location
- South Jordan, Ut.
What about Rocky-Road's or the Off-Road-Only Steering set ups.
mixedupjeeper
Member
- Location
- clearfield utah
HIgh steering
I just finished the teraflex high steering upgrade on my 90 xj and that **** rocks. 1 ton rebuildable rod ends on my custom trac bar, new brackets, t6 aluminum tie rod and drag links, brake upgrade as well that **** is strong as hell. I love the upgrade but if you don't feel like spending a fortune for steering go a different route.
[/IMG]
I just finished the teraflex high steering upgrade on my 90 xj and that **** rocks. 1 ton rebuildable rod ends on my custom trac bar, new brackets, t6 aluminum tie rod and drag links, brake upgrade as well that **** is strong as hell. I love the upgrade but if you don't feel like spending a fortune for steering go a different route.
mixedupjeeper
Member
- Location
- clearfield utah
here are a few more pics
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
I had reasonable success with reinforcing the stock steering. I could bend tie rods at will with my setup.
I finally settled on a "goferit" tie rod (I'm not sure if he's still building stuff or not?--he's from North Carolina?) that was fairly stout and stuck with a TJ draglink as they are a little beefier than the XJ piece. The TJ draglink became my "fuse" (I always heard the V8 ZJ one is beefier, but never did check that out for myself). I did check the steering box bolts EVERY morning on trail days and never had any issues with my uni-body (in that area) or the steering box. For driving my junk home, I carried a spare craptastic stock tie rod and a stock draglink that was aligned for my Jeep. It was used under more than one circumstance.
I got to where I could get 10-15 trail days out of my steering system without failure. There were still issues due to the design, but for the most part things worked out for me pretty well.
Just to speak to the "upgrade" to a D44 comment. I'd run another D30 again. I bent at least three D30 housings on my XJ. I think that could be fixed fairly easily, though with some tube reinforcment. All of my D30 troubles were with 297 and then 760 joints or shafts kersploding (other than the tweaked housings). Not much of an upgrade to go to a 44, IMHO. I'd keep a D30 with 35" or under tires, truss it, and address the steering issues (some kind of a high steer would be nice, but I don't know that I'd spend a ton of money setting it up) with beefier parts.
To me a D44 is not really much of an upgrade to a XJ D30-non-disco. You do get a more robust ring/pinion, stronger housing (depending on which OEM app it came from and what day it was when your D44 was built), a mucho stronger spindle/bearing assembly and the easy availability of lockout hubs (there's a whole other debate right there). There's the flat-top knuckle thing.... there's good and bad there.
Speaking to that, I pushed my D30's pretty hard. Zero unit bearing failures and I actually enjoyed the three bolt convenience of pulling the unit bearing off vs. a spindle nut, bearing, lock washer, spindle nut, remove the 5 spindle bolts of the D44. I could have a shaft changed within about 20 min from failure with the unit bearing setup.
...but I digress. If someone wants to redebate the D44 vs. D30 thing, we should probably start a new thread.
Steering options on the D30. I'd have Ben Hanks Racing build you at the very least a stoutish tie rod and see what other solutions they have to offer. You can drill tap a piece of tube for your stock taper utilizing Dodge half ton tie rod ends (I used to know the part numbers, but I'd be hard pressed to remember them nowadays---T150 comes to mind, but I don't really know) and replace your wimpy excuse for a tie rod Jeep gave you. They'll have some ideas for your draglink and you could utilize some of the early Bronco/Ford tie rod ends and build a similar draglink. Once you build those parts up, your weak spot becomes the steering box and it's mounting point. To me, a unibody rig built from sheetmetal has a specific lifespan. You'll only get so many cycles of the "frame" before it literally tears itself apart.
I would build another XJ someday, but I'd stick to 33" tires and just enjoy it for the good commuter/weekend warrior it is.
It kind of depends on how much you want to spend. I'd try to strike a balance between cost and the capability of the D30.
I went to a different rig with a 60 for a few reasons. Steering and axle joints being the main reasons.
Last trail obstacle I ran the XJ on. It actually is showing off it's "sweet" steering setup.
A common failure for my setup. Pretty to quick to change and I'm back on the trail for a few days until it happens again.
I finally settled on a "goferit" tie rod (I'm not sure if he's still building stuff or not?--he's from North Carolina?) that was fairly stout and stuck with a TJ draglink as they are a little beefier than the XJ piece. The TJ draglink became my "fuse" (I always heard the V8 ZJ one is beefier, but never did check that out for myself). I did check the steering box bolts EVERY morning on trail days and never had any issues with my uni-body (in that area) or the steering box. For driving my junk home, I carried a spare craptastic stock tie rod and a stock draglink that was aligned for my Jeep. It was used under more than one circumstance.
I got to where I could get 10-15 trail days out of my steering system without failure. There were still issues due to the design, but for the most part things worked out for me pretty well.
Just to speak to the "upgrade" to a D44 comment. I'd run another D30 again. I bent at least three D30 housings on my XJ. I think that could be fixed fairly easily, though with some tube reinforcment. All of my D30 troubles were with 297 and then 760 joints or shafts kersploding (other than the tweaked housings). Not much of an upgrade to go to a 44, IMHO. I'd keep a D30 with 35" or under tires, truss it, and address the steering issues (some kind of a high steer would be nice, but I don't know that I'd spend a ton of money setting it up) with beefier parts.
To me a D44 is not really much of an upgrade to a XJ D30-non-disco. You do get a more robust ring/pinion, stronger housing (depending on which OEM app it came from and what day it was when your D44 was built), a mucho stronger spindle/bearing assembly and the easy availability of lockout hubs (there's a whole other debate right there). There's the flat-top knuckle thing.... there's good and bad there.
Speaking to that, I pushed my D30's pretty hard. Zero unit bearing failures and I actually enjoyed the three bolt convenience of pulling the unit bearing off vs. a spindle nut, bearing, lock washer, spindle nut, remove the 5 spindle bolts of the D44. I could have a shaft changed within about 20 min from failure with the unit bearing setup.
...but I digress. If someone wants to redebate the D44 vs. D30 thing, we should probably start a new thread.
Steering options on the D30. I'd have Ben Hanks Racing build you at the very least a stoutish tie rod and see what other solutions they have to offer. You can drill tap a piece of tube for your stock taper utilizing Dodge half ton tie rod ends (I used to know the part numbers, but I'd be hard pressed to remember them nowadays---T150 comes to mind, but I don't really know) and replace your wimpy excuse for a tie rod Jeep gave you. They'll have some ideas for your draglink and you could utilize some of the early Bronco/Ford tie rod ends and build a similar draglink. Once you build those parts up, your weak spot becomes the steering box and it's mounting point. To me, a unibody rig built from sheetmetal has a specific lifespan. You'll only get so many cycles of the "frame" before it literally tears itself apart.
I would build another XJ someday, but I'd stick to 33" tires and just enjoy it for the good commuter/weekend warrior it is.
It kind of depends on how much you want to spend. I'd try to strike a balance between cost and the capability of the D30.
I went to a different rig with a 60 for a few reasons. Steering and axle joints being the main reasons.
Last trail obstacle I ran the XJ on. It actually is showing off it's "sweet" steering setup.
A common failure for my setup. Pretty to quick to change and I'm back on the trail for a few days until it happens again.
Last edited: