Rugged Ridge Steering upgrade

[Cali94YJ]

Anyone upgrade their steering links with the RR kit? My tie-rod ends are shot and I was looking at some other brands ie; Curry, Rusty's and others but they are twice the price. I hear RR is cheap metal from China, but at that price it has to be better than stock and the ends can be replaced with quaility made stock sized tie-rod ends. They claim 1-ton strengh and bolt right up.

casey

[Jeffb_79]

You pay for what you get.
I'm not sure if I've heard anything good about rusty's except the way it looks.

[Jacob]

I have read lots of good stuff about it online, but no personal experience. I do know the price of it keeps creeping up because I have been thinking about buying it for a while.

[Big Green]

What about the tie rod from a V8 ZJ? They are a bolt in and are much stronger than what you have now. Go to a junk yard and get one, might need to be rebuilt but still cheaper than buying the other ones. Google V8 Grand Cherokee tie rod upgrade.

[Joe Roberts]

What about the tie rod from a V8 ZJ? They are a bolt in and are much stronger than what you have now. Go to a junk yard and get one, might need to be rebuilt but still cheaper than buying the other ones. Google V8 Grand Cherokee tie rod upgrade.

I'm unsure if the XJ, ZJ tie rod swap will fit a YJ I'm sure someone here can verify that. I've pulled 3 of the heavy duty tie rods from grand cherokee's in the last month and a half from pick and pull here in Va Beach for fellow jeepers in my area. (the following 2 pics from Stu Olsons site)



The price ranged from 12.00 to 18.00? Dont ask me why? But, they are solid, strong and a very cheap way to upgrade your TJ steering & any factory tj, xj, zj tie rod and pieces will fit in a situation on the trail.

I personally run the "Off Road Only" U-turn steering. (My Jeep, in cleaner times)


I have had no issues in the 18 months I've had it and more than once have had the full weight of the front end resting or scraping on it. Its a bit pricy and in my opinion worth every penny but the problem with any after market is, if you do break it who is going to have parts readily available on the trail? For that reason I felt the need to spend even more money for a spare tie rod from ORO, chances are I'll never need it but food for thought.

[C130Hilgy]

What knuckles are you using? Is it the outer C's out of a grand cherokee. I see your track bar is not running parallel to the drag link as it comes down from the pitman arm. Do you get bump steer with it this way?
Thanks

[Jeffb_79]

What knuckles are you using? Is it the outer C's out of a grand cherokee. I see your track bar is not running parallel to the drag link as it comes down from the pitman arm. Do you get bump steer with it this way?
Thanks

I think if you saw a straight on photo of it, you'd see the track bar and drag link were parallel with each other. The angle of the picture kind of throws it out. The oro u turn uses the stock knuckles.

[Joe Roberts]

I think if you saw a straight on photo of it, you'd see the track bar and drag link were parallel with each other. The angle of the picture kind of throws it out. The oro u turn uses the stock knuckles.

Every thing stated by jeffb_79 is correct. It drives nice, very solid. The drag link for the most part is parallel to the track bar, this steering utilizes the stock pitman arm to keep the angles right.
Here is an ORO stock photo. You will see it doesnt exactly appear to match the angle but if you look at the bends in the track bar the upper and lower ends are in the correct plane allowing the transfer of stress or weight in the correct mannor.

If your interested in more information on this system you can check out the web site, I recommend calling they love to talk jeep.
http://www.offroadonly.com/

Joe

[Cali94YJ]

I have a YJ. I do have some rubbing issues though. I got the RR stabilizer with it and it was too big to mount in the stock location with a stock diff cover. I had to remove the front track bar and use it's axle mounting location to make it work.
I just installed a Rockcrusher front diff cover and opened another can of worms.
I had to mount the stabilizer to the track bar frame mount. Now my drag link rubs on the diff cover. I will take pics and let you guys see my dilemma.
It's not to bad, but it still rubs. I guess there is only one way to find out how bad it will get...

Going to Pismo tomorrow camping, then hitting Pozo trail, wish me luck...

casey

[91YEEPER]

check out the MORE steering correction kit.

i ran it on a D30 i did for a mag and beat the hell out of it, used the tie rod as a winch point, ran into large rocks just for pics, it held up fine. didnt even dent the tie rod or draglink while wheeling. that was 4 years ago. that same steering setup is living on the 3rd jeep since its conception.

http://image.jpmagazine.com/f/956368...icer_gears.jpg