xj steering upgrade?

[Pookapotamus]

ok so all my steering components are worn out and i am looking at upgrading. i have seen the currie kit and the rugged ridge kit and the iron rock off road kit.

does any body have any advice on what to go with? what are the benifits? do i want wheel to wheel or inverted "Y"?

please help

Pook

[TL-Iguana]

Hey Pookie! Got your message!
I have the rugged Ridge kit on my XJ and so far so good! It was a snap to install, and align! The only issues I have had so far, were one of the lock nuts backed off after the alignment shop did their work, and they blame the fact that there is lateral movement on the drag link when turning. They of course realigned it and tightened everything down, and I have since had no issues. This movement is normal on this kit, and can be felt in the steering wheel at times, (almost like there is a couple inches of dead space) but otherwise its been awesome! If you want to get together some evening to take a look just let me know when and where, and ill definately show ya what I mean. Other than that, I like it, it performs as expected, and reduced the bump steer by a fair amount!

[Zombie]

I have the currie and really liked it, the old stuff was all worn and I had a few bad parts, so replacing it with that was great, a little bid of play, but I blame that on a loose steering box that I knew needed to be replaced, but could not justify spending that kind of money off at the time(I had allready spent a bunch and it was only a little loose and I could live with it for a while till I saved a bit more money).

[raf2379]

build it yourself pook. I've went with the balisticfab kit, welding required, but its beefy. http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Steering-Kit-78-with-High-Misalignment-Spacers_p_1337.html

[JackstandJohnny]

Raf i've heard using heims on steering isn't a great idea......... is it?

what do you doo? drill out the knuckle for the bolts then bolt it al lup?

[SwampSinger]

Heims are no good here in AB with our Silty mud.  They will wear out and knock. I've tried them on many application. They wear out and get loose. If you absolutely want to use heims; use the EVO Heims...they are local,greasable and rebuildable. I use a EVO heim on my upper arm and I have still to tight it up a few times a year. I only drive my Jeep to the trail/ Back home and on the trail.

with  your set up... I would use the Currie drag set up...It's beefy and tough.

[Bnine]

For any dual purpose rig out there, the only sensible option is the currie. Its very stout, reasonably priced, and performs like stock.

Inverted T's like the rugged ridge compromise steering performance due to poor design.

The one linked to ballistic has the wrong track bar geometry and heims should be left to dedicated trail rigs when ever possible. Or at a minimum the knuckles need to be sleeved with steel inserts after they are drilled to accept the heim. The reason behind the sleeving is that the soft knuckle steel will indent with tightening the heims and slowly loosen over time. Metal sleeving helps with the soft cast metal on the knuckle.

[Pookapotamus]

ok so my best option is the currie! thanks guys!!

thanks billy that was the answer i was looking for.

Pook

[w squared]

Holy Frack!

6 opinions offered on a Jeep board, and three of those opinions actually agree on the Currie setup? WTF! The moons have aligned, the end is nigh, and the motha-frackin apocalypse must be coming. 

[rws]

This is what I'm doing.

http://shop.savvyoffroad.com/product.sc?productId=44&categoryId=7

[Joel]

Holy Frack!

6 opinions offered on a Jeep board, and three of those opinions actually agree on the Currie setup? WTF! The moons have aligned, the end is nigh, and the motha-frackin apocalypse must be coming. 

Relax, it's only Monday,  crap show doesn't start till Tuesday.

[w squared]

Relax, it's only Monday,  crap show doesn't start till Tuesday.

So true. Exec meeting is tonite, so I'm sure that we will manage to deliver lots of interesting cr@p for the member's amusement tomorrow.  

[morerpmfred]

I had the rugged ridge steering , what a piece of crap pm me if you really want to know what i think of it . now have currie  steering I feel safe now.

[raf2379]

well crap, looks like i'll be switching to TRE's in the future once the heims wear out. i had no idea they that bad of a choice for steering.

[Bnine]

For a build as big an beefed up as yours Raf, the heims can be set up to work well with only a minor amount of work. Specially with flat top knuckles.