Going to 37s eventually, What steering upgrades are mandatory?

[bleda2002]

I don't think I'd agree that snapping the axle in half is the most common failure at all. Ball joints with plastic liners are number 1 by a long way. Even if we are talking about actual breakage I've seen about as many aluminium knuckles break as axle housings. And neither of those are common. If abused those 2 would be the points that would break. Personally I wouldn't put steel knuckle money into building the stock front axle so there would be nothing gained strength wise adding the truss. You see people go full build on the stock 44 and it's still marginal for big tires if you're going to drive it hard. How much do trussed, geared, locker added, chromoly shafts, and steel knuckles builds cost? $4-5k where you could have bought a complete UD 44 with 1/2" wall tubes and no fad casting, HD ball joints, geared however you want, etc for the same money. Sell the complete factory axle for $1k easily if not $2k and you're money and strength ahead in my opinion.

If you don't have a locker that makes sense. With Rubicon already I did gears for 1k an axle, truss for 300 bucks. The tube thickness is .4 of an inch on gladiators so not much to gain spending the extra money on a UD44.

I don't consider ball joints a failure as they don't need trail repair. They're a wear item and eventually they'll all need replacing hd or not so no need to fix it until it's worn imo.

Neither break is all that common, I agree with you, but I've seen the plug weld fail on slow obstacles, fast driving and rock crawling. The knuckle I've only seen following some high speed whoops

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[Reddog]

Bottom Line Up Front: What Steering upgrades are needed for 37s balancing offroad capability with road manners?

Long version: Driving a 21 Sport (sport S? who knows ) with a 2.5 inch Skyjacker lift. This is going to be road tripped, hitting trails when I can and driving on to the next spot. I want to spend two weeks going from PA to TX and back.
I'm going to go to 37s at next tire replacement. I will be regearing, so before the tires and gears....
-What steering upgrades are needed?
-When do I need steel knuckles? Flipped steering or not? Options?
-CAN I flip the steering at only 2.5 inches? I can't find knuckles that don't flip the steering
-When do I upgrade the rear track bar?
-What does the steering box need?

I have 40K on my JTR with 37's and a AEV lift. The only thing I would recommend unless you rock crawl is to reinforce the steering sector box. The 37's put a lot of stress on it especially while sitting and turning the steering wheel. This would be doubly true if crawling with it. I go overlanding a lot and recently had the front end checked for wear by a reputable off-road shop and they found nothing loose. I don't abuse my JT and maintain it regularly. Otherwise, it drives better than new since adding the lift and 37's at five thousand miles. I tow a heavy boat with a loaded bed often and no problems. Good luck to you.

 

[Billyj7175]

I did some nasty switchbacks on a shelf road doing the Nor Cal BDR and my factory steering did not like it. But for desert and town it works just fine. I try to avoid tight turns with the front locked. I don't carry enough spare parts.

Tight switchbacks, downhill, with the diff locked? You didn't need hydo assist you needed to understand how lockers and steering work. Locking the diffs is the last thing you want to do in tight turns even if you have the power to force the wheels to turn via a hydraulic ram. You still won't turn as tight as you easily could with the locker off and no hydro. The tires need to turn at different speeds in a turn. The tighter the turn the greater the difference. The locker allows no difference in wheel speed. I feel sorry for your u-joints too.

Lol. You need to understand you weren't there, but hey, thank you for such a knowledgeable insight how all things work.
Early spring in Colorado with snow, ruts, runoff turned what would normally be a level 5 trail into an easy 7-8.
Had both front wheels been touching terra-firma, I probably wouldn't have needed my front diff locked. Unlocked only pushed the front end closer to the edge. That and there was nothing solid enough to winch my front end around.
No U-Joints...RCV's up front.

 

[Harlan83]

Personal opinion...

-What steering upgrades are needed?
(rockjock currectlync or similar) Tie rod/ drag link upgrade, factory steel knuckles, ball joints when they fail or you do the knuckles (i have teraflex) and hydro assist (can be done way cheaper than a kit, I have like $500 in mine)
-When do I need steel knuckles? Flipped steering or not? Options?
No flip, I'd feel better with steel knuckles
-CAN I flip the steering at only 2.5 inches? I can't find knuckles that don't flip the steering
Again no flip
-When do I upgrade the rear track bar?
When you run out of things to buy for it or its a fantastic deal
-What does the steering box need?
Drilled and tapped for hydro assist

 

[Gizmo]

I could of sworn I said "ROCKJOCK HIGH STEER" . Its not a flip . It only requires 2.5" of lift ........Installing Rock Jock by John Currie’s Jeep Wrangler & Gladiator High Steer Knuckle Kit | OVR Mag

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Currie makes high steer knuckles that work with 2.5” of lift. I have them but not installed yet. For some reason JT people seem to overlook Currie Rock Jock.

If I needed steering upgrades on my JT, first place I'd look is Currie.

 

[3VOLVE]

Here’s a photo of my previous JTRD’s front end. 3.5” Clayton, 37s, trussed, with the Rock Jock high steer kit. Drove much better than stock.

 

[caryt]

Really correct answer is nothing is needed..now if your rock crawling and hitting the tie rod then its time for a 7075 tierod.

 

[Gizmo]

We all know what comes next after 37s and no other steering mods , even on a mall crawler.. Why wait I always say , Each death wobble episode loosens more components. A Track bar with better bushings , then a better Drag link will be the usual order to start with if you already have a steel steering box

 

[Alpine Warthog]

Here’s a photo of my previous JTRD’s front end. 3.5” Clayton, 37s, trussed, with the Rock Jock high steer kit. Drove much better than stock.

What axle shafts are those? Or is it just some kind of boot over your U-joint?

 

[TRMFAM]

What axle shafts are those? Or is it just some kind of boot over your U-joint?

RCV axles

 

[TRMFAM]

I agree with most, you really do not need anything until you do, then look to upgrade or replace. On my JL I upgraded the stock axles too much and should have went to aftermarket from the beginning. Add up all the options you are thinking, regear, lockers, shafts, knuckles, etc and compare to a set of Dana Ultimate 60’s. Northridge had a pretty amazing sale over Christmas and they had a set of 60’s for 11k delivered.

 

[rharr]

You will likely want to adjust your toe in with the larger wheel diameter. I just jumped to 37's without adjusting/changing anything from stock and noticed a little steering wheel wonder driving it for real today. I need to check my toe in and probably make an adjustment.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

You will likely want to adjust your toe in with the larger wheel diameter. I just jumped to 37's without adjusting/changing anything from stock and noticed a little steering wheel wonder driving it for real today. I need to check my toe in and probably make an adjustment.

I have toe'd it in a tiny bit but in the course of trying that, I found my drag link tie rod has more slop than I like. It definitely goes and down an 1/8th of inch or so. It's not horrible but by spring, I want to replace it and do these upgrades. The gears/lockers are coming once the tires are ready for replacement. But in the mean-time if I'm pulling steering parts off the truck, I might want to do all of the steering to be ready for the 37s. I want to toe in some more, but I'm not sure it's worth dicking with it while the drag link is sloppy

 

[rharr]

I have toe'd it in a tiny bit but in the course of trying that, I found my drag link tie rod has more slop than I like. It definitely goes and down an 1/8th of inch or so. It's not horrible but by spring, I want to replace it and do these upgrades. The gears/lockers are coming once the tires are ready for replacement. But in the mean-time if I'm pulling steering parts off the truck, I might want to do all of the steering to be ready for the 37s. I want to toe in some more, but I'm not sure it's worth dicking with it while the drag link is sloppy

If your tie rod ends are fine then you can adjust toe in. Drag link slop will flop both wheels left and right. tie rod end slop makes each wheel do what ever it wants.

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