Heavy Duty steering suggestions

Thinking about upgrading my tie rod and drag link with a Rugged Ridge set up. Would like opinions on that.

I think that set up uses 1 ton rod ends but I'm not positive.

Discuss

High5

 

I think it would be pointless without upgrading the knuckles, but Reid Racing just released D30 knuckles so I say go for it!!

I need to do the same to mine so I've been digging into it a bit recently.

 

I run something simular but I run heims insted of TRE's. A local 4x4 shop makes them. I did this after I tacoed my tierod on the first trail of a long weekend and did not have a replacment.

 

Heim joint ends may not pass safety inspection, if your state has that.

I've bent the short tie rod before - I'd think that failure would be more common than breaking a tie rod end.

 

Never mind about Reid, thier knuckles replace the unit bearing style

 

It just passed its safty inspection for the second year, so I guess Texas does not consider it a problem. Of course considering some of the junk I have seen on the road with valid inspection certificates that should not suprise me.R)

 

Hudson,

Did you have to drill out the knuckles to make the heim style work????? I looked at the poison spyder style, but it says they only work for 76 on up. Not sure why they wouldn't work on mine. I have seen them elsewhere as well.

Iowa has no yearly inspection so I'm safe there. Would heims be a stronger way to go???

High5

 

Heims do require you to drill out the taper in the knuckle. So once you do it you can not go back without replacing the knuckle. The up side is that with two large wrenches you can replace a heim on the trail very easily. Heims are more expensive then TREs and can not be found off the shelf like TREs so you need to carry a spare set just in case. The heims are stronger.

You can get heims in left and right hand thread so you can set your alignment or adjust your drag link easily.

 

I had this done and did not do it myslef. I have an '83 wide track axle under it so I do not know if this will work on an earlier axle. Don't see why not.

 

Depending on construction, Heims may wear out faster than TRE's. There are poly cups available that can help keep crap out of the races and extend the life of the joints. If you go with Heims, you also need to see if you need an offset spacer to lift the joint off the knuckle arm. Some clear without the spacer, some don't.

 

Drilling the knuckle isn't too tough to do if you have access to a good drill press. I did my 60 knuckles pretty readily. You want to make sure the bolt fits with as little clearance as possible after drilling so it doesn't wallow out over time. It's a good idea to check the bolts regularly for the first few hundred miles after installation.

I also drilled the bolts to put in cotter pins. I didn't try to find castellated nuts but wanted to have some assurance that the nut wouldn't come off and leave me stranded or worse.

 

Eh,

I ordered the Rugged Ridge set up. I'll let the board know how it goes when I get it. I like the ease of just simply replacing whats there instead of drilling and such.

High5

 

The rugged ridge kit looks to me like it uses the stock size tie rod ends with a heavier tube. That is OK. But I would not pay that much. If you do not have access to a lathe, you could probably have any machine shop make you heavier rods for half price or probably less. You just use your old ends.

 

If I had a lathe or the knowlege to use it then yes, I would be money ahead. I'm afraid I'm more of a TJ guy stuck with a CJ I can bolt things on like nobody's business, but when it comes to fabricating parts, I'm out!!!!!

High5

 

Call up R&P at 503-557-8911. They sell dom tie rods and drag links, drilled and tapped to use your old tie rod ends, includes jam nuts for around $50-$60 each.....

 

Sorry for hyjack.

Do the 1ton TRE's fit in the stock cj tapered holes?

 

No. The knuckles must be reamed out as the stud is larger and so is the taper. Some 30 knuckles don't have much meat on them for doing this, some have plenty so it depends on which knuckles you have. One thing I've run into also is depending on the back spacing of your wheels, the wheels may rub the tie rod end body..... Not enough clearance. Found this out the hard way on the '6 and had to get custom offset wheels made. Other thing to think about on the 30 knuckles is the spacing between the tre for the drag link and the tre for the tie rod on the double hole knuckle. There can be issues with the tre body's not having enough room between them due to the spacing of the holes.....
Nickmil

 

You can buy TREs for a M38A1 too. They are the same taper as regular CJ ones but have a bigger .75 inch threaded shank. I used these, jam nuts and 1.25 dia, .25 wall DOM. I've made 3 sets now. That almost paid for the left hand tap I had to buy.

I did buy the Rugged Ridge one for my TJ, It was $79 at Tellico4x4.com, but I think the ones I built are beefier.

I personally would stay away from Heims unless its a trail only rig. I ran them for a while and they were constantly getting loose, worn out. Thats when I finally built the set-up I have now.

 

M38A1 tie rods are also larger, and work well on 71's and earlier....sorry for any hijack

 

Wow great info.

Click save forsure.
I was thinking hiems but gut says no.

And spacing to hadnt thought that hard about that.

For the M38A1"s would they have both left and right threads available with out the draglink hole in one?

My 82 knuckels have a seperate hole for the drag link.

I am spring under with a little drop in the steering arm so I dont think I need to flip them but could later I guess.