Steering options

[bcrosson92]

so next on my list is steering. i want to do the wj knuckle swap for the steering and brake upgrade. im mostly looking at the jcr wj 1 ton OTK kit but i was wondering if the Iron rock off road xj kit would work with the wj Knuckles? Im wondering because jcr has 1 ton TRE and the IRO kit uses heims.

[bluedragon436]

I will say so far I really like the IRO OTK steering kit I have.. Haven't gotten to drive it a whole lot yet, but the bit I have gotten to drive and play with it... it already seems like a huge step up over the stock stuff... cant' wait to get it out and on the trail and see how it works out there...

[bcrosson92]

do you think the iro kit would work on the wj knuckles? iro said no but i dont see why it wouldnt. did you get the 1/2 hardware or the 5/8 kit?

[bluedragon436]

I think the only thing you'd have to do with the WJ OTK setup, would be, the WJ OTK tie rod they have, it has some bends in it that the standard XJ doesn't have on it's tie rod.. I have the 1/2" hardware, but wanted the 5/8's... it is plenty strong enough, and is definitely far better then the stock setup either way...

[bcrosson92]

oh ok but then i would need to buy a second tierod

[bluedragon436]

I would think should be able to talk to IRO about getting that tie rod from the WJ kit, with the drag link from the XJ kit.. They are pretty reasonable folks... and would think they'd be willing to do some kind of kit like that... especially with the amount of folks that are looking at doing the WJ knuckles on the XJ's

[bcrosson92]

oh ok i didnt thin kthey would do that. which is better for steering though heims or tirod ends? cause ive heard both sides are better. i like the idea that heims wouldnt really wear out.

[4.3LXJ]

The WJ has a separate drag link and tie rod. So, at first observation having just done it, you will need some sort of straight drag link with a slight bend in the end so it will clear the steering. Same for the tie rod. I am not sure of anyone outside of Rustys that offers what you will need in a kit. And his stuff ain't cheap

[bcrosson92]

wouldnt a kit for the wj have those bends? as far as i know the knuckles and the links are the only difference. so wouldnt doing the swap just mean needing a wj steering kit?

[bcrosson92]

i just checked iron rocks website and they have a wj otk tierod with funky bends in the ends of it what changes with the draglink after the swap?

[4.3LXJ]

I will have to get some pics of mine. I just did this before going wheeling for a week+

The drag link has the bend on it too on the axle end to clear the spring at full turn

[bcrosson92]

ok that would help me understand. i know you may need to trim the spring perches for the coils. ive seen setups with straight links on xj's with the wj set up so i dont know what they did to mod it to work.