Back in 2007 I installed a PSC steering gear box for my '99 XJ with 5.5" lift and 33" tyres. The model I ordered was SG-621M, which was the "variable gear ratio" option rather than the stock ratio option. Last I looked at their website (5 yrs ago?), I didn't see the "variable gear ratio" option any longer. In my opinion, I felt that it turned too easily and added to the Jeep's tendency to wander at higher speeds (30-60 mph). I did notice that at low RPM, the wheel was hard to turn, so in 2007, just after installation, I ordered an AGR high PSI power steering pump. That pump fixed the low RPM issue for the most part. Although I hear AGR is junk these days? What brand are you using instead for high PSI steering pumps on the XJ?
Did I make a mistake in ordering the variable ratio box - should I have ordered the non-variable ratio steering gear box? Anyone have direct experience with the two?
Fast forward to 2017, I hadn't wheeled in almost 10 years. My Jeep was turned into a primary school family wagon. I grew tired of the "too easy and floppy" steering of the PSC. The PSC also started leaking gear oil. I began reading on the forums about the Durango box. There was comments about it not doing stop-to-stop turns, but I'm not sure if it is true. On my Jeep, one direction hits the stop on the knuckle, the other hits the swaybar bracket first. [weld-on JKS sway bar extension brakets in the pipeline]
I live in a town of under 400K people, so I had to do a lot of digging to find a junk yard '98 Durango box. There are a few small yards, nothing big like those junkyard megaplexes in the US. I was able to find just one small junk shop in town and I had to drive an hour to get the Durango box. I installed the Durango box and my first impression was WOW!!! The steering stiffened up and it felt like a new car. However after a few months, it started leaking gear oil. Over the years I've probably put a full bottle and a half of that Lucas Products Stop Leak for Steering, which didn't stop the leak whatsoever and [I think] has made the steering a bit too tight now, but not intolerable. [Or maybe it was the Powertrax no-slip front lunchbox locker which stiffened it up?] I now park the Jeep with mats under the front to catch the oil. It drops one or two drops of gear oil each drive, but so does the engine, lol.
Has anyone found a good source for rebuilt Durango boxes? I could put the PSC back in and rebuild the Durango, but more tools and time required and 3 little screamers adding to the stress.