1 ton steering setup... Which one. need help

Z

zebvance

NAXJA Forum User
Location
College Station Texas
So I have a 1988 jeep comanche 4x4,4.0. the tie rods need replacing and I need a alignment. I want to get rid of the "Y" steering set up and I'm looking at 1 ton steering upgrades, So far I have came across Seriousoffroad.com's set up and JCR's. they both look very similar to me. Whats the different between the two. I do not want to run the over the knuckle set up. Just the regular one will work for me. I do see that both kits require reaming the knuckles and pitman arm. How much of a task is this. I am also concerned with diff cover clearance, I plan on running a aftermarket on in the future but I don't know which on will clear tie rod or not.

Please give input if you have had experience with this set up and in you have good insight on my plans, or if you know of other options besides the ones listed for a 1 ton steering upgrade.

And last both kits are very expensive, I am prepared to drop some cash but would like to save as much as I can.


Here is serious off roads set up.

http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.co...ducts_id=89921


and here is JCR's

http://www.jcroffroad.com/mm5/mercha...uct_Code=1TNST
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be ready for trackbar fab work also.

Why not just a currie system that is designed for the added lift with the "kick" in the TRE at the pitman arm? Keeps bump steer gone (if your good now) and bolts on, and is designed from stratch to work with exactly what you have.
 
zebvance said:
I want to get rid of the "Y" steering set up and I'm looking at 1 ton steering upgrades, So far I have came across Seriousoffroad.com's set up and JCR's. they both look very similar to me.
Click to expand...
uh what? Do you want those products or do you want to ditch that steering style. yes. the tie rod goes all the way across. but you still have the drag link connected to the tie rod instead of visa versa.

My experience is people with that style steering get some steering roll, and blow through TRE's - even being wonton tre's. Then they ditch it for something better.

youll prolly have to do an OAB for the trac bar to keep geometry correct.

That having been said......I know seriousoffroad offers a great product and almost unbeatable customer service.
 
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SEROIUS ALL THE WAY! Its way beefy and simple to set up. I run a ruff stuff diff cover on my D30 and had to clearence the cover by about 1/8 inch to clear at full lock.
 
I went OTK and still left my trackbar in the stock axle bracket.... been fine ever since.

People blow the whole "omgzZzZ your gona get bumpsteer leaving it in the stock location with OTK steering" ..... couldn't be farther from the truth. Is there some bumpsteer? slightly, enough for me to cut up my Rock Krawler trackbar and weld on a new axle mount? no.

OP- what size lift are you running? if your at/near 4.5 inches I would highly consider going OTK, steering is so much easier with less of an angle on the draglink then you have right now. I also dont understand why someone would want to "upgrade" their steering to one that has less clearance then stock, going UTK you loose a bit of clearence from the stock setup.

Go OTK and be done with it, your not going to regret it in the future. Do it once do it right, also use JCR's spacer that goes on the passenger side knuckle under the tie rod end to prevent tie rod roll.
 
only thing I mentioned about steering geometry was saying that having less of a steep angle on the drag link made steering much more easy, the more flat the draglink the better. My angles of my trackbar and draglink are off but like I said the slight amount of bumpsteer hasnt concerned me enough to change my trackbar setup. If this was a bare axle housing and I was building it from scratch thats a different story tho..
 
To do it correctly with otk steering, you need to address track bar angles. Can you get away without it? ya, its like a tcase drop. it works, but sye is the right way.
don't spread shit advice.
 
Not really, whats to go wrong within my current setup? Far from a tc drop if you ask me

Just another option for the OP if he can't get it all done at the same time or something like that. All I'm saying is I run it like this and and have for a while with no ill effects what so ever.

Back to topic, I still recommend going OTK regardless. Better angles, higher clearance, and more travel/less chance of over extending that tie rod end at the pitman. Whether going OTK or UTK I would still run that spacer, tie rod roll is pretty bad without it especially when the draglink is at a steep angle (UTK).

I went through the same dilema when I did my steering, I didn't want to be pissed after installing it with sloppy steering and still bashing my tie rod cus its still low. I knew once I reamed those knuckles there is no going back without getting new ones or welding in an adapter on top of having to replace the tie rod end at the passenger side and ream it out the opposite way to go OTK if I wanted to in the future.
 
I've known a few people to run OTA w/ a slight bit of bumpsteer but not quite enough to complain about also you will have to trim your coilbuckets and cut your swaybar mounts off(miner work). If you're buying steering go otk but plan on doin ota tb setup down the road as well. If you dont want to bother just go utk and be done with it, the choice is yours!
 
Forgot to mention I have a 4.5 inch lift with a trac bar drop bracket and rough country adjustable trac bar. Also this Jeep is a Toy and gets about 1000-2000 miles put on it year. I also feel like the OTK is more work than I want to get into right now, with the modifications needed, Also I don't have access to all the tools I would need to do the OTK right now.
 
I put the Serious Offroad UTK kit on last weekend and am pretty damn happy with it. Like you my Jeep is a toy and doesn't get drove daily anymore. The install wasn't that bad, the pitman arm ended up being easier for me to pull and use a drill press on it. The knuckles were like butter. I have been driving my Jeep daily this past week to get a feel for some different things I've recently done to it and can say the SRO kit is the way to.
 
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