D30 steering options?

coldduck22

New Member
Joined
May 22, 2008
Location
Elizabethtown NC
I really need to beef up the steering on my xj's D30. I already have a Rustys tierod and adjustable tracbar and extreme drop pitman arm. What are some of my options? Something that doesn't require a whole lot of fab and inexpensive. I do have acess to a welder but limited skills. Having close to 8" of lift my angles are way steep and it's just not a reliable set-up to say the least. No more adjustment on my tracbar and i'm constantly breaking the TRE on it everytime I wheel. Any suggestions on where to start? Thanks:beer:
 
coldduck22 said:
I really need to beef up the steering on my xj's D30. I already have a Rustys tierod and adjustable tracbar and extreme drop pitman arm. What are some of my options? Something that doesn't require a whole lot of fab and inexpensive. I do have acess to a welder but limited skills. Having close to 8" of lift my angles are way steep and it's just not a reliable set-up to say the least. No more adjustment on my tracbar and i'm constantly breaking the TRE on it everytime I wheel. Any suggestions on where to start? Thanks:beer:
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The first thing I would do is lower it. What size tire and suspension type are you running. Do you really need 8" of lift? Maybe Full hydro?
 
I have the RE 5.5" short arm kit with with drop brackets, 2" shackle in the rear and ACOS up front to level it out. Got an 8.8 going in the rear this weekend and I'll be running 36's.

Here's a pic of it on 33's
aimg101.imageshack.us_img101_3627_dals5497ps5xf1.jpg
 
Lower it back down to 5.5" on 36's and trim to fit. It is a little tricky but it can be done. Also I don't see too much wheeling happening on 36's and a D30. I see a little more trailside repairs in your future, unless of course your running chromo's but inevitably(sp?) you will break something in the 30, probably sooner than later. For the cost of a quality correct steering setup for the 30, plus selling the ACOS and shackles, you could swap in a Waggy 44 reamed for one ton TRE's. And FWIW IMO running full hydro on 30 knuckles will break them at the drop of a hat if a tire is bound up.

Another option for a track bar setup is RockKrawler's bomb proof setup.
 
First off, throw away any trac bar that still uses a tie rod end on the frame. It was a piss poor design stock, and just can't handle any decent droop.

as for steering lots of options, the best cheap alternative I've seen is the rugged ridge inverted 'T' setup. of course you can buy some tubing, and the tierods, as well as a reaming tool and do it yourself
 
cut your lift height in half, trim sheetmetal.

Seriously though, what in the world do you have 8" of lift on there for? You're not running tires big enough to break the 30, you're not running tires that need more than 4-5" of lift.

I don't know of any heavy-duty trackbars that are good for that much lift, I use the RE 1600 adj w/ HD bracket and that's a good setup, but it wouldn't work for 8" of lift.

I also run a durango V8 steering box and its great, turns my 33x12.50 muds with ease. I reused my pittman arm so you should be able to reuse your drop arm if you want to stay with all the height.

Search over at NAXJA for over the knuckle, hydro-assist, high steer, tie rod flip, and that should get you some good ideas if you're committed to the lift height.

Personally, I'd drop 2-3" in height and make up all the difference in skids, bumpstops, and trimmed fenders/wheelwells.
 
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