951Rubi

Well I've been wanting to fab up my new steering for a while and have recently been forced to start on it, but that's a different story.
One think about owning a JK that absolutely drives me crazy is ridiculously expensive parts are compared to other jeeps. I know some swear by a particular company and there are great parts out there, but as a newly married college student I simply can't justify buying the name brand.

So here's the plan:
-build my own tie rod and drag link to be sturdy yet budget friendly. This isn't your common garage project as I'll be using some equipment not everyone has. I'll post my progress as it comes. I appreciate your comments, opinions, and suggestions.


Parts:
I'll be sourcing all of my rod ends and tube adapters through RuffStuff as I've got a good deal through them and trust their durability for what I put my jeep through.

-Drag Link-
The drag link will be constructed from 1.5" .25 wall DOM with a 20-25* bend near the knuckle. On the pitman arm will be a RuffStuff high angle 1ton TRE and a standard 1ton TRE on the knuckle side.

-Tie Rod-
Nothing too unique here, just the standard tie rod from RuffStuff using 1.5" .25 wall dom with offset 1ton TRE's.

I hope my project can help and inspire some, stay tuned for more updates.

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fultonromero12

Post pics of your progress. I'm very interested in this. Good luck

Maertz

I wouldn't bend the drag link and id go 1.75 x. 25 wall on the tie rod. I bent. 1.5x.25 the first trip out. Unless your raising it up a ton.

951Rubi

I remember reading your build thread.
I'm concerned that if I do a straight drag link I will have clearance issues since I'm only running 2.5" metalcloak coils.

Also, I would think that I would run into clearance issues using 1.75 for the tie rod with the from diff. I could be wrong, Is that what you are running?

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951Rubi

I'm looking to replace the stock components, I did quite a number on them and the jeep is sitting until I get my steering done.

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Maertz

When i ran it on my d44 I had to put a small bend, but with those offset ends it may clear but i could be wrong. On my d60 i shaved the front dif to clear the 1.75 with no bends and no offset joints.

As for the draglink i ran a straight one on around 4" lift with a drag link flip. All the other straight ones were also on 4"ish. Im not sure how itd be on a 2.5. What do you see it hitting?

951Rubi

From the research I've done I would run into clearance issues with my flipped steering stabilizer, or later when I do my hydro assist with a straight bar (even with flipped drag link) and there would be no room at all without flipping the link. I'm going to have to hold off on a DLF until I go taller.

I've already got 1.5 .25 in the shop so I'll start there to at least be able to drive my jeep again, if I need to beef it up later I will.

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951Rubi

Parts came in last week but I was out of town.




These offset RuffStuff tre's sure do look nice and beefy.

I measured my stock tie rod to be just under 59" from the center of the tre's.
Last night I measured and cut the DOM down to 53" if I recall correctly. I took the overall length of the tie rod and subtracted the length of the tre's and threaded bungs.

I then ground a chamfer on each end of the DOM to allow for a groove weld between the DOM an the bung insert. I burned in the bungs, and called it a night.

No instal yet, we are trying to get a cage finished up on a yota (lol) before I pull my jeep in.

Up next is the drag link once I get another evening to go tinker.

I'll update this thread with more pictures next time I'm out at the shop.

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dr.dirty

The ruffstuff parts work great. I have done quite a few drag links and tierods for guys.

951Rubi

dr.dirty, looks like you made a straight drag link, did you need to use a lot of bump stop to prevent frame contact?

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