Was out running some trails behind my house over the weekend and fould some boulders I wanted to try crawling up onto. Made it up and on the way back down backwards,I got caught up.

Looks like I may have bent a piece on my steering(The long piece that goes left to right in the pic)

What is the correct terminology for this piece and how bad does the bend look?

Is it unsafe to continue driving like this,can it be bent back or should another be installed?

Hows this gonna affect my steering geometry and tire wear over time?

 

uh.... yea thats bent. real good. not so good to drive on. should probably get that fixed, super cheap. tre adj sleeve i think is the correct terminology

 

That's the tie rod adjustment tube. You will wear the outside of your tires quickly!
I run Rusty's HD tierod upgrade. Only $99. Had it for 6 or 7 years. Lots of rock hits and it's still strait. The Tie rods it came with are still good, and it's a daily driver.
Lots of other companies also make HD replacements.

 

So how difficult is it to install a new one and how much will it affect the alignment? Will I have to take it to a shop and have the toe adjusted properly?

 

go to the jy and get one off a v-8, change it out, use a tape mesure to set toe to 1/8" in...example center of tires 63" rear of front tires, 62 7/8" front of front tires make sense?

 

If you don't want the $99 upgrade part, you can buy a stock adjuster tube for $21 + shipping from rockauto:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7432

And you can easily adjust the toe-in yourself:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/steering/align/align-1.htm

In the above link, he shows doing the alignment on his TJ, not an XJ, but it's the same either way. Lot's of guys on other cherokee forums have done this adjustment themselves, then took their rig in for a professional alignment to double-check and found it dead-on correct.

I think shop alignments for XJ's and most 4WD vehicles are waaaaay overpriced, because the only thing that's adjustable is the toe-in, which is also the easiest.

Good luck.

 

x2 on ^

I upgraded mine to a ZJ V8. Its a nice lil beefier upgrade for the price. I pick up spares all the time. Never know when your going to need em. I pick em up for about 10-15 a piece on CL or if I ever get a chance to go to the JY..

I have a buddy running a wrangler who swapped out his lp dana for a hp dana out of a cherokee and is running the zj v8.
he bends them like once a month on crazy trails. so he has plenty on hand. I watch him do it all the time. its super easy to replace.

tape measure and a wrench & a few minutes and you can align it yourself. no sweat.

 

x2 good idea
If you bent 1 stock tube you'll bend another.
If your going to stay stock just straiten the one you bent.
(nice toe-in adj link.)

x2 I have a "toe bar" adjustment tool which is more accurate than a tape measure. But a tape measure works too!

 

Yeah ... I was actually tempted to say that I would just straighten it,... but every time I talk about things like that on other forums, I get lectures on safety issues, etc. Of course, anyone who thinks for himself can see it's perfectly fine to straighten it.

 

I straightened mine several times before upgrading. A ten minute job.

 

So I called the only boneyard in this area and asked for a tie rod for a 93-98 Grand Cherokee v-8. The guy had all sorts of questions:

"What year is yours?" I told him 1994

"Disc brakes up front?"--- DUH!!!

"Dana 35 or 44 axle?"--- I told him 35

He then tells me he "might" have one,I'd have to bring my old one out,

Price--- $75.00

Is that the going rate on these?

For that price I might as well go with a Rustys...

 

No - way too much. Isn't there a U-pull-it near you? Remember you're talking about 2 different vehicles here. You're looking for a tie rod assembly from a V8 Grand Cherokee. So bringing yours to the yard might complicate things for those guys. Just tell them you need one from a V8 GC any year from '93-'98. That's all they need to know.

Tip: It won't be bone straight like the XJ's. When I first went looking for one I passed up a dozen ZJs because I couldn't find one with a straight bar! I thought all the ZJs had had theirs removed. Months later I learned that on the ZJ they have a slight bend unlike the XJ which is straight. Amazing what trouble ignorance can bring! lol

Edit: And your front axle is a D30.

 

Oh I know the axle on my XJ is a 30 but the guy at the boneyard was asking for specifics for the Grand Cherokee tIe rod I had inquired about.Guess the Grand Cherokee came with either a 35 or 44 front diff.
I had asked him about a GC V8 tie rod for years 93-98,that's when he started getting into specifics.

The closest pick a part is in Tucson(an hour away) I'd really like to get up to the Phoenix area where they have a couple of Ecology yards....

 

GC does not have a D35 front. Every Jeep that has a D35 has it in the rear. If he tells you different, stay away from there.

An hour isn't bad ... compile a list, make a day of it & go have fun! Heck I love going to the yard just because.

 

A friend of mine suggested I look into Cross over steering.

Whats involved with that? Is it more complicated,more expensive? Would it be better to stay stock but use beefier components?