V8 94 Off road Tips & Tricks
 

I have a 94 5.2L V8. Basically its all stock except for the 4.5 Rubicon express lift and the 33 tires. I've been around off road experiences most my life but I'm new to owning a vehicle.

I took it up in the mountains over the weekend and busted my steering gearbox. left it there over night to go back and spend the next day trying to fix it.

What options do i have in strengthening it up? and what have you guys found to help this from happening more. another guy on the trail said its a common weakness for cherokees

Also what other weaknesses should I be looking to reinforce. I'm looking to make this a very reliable off road vehicle and I'm not sure where to start.

tons you can do to make it stronger. HD steering box (ive heard of people swapping in a box from a durango), HD tie rod, HD drag link, the list goes on. im planning on all these mods once i get some decent rubber on my ZJ

Just curious, what broke with the box? Did it phsyically crack? or did it tear out of the frame?

I feel you pain
 

Well i dont know what exactly happened but if you were off-roading and you were just cranking on the wheel while you werent moving ya that will put some huge wear and tear on you whole steering system. Ive delt with all this Blew the gear box pump and all the lines i just replaced it with a factory replacement and havent had much of any problem since. YA it doesnt turn the wheels like a stock jeep, but then again gotta remeber your not driving a stock jeep

The steering Gear box physically cracked on one of the inlaid nuts. And the bolts on the other two actually broke in half.

The main reason why i ask is on while I was fixing it on the trail another cherokee stopped by and the guy talked with me telling me it was a common weakness for cherokees. Figured there would be some type of reinforcement sold..

Also I would like to know what else is common with cherokees what do I have to look for and what can I do now to help my jeep be more reliable off road