When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Sorry for lack of pictures, I was kind of doing this with no guide so I didn't think it would turn out so well.
My stock steering was totally blown out so I opted to get a good replacement.
First thing I did was mock up the tie rod on some jack stands. Because I was using 1.5" tubing, it was going to need clearance.
I eyeballed some different angles and measured, and figured 15 degrees should be good. I put the bends in 9.5" from the end of the tube.
With the bends in I started to mock it all up to see how much I would need to trim, Ruff Stuff gives you pretty long tube just in-case.
With the heim threads screwed in halfway, I trimmed off the ends until it sat aligned, and ended up cutting around 4.5" off either side.
I used the same method for the drag link, heims half way threaded and cut to fit.
You will need to drill out your knuckles and pitman arm to fit 3/4" bolts. Took me 2 drill bits to get through it all, I am also running a drop pitman arm to match the track bar angle. (sorry for no photos!)
Once I had everything mocked up, I welded in the bungs, bolted it on and cycled the steering to make sure everything cleared and there were no binds.
The last step was to add some metallic silver paint, and had it aligned.
I have about 350 miles on this steering now and it has been great, it didn't wobble or anything before the alignment and feels great driving through the desert at speed.
I realized after I should have welded a tab onto the pitman arm to double shear the heim so I'll be redoing that at another point in time.
I could be wrong about this but don't most people run the heim under the pitman arm? Your drag link looks awfully steep. Any chance of maxing out the misalignment on the heims?
I could be wrong about this but don't most people run the heim under the pitman arm? Your drag link looks awfully steep. Any chance of maxing out the misalignment on the heims?
I've seen it mounted both ways to the pitman arm, from what I have read you want to match the angle of the track bar to keep all the geometry the same and this was a closer match for my case. But I could be wrong as I am learning most of this as I go.
My friend runs a similar setup with a different track bar, and he runs his under the pitman arm to match his track bar angle.
I haven't had any issues maxing out the misalignments yet, I flexed out my Comanche with our car lift and cycled the steering to test for any binds or issues.
When I upgrade to a higher lift I may have to put a bend in the drag link, but wont know until I get there.
I've seen it mounted both ways to the pitman arm, from what I have read you want to match the angle of the track bar to keep all the geometry the same and this was a closer match for my case.
I haven't had any issues maxing out the misalignments yet, I flexed out my Comanche with our car lift and cycled the steering to test for any binds or issues.
When I upgrade to a higher lift I may have to put a bend in the drag link, but wont know until I get there.
Correct about the bars being parallel. I realized that even if you had a non-drop pitman arm with the heim on the bottom the angle would be the same.
Setup looks great. I like the bent tie rod. Good solution. I have offset TRE's from the Ruffstuff kit waiting to move from the basement to the Jeep.
I have my setup on top of the drag link as well. I can unload the coil before maxing out the misalignment spacers. Depends on how tall you are too, i'm on a 4" lift.
Good work! Ive had the same kit on my MJ for prolly 5 years now. Soo good i put the same kit on my J2000. Fortunately Ruffstuff also sells limiting straps if you do find the binding limit on those heims
02-10-2019, 09:19 PM
Ruff Stuff 7/8" Heim Steering
