Hey there. I am beefing up the automatic 99 XJ to fit 37's. I currently have a 5.5" rubicon express long arm, TNT frame stiffeners and bushwhacker flat fenders which keep getting destroyed. I am doing a Ford 9" rear and a a rubicon d44 in the front with either 4.88's or 5.13's with full PSC hydro assist. The question is, should I do the WJ knuckle conversion and some sort of 1 ton steering? How much higher of a lift should I get? I love having flex and articulation as much as possible despite the rear leaf springs. I am seeing who else has ran 37's? Or should I just stick to my 35's and scrap the 37's and keep my current setup?

 

You raise lots of questions.

First the knuckles. WJ knuckles are a good way to get some beef and raise your drag link for a higher lift. The only problem with it is that you need to make a corresponding track bar relocation or you risk having death wobble since your drag link will no longer be parallel to the track bar. Rusty has a good kit, or in my case I made my own. Turns out Rusty agrees with my design, which I think I had first LOL. But if you do that, I highly recommend doing something with your track bar location.

One ton steering. Personally I have never sheared off a tie rod end. The weakness I have seen comes from the tubing in the drag link kits and tie rod. Upgrade those and you will be OK. Every tie rod end failure I have personally seen is due to lack of lubrication and the wear it causes or flexing them beyond their range of motion from too much lift/articulation.

As far as the tie rod itself goes, you will probably want to flip it on the WJ knuckles. Otherwise it hangs down to far for my taste. Tie rod tapered inserts for that can be had at Tereflex. That might be irrelevant depending on which Rubicon front you use. The JK rubicon already has the high steer and tie rod upgrades from the factory. But are wider than what you have.