kennywilson2136

So I just bought a 94 xj and it has a 3.5" lift but still has the stock steering what can I do to change it like I said I am new to this

Programbo

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm not quite sure what you are asking for here. How is the Jeep "lifted" 3.5"? Even if you do a lift from a kit there isn't much on the "steering" that changes. Maybe the suspension?

gvns8

Depends. What type of budget do you have? What size tires you want to run? Trail difficulty? The cheapest option for upgrading steering is to replace your tie rod with a v8 grand cherokee's tie rod. Probably about $80-100 including the tre's. If you would rather do it once and be done with it you could look into some of the aftermarket steering options such as the one by "serious offroad" which uses DOM tubing and 1-ton tie rod ends.

Trev1006

Stock steering should be.sifficent up to alot larger tires than you can fit with a 3.5" lift and some hardcore wheelin. If you had worn out parts you could consider getting a beefed up tie rod and drag link from 4 wheeldrive hardware but I think there kind of expensive. I always just replace all my steering parts with MOOG parts, expensive but worth it with big tires and routinely getting muddy/wet

kennywilson2136

I have some play in it just would like to tighten it a little I have 33 10.50right now

Trev1006

Ive been running and wheeling the MOOG parts on my yj with 35x14.50's on it for 4 years. No problems. Gvns8 is right though, if you want a setup that will last even if.you someday have 37's do the dom tubing and 1 ton Chevy tie rod ends.

gvns8

Lift up the front by the axle enough to get the wheels off the ground. Grab onto the tire with one hand towards the front of the jeep and the other towards the back. Shake the tire side to side. If it has play then you may have bad tre's. While you are at it, do the same thing but holding it at the top and bottom of the wheel and try shaking the tire. If there is play that way then you have a bad hubs or balljoints which would also make it steer kind of poorly.

Replace any bad TRE's and the balljoints if they are bad. Also check your alignment. Another thing you can do is flush out the power steering fluid because if yours is not clear then it is bad. If you do any sort of even moderate wheeling I would HIGHLY recommend upgrading your steering. It is just one of those things that if it fails then you are absolutely stranded unless you have a welder. I have seen many guys bend and break their tie rods because the stock steering is so dinky.

I run 1.5" .25wall DOM with 1-ton tre's with a teraflex crossover knuckl personally, which is overkill, but it sure was nice to have when I see people break their stock stuff.

kennywilson2136

And that's the best thing got goin for me is I am a welder and have a 110 welder that's my buddys and a 220 welder at my house but thanks for the tip

gvns8

You carry one on your jeep? Pretty sweet if you do. That group of guys I saw in moab with a snapped tie rod would have loved to have you around. I think they tried to used two car batteries and some jumper cables to try to weld it back together not sure how that works. Anyways though good luck. Its always a compromise when it comes to building a jeep-Money in your wallet Vs. making your jeep bulletproof haha.

kennywilson2136

Well thanks for the help man