What is the best steering for my Jeep Wrangler TJ?

ac_ said:
I feel weird about this because nobody on this thread nor the alignment thread even asked about the caster cam adjustment. It seems like you are all secure with it, and I am the over protective parent.
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The picture that was requested would really help. There are two kinds of lower control arm bolts for the slotted holes on the lower front mounts on the axle. One has the large thick washers mounted on the bolts with a hole off to one side so that it is an eccentric cam that will move the bolt back and forth in the slot by reacting against the horseshoes on the outside of the mount. Those when adjusted correctly will change the caster/pinion angle. They were prevalent on the early models, roughly 97-early 99. In about 99 or so, they changed the washer to a large thick flat washer with the hole in the center. You can spin that type endlessly without changing much because the hole is in the middle of the washer.

Be aware that if you have the eccentric style, that the axle is solid and you can NOT adjust the caster on one side. You should have the axle level and leave one side loose while you adjust the other to prevent from putting the arms into opposite pre-load which can cause premature wear.
 
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Hey everyone this is all great information. I hope this will help others as well,

I will not be able to glue the bumpstops on because of living in Arizona. It I was going to glue it without bolting it I imagine 30 straight days of 118 degree weather would melt the rtv. I have melted CD covers in sitting on my seat before. I have cooked an egg on the sidewalk but that is for another time. Anyway if I was going to cycle the suspension as @bobthetj02 suggested I will have to pull the springs anyway and I can easily tap a bolt in at that time. I will probably buy the Mmetalcloaks that he suggested too.

I will look into the zj upgrade steering or the Currie, but I don't plan on going any higher for now so that may be unnecessary.

for @Chris and @mrblaine:

IMG-0030.JPG
 
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ac_ said:
Hey everyone this is all great information. I hope this will help others as well,

I will not be able to glue the bumpstops on because of living in Arizona. It I was going to glue it without bolting it I imagine 30 straight days of 118 degree weather would melt the rtv. I have melted CD covers in sitting on my seat before. I have cooked an egg on the sidewalk but that is for another time. Anyway if I was going to cycle the suspension as @bobthetj02 suggested I will have to pull the springs anyway and I can easily tap a bolt in at that time. I will probably buy the Mmetalcloaks that he suggested too.

I will look into the zj upgrade steering or the Currie, but I don't plan on going any higher for now so that may be unnecessary.

for @Chris and @mrblaine:

View attachment 28159
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You have eccentric cam bolts. If you loosen both and crank both of them so that the bolt heads are at the rear, that will net a caster change that is very measurable. If it isn't, you need to check the control arm bushings to see if they are bad. As for your melting RTV, you should be aware that the polycarbonate and acrylic plastics they use for CD's and CD cases are not even in the same class of melting temps as RTV is. RTV is the common slang for Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone rubber. It is the same sort of material use to make silicone bake ware. High temp molds for pouring low temp molten metals like zinc, pewter, and lead into, and the silicone gaskets found in oven doors and fire doors for buildings. I promise you that if you melt the RTV holding your bump stop pucks in place on your front axle, the rest of your rig will not be doing so good. It is good for roughly 400 degrees F.
 
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mrblaine said:
You have eccentric cam bolts. If you loosen both and crank both of them so that the bolt heads are at the rear, that will net a caster change that is very measurable. If it isn't, you need to check the control arm bushings to see if they are bad. As for your melting RTV, you should be aware that the polycarbonate and acrylic plastics they use for CD's and CD cases are not even in the same class of melting temps as RTV is. RTV is the common slang for Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone rubber. It is the same sort of material use to make silicone bake ware. High temp molds for pouring low temp molten metals like zinc, pewter, and lead into, and the silicone gaskets found in oven doors and fire doors for buildings. I promise you that if you melt the RTV holding your bump stop pucks in place on your front axle, the rest of your rig will not be doing so good. It is good for roughly 400 degrees F.
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Thanks for the advice I do appreciate it. I was under there fiddling with it yesterday, and it wouldn't net me anything on my angle gauge. All of my control arms are new within a couple of months but have low miles on them not even 100 I would say. They are crown factory replacements so they are probably not quality.

I read somewhere on another forum were people that glued their pucks down in hot places lost them. But for me to cycle my suspension I need to pull the springs anyway, so I can tap them in anyway. I do know that RTV and CD cases are not the same, but I wanted to stress how hot it gets here sometimes. I didn't figure gluing them would work well without keeping pressure on it while it dries. Thanks for setting me straight.

Not sure about the cam bolt things, but eventually I will probably get some adjustable control arms later.
 
Chris said:
Which steering systems should I stay away from?
The following are a few of the steering systems you should stay away from (assuming you're running stock axles and aren't some some sort of very special case):
  • Rusty's Steering Systems
  • Iron Rock Offroad Steering Systems
  • Synergy Steering Systems
There's probably others, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately. The bottom line is that you should stay away from crossover steering systems (both over-the-knuckle and under-the-knuckle) as you'll run into way more problems with those steering setups (not to mention I really question the quality of them).
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Chris could you please elaborate on why Synergy should be avoided? Synergy Part number 8121-00 was on my short list.
 
Alex01 said:
Chris could you please elaborate on why Synergy should be avoided? Synergy Part number 8121-00 was on my short list.
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Well give, that the Synergy unit and the Currie unit are the same price, I'd choose Currie any day, if only because of Synergy's reputation of building some less than stellar products (their "upgraded ball joints" come to mind). The good thing is that the Synergy steering is a Haltenberger type steering and not a crossover setup. However, the Currie unit is as well, and it has an impeccable track record (I've run it myself). Given the things I've heard about Synergy, that's why I can't recommend their products.
 
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Alex01 said:
Chris could you please elaborate on why Synergy should be avoided? Synergy Part number 8121-00 was on my short list.
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The original reason to avoid it was because they missed the slotted pin hole in the body of the draglink TRE. I have heard that this issue has been fixed to stop the drag link from rolling but I haven't verified it yet.
 
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I jumped on the band wagon and ordered the Currie.
 
Ahhh, Blaine hit the nail on the head. I knew there was a reason / design flaw, I just couldn't remember what it was.

Either way, since the Currie is the same price, good choice on going with the Currie. None of us have had an issue with the Currie steering, it's an awesome setup!
 
mrblaine said:
The original reason to avoid it was because they missed the slotted pin hole in the body of the draglink TRE. I have heard that this issue has been fixed to stop the drag link from rolling but I haven't verified it yet.
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Thank you mrblaine and Chris for the insight.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
And now Rubicon Express wants in on the business?
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re.jpg
synergy.jpg

If you look at the RE and Synergy side by side I would swear that its either a knock off or synergy is manufacturing it for them. They look identical.

RE is on the top
 
I run the Currie and it is amazing how much bigger it is than the stock steering. You would not be disappointed with the Currie!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
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bobthetj03 said:
Yes, a common practice that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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A lot of the stuff that Quadratec and Extreme Terrain sell that claim to be in-house brands such as "Barricade" and others, is just re-branded Rugged Ridge stuff, or other brands too. I've noticed this, and it's not that hard to pick up on.
 
How can you adjust that RE/Synergy drag link to center your wheel? Do you have to pull the drag link tie rod to do it?
 
Chris said:
It sure seems that way. If so, that’s a huge design failure.
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Yeah, what a PITA it would be to have to pop off that tie rod every time you needed to adjust the drag link. Deal breaker for me, well that and copy cat BS.
 
bobthetj03 said:
Yeah, what a PITA it would be to have to pop off that tie rod every time you needed to adjust the drag link. Deal breaker for me, well that and copy cat BS.
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Considering I had to adjust my drag link about 6 times to get the steering wheel dead center, yeah, it would be a huge PITA! The Currie unit makes it easy, just like stock.
 
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