JK Steering Upgrades

BigDaveZJ

Adventurer
My wife's 2015 JKUR has already eaten through a couple of the OEM TRE's with roughly 25k on the Jeep. Certainly hasn't lived the easiest life, so I can't complain too much, but I figured rather than throw more stock parts at it I'd upgrade the steering a bit. Currently has the AEV 2.5" Dual Sport lift on it without correction brackets. Also picking up some death wobble, and noticeable play in a couple of the TRE's. What steering setups are you guys having success with? I'm leaning towards the Currie as I liked their setup when I put it on my ZJ 10+ years ago. Don't need high steer or anything like that with only 2.5" so I'm just looking for a solid replacement setup that won't break the bank.

For clarification, I am looking at the $530ish setup, not the super bling $1300 one with the rebuildable TRE's.
 
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Flyfishjeep

Adventurer
Price a little higher than the $530, but I am super happy with this set up on mine. Customer service is great there.

 

BigDaveZJ

Adventurer
So there's a ton of JKs on here and only one response. Does that mean the factory steering should easily be able to hold up to 35's and I just have a part that wore out prematurely? Obviously replacing just the worn TRE is much cheaper than the Currie kit, but if the factory parts aren't up to snuff I'd like to upgrade them.
 

jadmt

ignore button user
something is wrong. I have had 4 JK's and on my 14 jkur put over 60,000 hard miles with 35's and never wore out a single TRE's. I did end up putting Steersmart drag link and Tie rod but only because I scored a deal on them. they were beefy as hell. AEV 2.5 is pretty mild so I Gotta think something weird is going on.
 

dstock

Explorer
For what it's worth I have the AEV 2.5 WITH the correction brackets on my 2013 Rubicon with 33's. It's currently at 86K and I haven't replaced anything in the suspension except the AEV Bilsteins which started leaking. I agree with @jadmt something is wrong.
 

dstock

Explorer
Kinda what I figured. Have a new TRE on the way, hopefully that cures it.

I'd suggest the geometry correction brackets for starters, and then have a good alignment shop check alignment and the rest of the front end components since replacing the TRE didn't solve the issue last time.
 

BigDaveZJ

Adventurer
I think I was a little unclear in the original post. All of the TRE's on the Jeep are original, I have not yet replaced any of them. One of them (drag link to knuckle) is obviously shot, vertical movement when moving the steering wheel. The two on the tie rod are on the looser side, but they don't have play in them like the drag link - knuckle TRE.

I ordered the drop brackets with the AEV kit, but did not install them. As an absolute last resort I could install them, but my wife wheels her JK pretty hard and the loss in ground clearance would negate some of the benefit of the lift as she was already running 35's at stock height and wanted the lift so she could stop dragging everywhere.
 

dstock

Explorer
Got it. I'd also put a torque wrench on every suspension bolt with all 4 wheels on the ground, they do have a tendency to loosen up over time.
 

jadmt

ignore button user
I think I was a little unclear in the original post. All of the TRE's on the Jeep are original, I have not yet replaced any of them. One of them (drag link to knuckle) is obviously shot, vertical movement when moving the steering wheel. The two on the tie rod are on the looser side, but they don't have play in them like the drag link - knuckle TRE.

I ordered the drop brackets with the AEV kit, but did not install them. As an absolute last resort I could install them, but my wife wheels her JK pretty hard and the loss in ground clearance would negate some of the benefit of the lift as she was already running 35's at stock height and wanted the lift so she could stop dragging everywhere.
I have wheeled pretty hard with geo brackets and mine do not have a scratch. that includes all the tougher trails in Moab except BFE. On my 2 door with AEV 2.5 lift I have done Rose Garden Hill, Behind the rocks, Golden Spike, Kane creek etc. I was worried about them at one time but I did the Rubicon trail with two guys that had them on their 2.5 lifts and never had an issue and then we did the Dusy ershim without an issue. I know run them on my 4 door with Mopar 2" lift and been to Moab 2X this year already and not a scratch on them. They don't hang down as much as people think
 

BigDaveZJ

Adventurer
Got it. I'd also put a torque wrench on every suspension bolt with all 4 wheels on the ground, they do have a tendency to loosen up over time.

Definitely. Being my wife's Jeep she is much more particular about that stuff than I am. I usually just go to 3 or 4 ugga ugga's on the impact on my ZJ, lol.
 

dstock

Explorer
Definitely. Being my wife's Jeep she is much more particular about that stuff than I am. I usually just go to 3 or 4 ugga ugga's on the impact on my ZJ, lol.

I used to do something similar..lol! I have found that even a quarter turn to reach spec can make a difference on the JK, especially when some of those specs are 125 ft-lbs!

I purchased 2 sets of car ramps so I can get enough space under the Jeep to make it easier to tighten things up as even with the lift it's tough to get that much leverage.

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Track bar and control arm bolts are where I'd start, keep us posted!
 

SoDakSooner

Adventurer
Ruff stuff has all their stuff on sale right now. The aluminum drag link and tie rod are on sale for 20% off and the have one ton TRE's. You'd have to ream or drill for insterts but they are a hell of a deal right now. Didn't price the drag link, but the 1.5" aluminum tie rod is like $236 on sale through sunday.
 

SBSYNCRO

Well-known member
I've spent the last week researching this same topic and making phone calls to the various providers gathering facts and opinions. My problem is a bit different, but my end goals are essentially the same as the OP - improved reliability and reduced maintenance. I have 22,000 miles on my JKUR and I'm running 35" KO2s under a Rock Krawler 2.5" lift with the RK lower control arms in front and the RK track bar. One thing I've realized after driving it for 10,000 miles and about 6 months is that any parts that use jam nuts (like RK does) REALLY SUCK for a daily driver/overlanding rig. The problem is that most of them cannot be tightened/torqued without completely removing from the vehicle using a variety of specialty tools, two people, and a VERY stout bench vice. This means it is essentially impossible to perform field repairs. After my last Baja trip I developed steering problems (rattle, bump steer, mild wandering). It took me a while, but I determined the cause was a loose jam nut on the track bar. Apparently even though it was installed with red Loctite and torqued to 300 ft lbs, it came loose after extended driving over rough roads. Apparently this is not uncommon.

So, the TL;DR is don't use anything with jam nuts that requires removal from vehicle for adjustment.

This eliminates many of the options for adjustable track bars and leaves the Yeti XD, Synergy, Teraflex, Rubicon Express, Rugged Ridge and Rough Country according to my research.

For this reason (and others I can specify) I am planning to replace my RK track bar with a unit from Synergy (I like the design better than the Yet XD) along with Synergy's steering sector shaft/track bar brace, drag link, and tie rod. My reason: the #1 thing I'm solving for is reliability and ease of maintenance, including field maintenance on extended trips. I think the MC, JKS, and RK stuff would be great for someone that trailers their Jeep to MOAB for a weekend, but not for a daily driver that also does duty for extended overland trips like mine.

The Synergy units use an end clamp that can be adjusted on vehicle using normal tools and normal human strength but are far more streamlined than the Yeti XD double clamp arrangement. The Synergy tie rods and drag link use the same ends (each side is different) and are inexpensive compared to Yeti ($45 vs $170 each). You can carry two spares and be able to fix any problem with either end of the tie rod or drag link.

The sector shaft/track bar brace addresses a known weakness of the JK frame (shallow welds) where the steering box and track bar are mounted, and AFAIK is not available (and not compatible) with the Yeti/steersmarts components. I have also read (and been told) that the Synergy tie rod, because it is made of chromoly tubing instead of solid bar stock (like the Yeti/SS) tends to "spring back" after deflection from an obstacle as opposed to bending.
 

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