Tie Rod Hits Diff

jaysyro

jaysyro

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2021
Messages
33
Location
New York
Hi All,

I am stuck with this one.

I had a heavy duty rugged ridge drag link and tie rod installed. Now, because the tie rod is significantly thicker than stock, at full turn (to the left only) it hits the diff cover. I’ve adjusted the steering stops, but it’s taken a massive amount of steering away that I want back.

Any suggestions?? Flipping the tie rod to the top of the knuckle was an idea but if I did that, it would hit the track bar bracket. The diff cover is also less bulky than stock already.

Any suggestions? Is there a way to mod the knuckle to push the tie rod forward?

It’s a 92 YJ w a 4 inch lift
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I don’t see how that diff cover in the pic is possibly lower profile than stock…..if that really is the case then you need to take the steering back to stock. Otherwise seems like you need to go back to a stock diff cover. No diff cover is worth the hassle involved of changing everything else to work with it. Based on the pic the diff cover is the problem.

Can’t mod the knuckles to move the tie rod mounts forward because that would wildly disturb your Ackermann angle and make for terrible steering/handling. You can use offset tie rod ends but they usually require a bigger rim. But with your spacers the rims might not be a problem.
 
machoheadgames said:
I don’t see how that diff cover in the pic is possibly lower profile than stock…..if that really is the case then you need to take the steering back to stock. Otherwise seems like you need to go back to a stock diff cover. No diff cover is worth the hassle involved of changing everything else to work with it. Based on the pic the diff cover is the problem.

Can’t mod the knuckles to move the tie rod mounts forward because that would wildly disturb your Ackermann angle and make for terrible steering/handling. You can use offset tie rod ends but they usually require a bigger rim. But with your spacers the rims might not be a problem.
Click to expand...
The issue is that this problem first started happening with the stock diff cover. The thicker tie rod was hitting against the stock cover, which is why I bought a new cover, which was advertised as a lower profile when compared to the stock…
 
I just saw this offset rod end …

Any thoughts on if I installed this on just one side of the tie rod? Would that pose any issue?
 
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