Parts and accessories for SWB Jeeps are abundant. Plentiful. Maybe even a little redundant. But, let’s face it. There is so much support from the aftermarket for these Jeeps, it is no wonder why they are so popular. There is little to do with the fact that the Jeep in itself is a highly capable offroad vehicle straight off the dealer lot. If you are an owner of a SWB Jeep, congratulations. You will find a huge list of parts for your rig.

Even the XJ Cherokee benefits from having very respectable aftermarket support. Of course, having been around since 1984 helps. But what about the ZJ? If you are the owner of one of these rigs, what are you to do? There hasn’t been much press on the ZJ. In all honesty, who in their right mind would want to take an “expensive” “luxury” SUV offroad? Well, let’s consider that there are a lot of owners who paid them off, they are high mileage 4wd vehicles. And most importantly… they are JEEPs.

Over the past few years, the aftermarket has come forward with some very respectable parts and accessories for the ZJ. But not nearly as much as for the TJ. There are some things to consider. The TJ, XJ and ZJ share nearly identical front suspensions. They all use a Dana 30 (D44 on Rubi Ed TJs) 5 link coil spring suspension in the front. With some minor differences, they are the same. I used a ’89 XJ D30 in my ZJ for a while. Swaps for High Pinion D30’s are common as well. So. On to the meat of my issue here today.

Steering. If you have read anything about the buildup of my ZJ, you may have noted that I started from the bottom and went up. Literally. Basically, the lift on my ZJ is about 5.5”…. or was at some point. There is a bit of sag in the coils now after lots of offroad time. But I have pieced the lift together, and up to this point, I have honestly invested around $500 in the suspension system. That is coils, control arms and (front) track bar. I have found a few things about this lift. While not a reseached and developed professional lift, it works great. It is pretty stable and predictable. I have no worries at driving interstate speeds.

There have been some things that I wanted to improve, though. I wanted to fix my steering problems. The ZJ wanders around… and this is upset more by deviations in the slope of the road and such. If I crank the steering wheel back and forth, the front of the Zj actually tried to lift and dive. This is due to the angle of the draglink on the steering. While not perfect, it does ok. If you are a geometry major, then you may also be quick to note that this affects the steering ratio. Things don’t happen quite so fast anymore. I wanted all the ZJ’s bad habits fixed. So. Options?

Dropped pitman arm? VERY expensive for the average market price… and a bit hard to find. Plus, it compounds differences in angles with the track bar.

Steering conversions? Well. Here is a thought. The WJ (99-04 Grand) has (essentially) an OEM High Steer system. The drag link attaches to the top of the right side knuckle. The swap is possible, but it requires a spacer, some minor welding and a bit of parts mixing. The biggest possible benefit is in running WJ brakes up front, which are FAR better than the ZJ’s brakes. The rotors have to be redrilled for the 5-4.5” pattern, though. May have to use 16” wheels to clear the calipers.

Teraflex sells a High Steering Kit. Hmmmm. Nearly bolt-on. Does require some mods… but nothing major. After a little research, I settled on the Tera kit.

I ordered the kit pictured above, HSKT, which is for the Jeep TJ. That’s right folks. No published application for the ZJ. But…. Having the same basic front suspension adds to the flexibility of manufactured parts. When the kit arrived, I inspected it. To my surprise, the draglink and tie rod were made of a heavy grade aluminum alloy. Nice. I was expecting steel. The knuckle was present and looked great. I settled down to get the mods done.

After reading over the instructions, I felt confident in proceeding. You should closely inspect the ball joints now. If they are worn, replacing them now while it is all torn down is soooo much better. Mine were good. It really took me about 20 minutes to remove both wheels, the right caliper, tie rod and draglink, steering damper, swaybar and the right wheel bearing/hub assemble with the axle shaft attached. If you have a DISCONNECT type axle, you may also need to remove the cover for the disco for. All parts were removed... no particular order.

Everything flew apart (some cases - litterally) in no time until I got to the ball joints. The pins were swollen up. The holes were full of dirt and rusty looking stuff. I broke em off as close to the shaft as possible and then spun the nuts off. I then had to go back with a small drill bit and drill them down a little. I used a nail for a drift and hammered them out the rest of the way. In the ARMY, we called it a "Field Expedient". ;-) One that was all done, I was ready to remove the knuckle. It wouldn't budge. First, the 20oz hammer was put to it, with no result. The 20lb sledge (BFH) was used with excellent results... on the 4th long swing.

With the whole right side torn down, I look another hard look at the ball joint. Everything looked good, so I reused them. I had a hard time getting the ball joints to "bite" down so I could get the nuts on. I ended up putting my teensie floor jack on the knuckle and putting some pressure on it... then zapping it with the impact. With a little persuasion, it went on great! With swift speed, the bearing assy and shaft were reinstalled. I hung the draglink up from the pitman arm.... and yep... the right side swaybar mount was gonna be in the way. Now way around it. A quick "adjustment" with the Ox/Ac torch, and it went away. I fit the tie rod and draglink, spinning the tie rod to an "eyeball" adjustment. I then spun the steering wheel full lock both ways, watching for interferance. This is when I discovered two things.

The draglink was installed with the centered tie rod ends the way that they were sent. With the "new" trackbar installed, there was way too little room between the head of the bolt and the draglink. I closely inspected everything. This issue was obviously due to the use of the Rubicon Express control arms drop brackets. I use these becasue they returned the geometry of the control arms to dang-near stock levels with my lift... so I wasn't considering ditching it.

I finally chose my next test.... I swapped the offset tie rod ends on the tie rod with the centered tie rod ends on the draglink. I figured I'd get close to half an inch. That's about what I got. Perfect. Results pictured above.
I continued with the install. As I went along, I inspected the angles of the draglink and the track bar. They are nearly at the same angle. You can't let the pics, bends of either parts, or the length fool you. The angle is that between the pivot points of each. Results below. Mine are VERY close with my setup. The ZJ already uses what is equivilent in dimension to a dropped pitman arm for a TJ. (all you TJ guys make note)

Now... the second thing I noticed earlier. Teraflex does not include a steering stop bolt.

I had to dig in the shop until I located a bolt and jam nut that would fit. The OEM bolt is a fine thread... and possibly metric. It won't fit.... don't bother. With that all set, I carried on with further work. The very last thing I got to was the brake caliper and rotor. Something wasn't right. I was having a hard time getting the rotor to fit. I got to looking at the bottom side "ear" for the brake pads. At first, I thought it was bent... but the more I looked, the more I noticed that the machined part of the "ear" was not bent. There just seemed to be a little extra buildup of metal below it... and it interfered, causing the rotor to rub on it. I broke out the 4" grinder and shaved off just enough at and just around the area that the rotor runs in to give a confortable clearance. Next.. the caliper. Now IT would not fit.

It just would not go on evenly. The pads kept twisting. Finally, I removed the brake pads and fit the caliper to the bolt holes. No problem. I then took the inner pad and test fit it. On my model, which is the same as what this design is intended for, the pads have a notched end in the plate that slips on to the top side. If you consider rotational force when rolling forward, this is where ALL the braking force is placed.

As I slid the bottom side of the pad on, there was resistance. WAY too much resistance. Out came the grinder again. I took just a teensie bit off the surface facing up... which is what the bottom side of the brake pad plate rides against. I had to grind and test 3 or 4 times. I did it carefully, taking off only the absolute minimum amount needed to allow the pad to slide freely. Trust me... you don't want the pad to stick. If the caliper can not pull the pad back in all the way, then it can cause the brake pad to rub against the rotor. The results can be warped rotors, super accellerated pad wear, uneven pad wear, tons of brake dust, burned up brakes... and the worst being a brake fire. Not good. The pics of this fiasco are below.

With the "engineering" I did, the rotor went on fine and the caliper slid home with no further trouble.

With the tires down, I eyeballed the alignement. Once I had it pretty close, I rolled the ZJ out of the shop and down the street. I do have some up front (pun intended) observations. Here are some issues I had, and reasons why I chose to do the mod. The ZJ wandered all over the friggin road. The angle of the draglink reduced the effectiveness of the steeringbox. It reduces steering travel and how far the tires turn. If I turned the steering wheel back and forth, the angle actually caused the ZJ to lift and drop before the tires turned!! When passing cars, the ZJ would "snatch" over as I went into the left lane. This is mostly due to the crown of the road. The CROWN is the engineered slope of the road that aids in water runoff. Any change in the crown of the road would cause the ZJ to change course. None of this good.

If I disconnect the swaybar, I had to be very careful. The ZJ sometimes would get Death Wobble over uneven surfaces, sudden ruts or "whoop-like" dips in the road. With no steering stabilizer (I broke the mount once), Death Wobble was guaranteed... at any given time. I had to drive home about 120 miles on back roads because of this. I went over a set of railroad tracks at about 15 miles per hour... and I got Death Wobble.. AT 15 MILES PER STINKIN HOUR!!!!!

Bear in mind, I have not fabbed up new swaybar mounts... nor have I installed a steering stabilizer... and the alignment if goofy. I rolled out. I went over the railroad tracks at 30mph... no prob. I turned around and tried 50. No problem. I radioed for my friendly local police... they were not around... so I cleared the area and hit em at 50. Solid as a rock. No shimmy. No shake. I then rode out of town and took a couple of corners. It took me a minute to realize that the swaybar was disco'd. The ZJ tracked straight. No wander. I was feeling pretty good. I returned home noting alot of scrub on the tires. No more driving until the alignment is done. Now, I can dial OUT some of that caster that I had to DIAL IN to combat the Death Wobble. That should give me back some of my steering response, too.

When I sit down and figure out my options for the swaybar and the steering stabilizer... I'll post it.

Ok. Now for driving results... good. Here are a couple of finished pics. On one, look closely, you will see that the OEM assy is hap-hazzardly hung in front to show a graphical relation to the angles. There was no room to compare the other trackbar, but I am sure that most of you can see the differences anyway.

Now. The "legal crap". I am not an employee of any offroad shop, parts distributor or parts manufacturer. I am a simple offroad enthusiast that is enthusiastic about his Jeep. I am happy with this kit. Teraflex warns you up front that this kit is "not all inclusive". That is absolutely correct. Don't go into this thinking it is a "bolt-on". Essentially, it is, but some thought has to go into fixing issues that arrise. Teraflex suggests going back to a flat steering arm to help get matching angles on the trackbar. I don't need to. The only real "mod" I had to do that was not mentioned was "machine" the knuckle a bit due to an inconsistency in the manufacturing process. The kit works well so far. I can only say I am thrilled, now. Once everything is done, maybe the wife will want to drive it again.
...wait a second... the ZJ gets the worst gas mileage of anything in our fleet... so I doubt that.

A couple of more things. Teraflex engineered this kit to work with TJs. It was (to my knowledge) never tested nor intended, for ZJ applications. Any mods you make to YOUR VEHICLE are at your own risk and at your sole discression. If you don't know what you are getting in to, don't come blame me. I have goofed a few times, myself. Be a man (if the shoe fits) and take the blame for your own mistake(s).

Couple of extra pics. Drive your Jeep. You don't wanna crawl under it to find a birds nest built up in the fender.:-)

I got the steering stabilizer and the swaybar connected. For some reason, I had the issue with the steering stabilizer all complicated in my mind, when in actuality, it wasnt. I bought a strip of flat stock from the local Home Depot. 2" wide 1/8" thick steel. I cut a 5" long peice. With the hexagonal shaped tierod, this is so easy. Also, for all you back-yard engineers, I worked out a little something for you. As it turns out, 1.5" EXHAUST CLAMPS fit perfectly around the tierod. Also, they are what I consider beefy enough, and at about $2 each... it's cool with me, and if one ever breaks or has to be replaced... local AutoZone, O'reilys, NAPA, etc has them ... in stock usually.

I also slid under the ZJ to work out the swaybar link. Basically, all I did was cut a peice of the same flat stock out. I trimmed it down a little and hammered it under the remaining peice of the original swaybar mount. I had already drilled out the hole for the link pin. I welded it in and sprayed some flat black paint on it. Ok. The Teraflex links I have are really too long in my opinion. What I really need are shorter discos that have some adjustability in them. I will eventually find some and get it swapped out. My ultimate plan? I think the Universal Currie Anti-Rock swaybar would work great... and while I have not yet measured it up, it may still be a tight fit. Either way, with the swaybar hooked up, the ZJ rolls alot straighter and feels a whole lot more stable. I can feel the difference from the OEM linkage now. I didn't have a good comparison before without the swaybar and stabilizer, but I could still tell diso'd. Now... it is very apparent that something is better under there.

So, I am done with the steering system... until I break something else.;-)

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