After more searching, I came across a kit manufactured in Utah by Rocky Road Outfitters. You can find all of their products on the web at http://www.rocky-road.com/index2.htmland you will find this steering kit at http://www.rocky-road.com/yjott.html The kit, known as The Rocky Road OTT Steering Kit is all inclusive, and uses TRE’s which was a must for me. Other parts included in the kit are special brackets that mount to the knuckle, tie rod, drag link and mounting hardware.
On their website, you’ll find the following statement:
The strength and performance of this system will blow all other kits out of the water. The arms are carved from solid machine stock steel with horizontal grain. This makes them incredibly strong and they come with a lifetime warranty. We also include a Grade8 or better bolt mounting to eliminate sheer possibility. Our new steering system incorporates caliper mounting so that the arm is held solidly on two planes and is incredibly strong. Each knuckle hosts a 5 point mounting system for super strength and safety. All tubing is .25" DOM. Kit and comes powdercoated black for an excellent look and durable finish.
I can tell you first hand that these parts are plenty beefy. We took this Jeep to Moab and ran it through some pretty tough obstacles, including the famous Upper Helldorado trail, and it performed flawlessly. Not only that, it was driven to Moab and back from Washington State. The instructions are very clear, and the kit installs with normal hand tools in only a couple of hours.
I started this project by replacing the springs with springs designed for SOA applications from Full Traction. These springs are sweet by the way!
Once I had the springs and steering installed, I discovered that this Jeep had a drop pitman arm, so I pulled a factory one off the shelf and the drag link angle was much better. The other issue was that the Jeep had a shackle reversal kit on it which made the drag link bind with the tie rod. This was remedied by sliding the axle back one inch. Everything now worked well, and the tie rod is above the leaf packs. This is very desirable when you play in big rocks as I do.
I had to make some minor adjustments after the install, but this was an issue with this particular Jeep and not and issue with the kit.
This Jeep does not run a track bar, and the steering is still tight and responsive. This Jeep was a chore to drive in the past as you could never relax. Now it tracks straight down the road and handles excellent both on and off the trail.
If you are looking for a way to correct the steering on your SOA YJ, this may be the answer you have been looking for.
http://www.rocky-road.com/