Have you ever been wheeling, in a really tough spot and your spotter says, “Cut your wheels hard to the right” only to reply “I CAN’T”? When you run aggressive tires, and wedge them against rocks, in deep ruts, or various other tough spots, your stock steering system just isn’t designed to have enough force to move them. Having been in the situation of telling a spotter “I can’t turn anymore” and not being able to take the right line, I knew I needed to do something about my steering. The 15 year old steering components under the hood just weren’t designed for 35+in tires and full width axles. I knew I had to do something to improve my steering; so I made a call to West Texas Offroad. The guys (and girls) at West Texas knew what I needed right away, the solution to my problem was a Hydro-Assist setup, namely their Redneck Ram Hydraulic Steering Assist Setup. This setup adds a Hydraulic Ram to your steering setup, adding close to 2000psi of steering force to your system.

As we build our Jeeps that way we want them we develop opinions about the various products that are on the market. We learn that there are a wide variety of ways to achieve the same goal, research these products, and make purchases based on what best fits our individual needs.

During the buildup of my '04 Unlimited that has been documented here on JeepsUnlimited.com, I installed an on-board air system from Kilby Enterprises. In that article that first appeared here in the winter of 2004, I wrote:

"There have been many debates over what type of OBA system is best, and there is really only one answer, and that is whatever suits your needs. There are several types of electric compressors on the market, as well as C02 setups, but my personal preference is a York OBA setup. It's pretty much zero maintenance, and you always have air available without the need to fill a C02 tank or use a slow electric motor driven pump".

I developed an opinion that I didn't want the hassle of a co2 tank without ever having owned or used one. Looking back I can see that I really didn't look at the benefits of one, which do indeed outweigh a trip to the welding store for a quick refill. Last year I was at Moab and Johnson Valley where I saw Power Tanks in action running impact guns and decided that I wanted one.

The Dana 300 Transfer Case. A common, yet small, stout, and easilly modifiable 4 wheel drive transfer case. Early on in my build up of my YJ, I decided to find and rebuild a Dana 300. I talked many people about this, one being John at JB. (My D300 JB internals article can be found here.) Another was Robert at Down East Offroad. After speaking with him, I decided going with the kit Down East offers would be the simplest solution for my setup, and the best way to 'do things right the first time'.

In this article, I will briefly touch on the installation of the kit, and give my thoughts and opinions on the products, and how they all work together with my Jeep and drivetrain to form a complete kit. This article is not meant to be used soley for installation instructions. A complete set of instructions for this kit can be found here: DEOFlipKitInstructions.

My application will be as follows: 1993 Jeep Wrangler YJ, 4.0 HO, 80's Jeep CJ Dana 300, 23 spline AW4 from a '91 XJ, Early Ford Bronco Dana 44 LP front, Early Ford Bronco 9" rear.

The thought and reasoning behind flipping a transfer case is simply to take a transfer case that has the front wheel drive output normally on the passenger side, and flip it 180 degrees so that the front output is now on the drivers side. What drives this can be several things, like engine size/type, exhaust, etc. The main thing that drives this however is the front axle. Many axles have a passenger side drop diff, while other axles have a drivers side drop.