As most of you know, I've been very stubborn about leaving the manual steering in my TJ. I ordered the '97 Wrangler with manual steering intentionally when it was purchased new, but then again, I never planned on 33's and lockers. Now, with another trip to Moab coming up in a few months, I thought I'd give my arms a break, and save a few bucks on new steering gearboxes to boot.

So far, I've rounded up the parts I'll need for the actual power steering swap and replaced our bent tie rod and worn-out steering stabilizer with a new Rancho RS5000. We'll be using an AGR pump and gearbox, an OEM Jeep TJ reservoir and pump pulley, dropped pitman-arm from Rancho, and used hoses from Olympic 4x4. Since I tend to abuse my Jeep (hey, Moab's tough, what can I say?), I selected not to install a used PS pump and gearbox, but chose the stronger and more reliable AGR setup instead.

The Tie Rod

We'll be testing two leading-edge tie rods on Stubby; Old School vs. New Technology. You'll have to decide which is best for your application. Personally, I think it would depend on the type of driving you plan to do. I see the heavy-duty tie-rod being put to its best use in mud, and the flexible rod in places like Moab. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rusty's Off-Road makes a very heavy-duty replacement rod that is not likely to bend. A true Jeeper himself, Rusty has followed a common Jeep Law: When something breaks make it better, make it stronger. Rusty has put his usual expertise to work in designing this tie rod, and it shows.

Challenger Performance, on the other hand, takes a high-tech approach by offering an all-aluminum rod that is designed to flex under pressure (up to six inches!), then bounce back to its original shape like nothing happened. Hey DaimlerChrysler, are you paying attention?

	This is the old, bent rod. In the enlargement, the bar marked in RED is supposed to follow the GREEN path. This is the Tie Rod, which ties the two front wheels together so that when one is turned, the other follows. When it becomes bent, it pulls the front of the two tires together, throwing the alignment off. (enlargement w/o lines)
	We planned to remove the rod only, but it was bent too badly. Instead, we had to remove both tie-rod ends and do it the "hard" way.
	Forget the fork! The best (and easiest) way to remove a tie-rod end is to tap the side of the housing hard with a hammer repeatedly until the end just drops out.
	Here's the Jeep with the tie-rod entirely removed, and the new Rancho RS5000 in place.
	Shown here are Rusty's HD tie-rod on the left, and the Challenger Performance flexible rod on the right. Note the difference in length: Rusty's kit includes two new, shorter tie rod ends, requiring the bar to be longer than stock. The CP rod is the same length as the OEM bar.
	The new stabilizer and tie-rod have now been installed. Total install time for two guys with common garage tools was < 30 minutes with the help of a lift (and no complications). Tighten the tie-rod end nuts hand tight, and be sure to line up the hole (in the bolt) lined up with the slots (on the nut) to get the cotter pins back in.
	Make sure the tie-rod is installed correctly, or your Jeep may do this on the trail!

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Sources:
Challenger Performance	macromotive.com	Rusty's Off-Road

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