High Clearance Dana 30 Front Axle w/ ARB Locker and
DownEast Offroad TJ Hi-Steer Kit

The TJ comes from the factory with a low pinion Dana 30 front axle. This axle is fine for most offroading but I wanted something stronger with more clearance. I also wanted something I could transfer my existing Warn chromoly axle shafts and locking hubs in to. The logical choice was a high pinion Dana 30 (D30) axle from a Jeep XJ (Cherokee). It uses the same axle shafts as the TJ D30 so everything could be transferred. It uses reverse cut ring and pinion gears which, in front axle applications, are stronger than standard ring and pinion gears. I got my front axle from a fellow club member that was upgrading his 1997 XJ to a Dana 44 front axle.

Next, I wanted to install some sort of hi-steer setup. I've never been a big fan of the stock TJ inverted Y steering setup. I wanted a tierod that went knuckle to knuckle like my old CJ-5 had. I also wanted more clearance to keep the steering up out of the rocks. I had previously installed a Dana 300 transfer case in my TJ using the Down East Offroad (DEO) Dana 300 flip kit. The quality of the kit was very good so when I saw they had a hi-steer kit for the TJ, I ordered one.The kit includes new outer steering knuckles, a new tierod and draglink and the spacers and brackets to adapt them to the TJ. The kit is primarily a bolt-on kit, but it does require a small bit of cutting and welding. The kit does not use the standard TJ brake calipers. Instead, it includes brackets to adapt calipers from a 1990 Chevy S-10 4WD. These only cost me $21 each ($11 each plus $10 core charge) for new calipers from a local AutoZone.

Last, while I could have kept the Truetrac limited slip differential when the gears were installed, I chose to have an ARB locking differential installed. 4 Wheelers Supply in Phoenix handled the install duties so there are no install pics of that, but I will soon have a writeup on installing the systems for the ARB.

You can click here to see just the installation of the DEO Hi-Steer kit.

Follow along as I build up the high clearance Dana 30 axle.

(Click on the pic for a full size image)

Click here to see this in a full window instead of in a frame.

Before...		Beginning. This is the HP D30 from a 1997 Jeep Cherokee. The factory steering tierod and draglink have already been removed.		These are the parts of the DEO Hi-Steer kit. What is not shown here is the new draglink and tie-rod.
First, I removed the bolts holding the hub assemblies to the steering knuckle.		Then I removed the axle assemblies with the hubs in place.		Next, I removed the differential. I will be having it regeared to match my rear gears.
The cotter pins and nuts that hold the outer steering knuckles were removed...		... followed by the steering knuckles		Here, the pinion yoke and nut are still in place. I used my impact wrench to remove them.
Pinion yoke and the pinion gear have been removed.		Everything else (bearings, races, and seals) have been removed.		The housing is completely stripped of most of its parts and ready for cleaning.
Next, I removed the ball joints. The axle had over 100,000 miles on it so I figured it was due for new ones.		For the DEO Hi-Steer kit, the factory swaybar brackets are removed. Here, I have cut the weld at the axle housing.		Then I cut The rest of the bracket off in pieces. This allowed better access to cut the welds.
The bracket has been completely removed and the area ground smooth.The new mount will be welded on once the axle is in place in the Jeep to check clearances.		Next step was to remove the old control arm bushings. They were looking tired. To remove them, I first use a hole saw and cut out the rubber part of the bushings.		Then I use a hacksaw to cut a slot in the metal sleeve of the bushing. Once I cut through the metal of the sleeve, it popped right out. I was careful not to cut the bushing mount. I had 4 Wheelers Supply in Phoenix install new bushings when they did the ARB.
The factory steering stabilizer mount needs to be removed for the DEO hi-steer kit. It interferes with the new tierod. Here, I have made the initial cut along the front.		Then, I cut the rear of the bracket and the bracket came off. It ends up looking like this after some grinding to make everything smooth.		I wanted a little more support for my lower control arm mounts. I got these plates from Off Road General Store.
First, I set them in place on the control arm mounts.		Then I welded them to the mounts		Here, I am installing new upper ball joints in the axle using my Harbor Freight press.
Then I installed new lower ball joints. After this, the "new" axle was taken to 4 Wheelers Supply in Phoenix to install an ARB differential. It was then ready to install in the Jeep.		The old Dana 30 has been removed.		I have been running the stock front upper control arms in my Jeep. It was time for a change. I chose the Johnny Jointed arms made by Off Road General Store.
Here, the new upper arms have been installed. ORGS provides new bolts with zerk fittings in the head to grease the Johnny Joint.		The "new" high pinion Dana 30 has been bolted in.		Yummy. High pinion. 4 Wheelers Supply was also able to find this pinion yoke that uses u-bolts instead of straps to hold the driveshaft u-joints in place. Much better.
Time to start installing the Down East Offroad hi-steer components.		Here is the DEO steering knuckle (left) vs the factory knuckle (right)		First, I installed the DEO knuckle.
Then the wheel bearing spacer indexers are slid in to the knuckle.		The wheel bearing spacer was then slid over the indexers. The indexers are used so that the vertical load is not solely placed on the 3 hub bearing retaining bolts.		Next, I installed the brake caliper adapter bracket.
Then the Warn bearing/disk brake assembly is bolted to the new knuckle.		And the hublock is slid on the studs.		Here's what it looks like from the front. The lower steering arm does not get used at all.
The brake caliper has been bolted to the adapter and the brakeline reconnected		Brake caliper viewed from behind. It mounts to the inside surface of the brake caliper adapter.		I decided to upgraded to longer stainless steel brake lines. The ones I got are from Rubicon Express. Since the calipers were being replaced, I did not need to disconnect the caliper end of the brakeline so I simply disconnected the frame end and unbolted it from the frame.
I then connected the new brakeline to the TJ hard brake line and bolted the provided bracket in place.		Then I connected the other end of the line to the new caliper. This fitting was rectangular shaped so, to make it fit the Chevy caliper, I rounded off the corners on my belt sander. After that, I bled the brakes. I have since installed a set of custom brakelines.		Time to move on to the steering. This is the new tierod that DEO provides. The shorter end shown above is actually the stock TJ draglink end. It is removed from the factory draglink...
...and connected to the new tierod. This allows the tierod to be adjustable without disconnecting one of the ends.		Here, I have bolted the new tierod to the drivers side knuckle.		And here it is connected to the passenger side knuckle. You can see where the new draglink connects to the tierod. DEO provides the new draglink.
The new draglink is installed. Yeah, this picture was taken later in the install. I forgot to take one sooner.		Here is my new trackbar. There are several options for trackbars for using with the DEO hi-steer kit. I chose to mount mine above the axle to keep it up high. I could have used a Skyjacker trackbar to do this but I already had a Rubicon Express trackbar so I took it down to Hunter Offroad and had John cut the tubing out of the center of the RE trackbar and retube it to remove the bends and to shorten it. This is what it ended up looking like.		To mount the RE trackbar, they have you drill a 5/8" hole and slip the mounting bolt in to that. I have heard many people complain about this setup coming loose often and, as a result, the hole gets oblongated. This makes it hard to keep it tight and allows movement, so I chose a different route. I drilled the hole to 37/64".
I tapped the hole with al 5/8-18 tap.		I then threaded the bolt in to the trackbar using liberal amounts of locktite and torqued it to RE specs.		Then, I installed the nut and tightened it down. This provides the same affect as tightening two nuts together to lock something in place. This should keep it tight.
As shown before, The stock steering stabilizer mount was cut off.		These brackets are then welded on to hold the steering stabilizer and trackbar. The brackets are 1/4" plate steel.		Here is the trackbar installed.
Next, I clamped the passenger side swaybar arm in place. It is necessary to do this side first because it has more items to clear. It is very important that the steering be cycled during this part of the install to make sure everything clears the swaybar bracket.		First, I checked the tierod clearance.		Then I checked the tire clearance. It was a little close...
...so I put the arm in my vice and gave it a slight bend. Now, the tire clears it just fine.		I have welded the arm in place. I removed the tierod and trackbar to make welding everything easier.		Everything is now remounted for the final time.
All I had to do to place the drivers side swaybar arm was to attach it to the swaybar and clamp it in place. I did make sure that the angle of the swaybar links was the same on both sides, then I welded it to the axle.		All done... almost. I still have to mount a steering stabilizer. It drives fine without it for now, but I want one there.		Here is the "before" shot again for comparison.

So far, I have only driven it on the street. It drives great. There are no dead spots in the steering and it feels the same as it did with the stock setup. I now have plenty of room to clear those Arizona rocks. I'll update this page once I get the steering stabilizer on and get it out in the dirt.

****** Update ******

DEO 1 Ton Steering Linkages

Down East Offroad recently released a 1 ton steering linkage setup for the Hi-Steer kit. They sent me one to install on my Jeep. The new components are much bigger than the original steering linkages.

Here is the new tierod (top) compare to the original DEO tierod (bottom).		This is the new draglink (bottom) compared to the original DOE draglink (top).		The new tierod ends. Big difference.
One problem. The new 1 ton tierod ends don't fit in the knuckles. They are too big. This is only because I got my knuckles before DEO had released the 1 ton setup. If you buy the 1 ton option from DEO, the knuckles come tapered for the bigger ends.		To correct my knuckles, first I drilled the holes to 5/8" which is the thread diameter on the tireod end. (Yes, this is the other side. I forgot to take a picture of the drivers side while drilling it)		Then, I used a tapered reamer and increased the taper in the hole until the tierod end fit properly.
The new tirod end is installed in the knuckle. Gotta get some grease in them. Repeat for the other side.		Next the new draglink was installed. I connected it to the pitman arm first...		...and then to the tierod. All adjustments were then made and all the jam nuts tightened.
Install is finished and very stout. Compare this...		...to the original hi-steer pieces...		...and to the original TJ factory steering

I have quite a number of miles on the new steering system now and am very pleased with it. I have almost no bumpsteer at all and have not had a need to install a steering stbilizer yet. Maybe one of these days I will install one, but it is not a high priority right now as the Jeep drives great without it even at 75 mph.

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