Art Amador

I have a Fox 2.0 ss and it pulls to the left. People say it will stop pulling once it breaks in but I’ve had mine a few years and it still pushes. I’ve disconnect it, compressed it and watched it as it slowly pushed out. Any suggestions on a good looking high quality stabilizer that won’t push?

Sv_dude

Yea, get rid of the steering stabilizer. If your suspension is in good shape then you don’t need a stabilizer. I ran without one for probably 6 months before I installed my hydro assist, I couldn’t see a reason why I’d ever run one again.

resharp001

So if you remove the SS altogether you have no pulling issue right? This is definitely an area that you don't need to go big and fancey. The factory units are actually perfect cept that when they crap out nobody is going to pay that OEM price. I've used the Teraflex 9500 VSS before and it was cheap and did the job cept that I recall the bushing sleeves in that being a bit smaller than the bolts I used. I'm not saying going out and buy that and it's going to solve your issues, but I have used it before. I also ran a long time without a SS like sv_dude. It's definitely not a critical component. I think I'd totally remove it and do a little driving without one just to verify everything else is perfect and the jeep drives straight as an arrow.

Art Amador

I took a drive after removing that ss and it did drive straight as an arrow! And I must mention the steering wasn’t as hard to turn which was nice. Thanks to you guys I will be running without one for now until I recycle enough cans to get a hydro assist ram! I do have a pre ported Red Head steering box in there right now. Can I just get the hoses and ram to get by or is it recommended to get the version with an oil reservoir?

Sv_dude

It’s best to have a reservoir and a cooler. If you get a psc reservoir then it will have a filter in it which is good insurance. Both the reservoir and cooler will help greatly to keep the oil cool. Keep in mind that you’ll likely need a new high volume pump too…. Aaaand with a high volume pump, the pressure line that goes from the pump to the gear box should be replaced with a new line that doesn’t have a Teflon liner in it. I learned the hard way and due to the higher flow of fluid, the Teflon liner slipped and jammed up my gear box.

resharp001

I have a Red Neck Ram from West Texas Offroad and still run the factory PS pump. I also have no cooler for it. I've run this for several years now and I've never had an issue in terms of overheating PS fluid myself. I'd love to have a more quality setup but this fit the bill back when I did it and it's continued to be fine for my purposes. If I ever had an issue with it I would then likely add the PSC resi, pump and a cooler. I have a friend that has run the same system on a supercharged JK on D60s with 40's and still used the factory pump (no cooler either). He blew the pump 1 time doing stupid stuff (fast donuts in constant direction). He replaced with another factory pump cuz the original really hadn't been a problem for him and it would have continued to be fine without doing dumb stuff like that. Anyhow, just my experience. Yours may vary as sv_dude's did.

Art Amador

So does having hydraulic assist change the driving feel on the freeway at high speeds (75-80mph). Just wondering because after a day of wheeling we drive it home. And I ask because when I got a front double cardan drive shaft it caused a hum and vibration at those speeds which $600 later I found out it was normal. I’ve decided to take it out, buy a stock and rebuild with the teraflex rzeppa high angle factory replacement cv joint kit. It’s for lifts of up to 6”.

Sv_dude

Yes, you will lose some of the feedback you’ll typically feel in the steering wheel. The steering will feel a bit more responsive since the effort put into the steering wheel will be minimal. You’ll get used to it and will become the new normal.

And the drive shaft noise/vibration is not normal and was likely caused due to front end alignment. Your caster will determine where your yoke is aimed, if the angle of the yoke is too low then your u-joint won’t like it and will cause the noise/vibration. I’ve forgotten some of the details on this so @resharp001 can clarify some of these details.

resharp001

So first off, it's been quite a while since I've driven jeep without hydro assist so my memory may be foggy. I think it's interesting how we all describe things. I think how I'd describe it is almost opposite, as though the steering is a little less responsive, but what I mean by that is reaction time more than ease of turning the steering wheel. I recall when I added hydro assist my initial reaction was "dang, jeep feels way more solid on the pavement" (I had done the upgrade primarily for offroad situations as I was tired of my tires getting locked in a position I didn't want in some technical obstacles. If you've tried turning a steering wheel while stopped with a front locker on you know how there can be some u-joint binding and resistance. With hydro you can sit there and turn that wheel back and forth with no resistance even if locked up front. That is the best way I can think of to describe it. On the pavement it is a massive SS, though that is not always the best thing cuz it can cover some small things up. I'd prefer to know when I have a component that is providing negative feedback to me rather than cover it up. If you read back through old hydro posts you see a lot of guys talking how it eliminated sidewinds and such on the highway and I think that is a load of crap. You get a stiff wind and you're still gonna feel it and need to react with your steering IMO.

In regard to the driveshafts I'd imagine your caster and pinion angle are coming into play. The Tom Woods website has great information on it and I'd agree with what TheDirtman will tell most people in this situation, you would have probably been better off with a normal two u-joint DS rather than with a DC. Here are the two basic pics that explain a lot regarding TC and pinion angle relationships (link to site to visit and read) -

https://4xshaft.com/blogs/general-te...veshaft-angles





What I think we could all agree on is that no normal JK is going to fall into the DC category here with the pinion pointing right to the TC cuz you'd have negative caster at that point, BUT just about all aftermarket driveshafts you see advertised for these things are DC . It really doesn't make sense to me. Admittedly, I have a DC driveshaft myself. I've never had any issues with it with my old Rubi axle, and my current PR44 front with 10 degree caster allows me more room to play with caster/pinion and I've had no issues.

Art Amador

Good info guys. resharp001 I have a PR 44 as well with extra caster. In my instructions it say to run my pinion angle between 2-4 degrees. I’m at 6 degrees and which is over the recommended but in order to line up my piñon the the drive line as Tom woods website describes it would put my pinion angle way in excess of what the axle is built for. That’s why I don’t understand how people get by with DC drive shafts. I must be missing something really important to understanding this. Help.