Technical > Installation Guides > Jeep Quickies
Stiffer Steering
Currie Enterprises Steering Box Brace
story & photos by Trent Riddle
Bigger Tires and power steering can put enough strain on your Jeep’s steering box that the mount can fail over time. This is especially true for the Jeep CJs, but is a concern for the YJ and TJ lines too. Jeep just never designed their frames to handle the stress of 35-inch plus tires and ram assist steering. To help eliminate the potential problem of failed steering box mounts, Currie Enterprises has developed a steering box brace. Seen here is the steering box brace for 1976-1986 Jeep CJs.
All of Currie’s steering box braces give your Jeep’s steering box the added support and rigidity needed for severe off-road activity. This brace is made using a sturdy 7/8-inch strut brace and heavy duty clamp bolts to distribute the stress across both frame rails and eliminate the frame twisting found in stock setups. The brace is finished in black powder coat, and the original-design clamp is gold-zinc plated.
Installation is simple and the only modification we needed to make was to trim one corner slightly to clear a weld on the passenger side mounting location. This was a minor problem solved in under a minute with a hacksaw and vice. The entire install took less than an hour from start to finish. Note that Currie offers steering box braces for Jeep CJs from 1976-86, Wrangler YJ’s from 1987-95 and Wrangler TJs from 1997 to 2004.
Source: Currie Enterprises, Inc. • 1480 North Tustin Ave. • Anaheim, CA 92807 • www.currieenterprises.com
Ask about buying the Currie Enterprises Steering Box Brace from www.4wheelparts.com.
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1. This simple brace is quite effective at spreading the load of power steering and larger tires between both frame rails. The design is proven to all but eliminate the frame twisting that can lead to the failure of the mount and/or the frame on the driver’s side. |
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2. Here you can see the stock setup without a brace between the box shaft and opposite side frame. |
3. The first step is to start the two bolts on the passenger side frame rail. You will find two tapped holes here, the rearward one is open and the forward one is the back bolt for the front spring hanger. Take care, the bracket is joggled to allow for the offset due to the spring hanger. Also there is a seam weld that the brace must fit behind. If you can’t get the brace to fit in this area, trimming the corner slightly should help. Don’t take anymore material off than needed to get the brace to fit. |
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4. The clamp is placed around the sector shaft snout on the steering box. This clamp must be placed as high as possible and clamped tightly in place. |
5. Here you can see that the clamp bracket is high on the sector shaft portion of the steering box. If you get it too low, you can prevent the pitman arm from turning freely. Be sure to tighten the two bolts on the opposite side frame rail at this time. Then you’re done, and ready for the trail. |
