When to upgrade steering and axles?

[Grady]

Just to confirm, when you are going larger on wheel size, at what point should you upgrade your axles and steering?

 

[smritte]

It all depends on what size and what your doing. I always run chrome moly axles whether or not I need them. The TJ came with the worse steering I have seen on a modern 4wd. Upgraded steering was a must right off the bat. The next gen was better with the steering handling 35's without issue and 37's if you don't beat the vehicle to bad.
I always use these numbers for my upgrades. The exception was weak TJ steering including the Rubicon.
Dana 30's are good to 33's with 35's being the limit. Dana 44 is good for 35's with 37's being the limit. If your running the upper end of what the axle can handle, you need to periodically check the axles and outer joints for stress.

 

[Grady]

So when you add these axles, are you seeing improved steering?

 

[smritte]

It depends on what you consider improved. You used the word axle and mentioned steering. I'll cover the benefit of axles and steering then.

The worst one was my 04 TJ Rubicon so, I'll tell you about that.

I bought it at two years old and 16k miles, stock with a small lift. First trip out with the stock 31 inch tires was fine. Second trip with 33 inch tires bent my steering. When I took it apart I saw Jeep used small thin tubing. Doing some research I found it was common to bend it with moderate off road and a slightly larger tire. I bought Curry tie rods. The Curry tie rods were much bigger and thicker tubing. The tie rod ends were stronger than stock. This was a bit over kill for the build but I would never worry again.
Did the steering feel better and was more responsive, no. I just wouldn't damage it any more.

Drive axle upgrades are pretty much the same, stronger. The front normally will benefit more but the rear is just as important. Again with my TJ. The Rubicon front axle was a joke. Jeep went as cheap and low end as they could. They built one of the worse front ends I have ever seen in a solid axle. I talked about the inferior steering but that was only part. The drive axles were way smaller than they should be. Easy to moderate driving with a 33 inch tire is fine, 35's are really pushing it and if you go into the rocks, odds are your breaking something.

Chrome moly axles give you the same piece of mind the upgrade steering does. If you have a new Tacoma, the steering and axles are good to a 35 inch tire, same with the FJ. Any full size truck is fine also. Jeep wise The body after the TJ has better, stronger parts and is fine to a 35" tire with 37's being good if your not rough.

I upgrade my parts because I have broken more vehicles then someone would believe. I started in this sport long before you could get axle upgrades without buyng and moding big truck axles into your rig. I had to make my own steering systems also. I have also attended decades of four wheel drive events and watched other people break/bend things with diffrent combination's of tires and driving. My "chart" of when I recommend upgrades is based on all that.

Everything I mentioned here, does not cover beating the vehicle. Depending on the vehicle, by improving something you just moved the weak spot somewhere else. When I upgraded my Rubicon steering and axles, my knuckles and ball joints were now the weaker links. Because The whole axle assembly was a poor design, it wasn't benefital to upgrade the rest of the pieces when I went to 39's. I now upgraded the axle because I was going to drive it very hard.

As you can see, the original question regarding when you upgrade depends on quite a few factors. Today I have a 19 Tacoma and a 96 Cruiser. The Cruiser is driven on what I consider moderate trails. Right off it got a steering upgrade and chrome moly axles. The axles weren't because of my driving (well maybe) but because they were 25 years old and upgrading the axles was the same price as factory stock replacements. The steering was because I bent it due to not paying attention. The new steering wont bend. My knuckles are strong so, I'm not worried there.

Tacoma got suspension up grades because I didn't like the stock strength. It wasn't really necessary but I did it anyway. The stock axles and steering are good to a 35 which I will never run.

 

[Dirt Dude]

Don't forget to get a very good alignment after you swap everything out, otherwise in 10 months you will have some horrible wear on your tires.