Tie Rod Flip with spring-over lift?

[jonboy1919]

I have searched through these forums looking to decrease my steering radius. It appears my dropped pitman arm is the culprit. It seems that the "Tie Rod Flip" conversion is the answer most all are saying.

After eyeballing my front-end steer components, it seems that because my jeep has a 4-inch spring-over lift (instead of a shackle lift) that my springs would conflict with the tie rod if it were to be flipped.

Is this true? If so, is there any other method to decrease my steering radius?

I've seen a photo of Old Dog's tie rod flip, very nice indeed, but he has a lift via shackles and his springs are under the axle.

Here are a few photos of my rig. Any suggestions?

 

[BusaDave9]

Yes you would have interference with the spring.

You could go with a high steer setup.

Here's a Dana 30 high steer knuckle:
https://catalog.foothilloffroad.com/product_info.php?products_id=285&osCsid=nrlzpdwpknp

 

[Incommando]

Yes you would have interference with the spring.

You could go with a high steer setup.

The pic above is generally referred to as cross-over steering not "high steer."

The main difference between high steer and crossover is the placement of the tie rod. Crossover configurations place the connection from the steering box to the knuckle (drag link) at an angle from the front axle housing but leaves the connection from knuckle to knuckle (tie rod) alone. This improves stability, but the tie rod in the stock low location can become caught on off-road obstacles such as rocks. High steer configurations place both connections above the leaf spring and parallel to the axle housing. This keeps the it all tucked up and away from obstacles. The negative is that it can contact the leaf spring if your springs deform upwards very much. Draw a horizontal line from knuckle to knuckle above the leaf spring and see how tight that clearance becomes. In the crossover steering pictured above the chance for leaf spring contact to the tie rod is actually lessened as the tie rod drops as the axle drops and the space between the spring and tie rod is greater. A positive to cross-over steering versus high steer is that you only have to modify the pass. side knuckle for cross over where high steer requires that both sides be changed.
what is the difference between high steer and crossover steering - CK5 Blazer Forums

Never had personal experience doing this with the smallish Dana 30 but for a front Dana 44 or D60 the tool to ream the top of the knuckle for the drag link is expensive. If you cannot locate one to borrow from a local buddy the easier solution (at least for the bigger axles) is to drill the mounting hole out and use a drop-in insert from Off-Road Fabrication Parts - RuffStuff Specialties to move things to the top.