Cross over steering on a Dana 44 by: Rodney Anglin In an effort to make my jeep drive well and get rid of bump steer I decided to install cross over steering on my Dana 44. To do this you must have flat top knuckles. Flat top knuckles came on 73-76 Chevy ½ tons and 74-78 Jeep Wagoneer and Cherokees and J-trucks. only wanted my drag link to attach to the steering arm so I really only needed the passenger side drilled and tapped for the steering arm studs but I went ahead and milled, drilled and tapped both sides if I ever decide I want high steering instead of cross over steering. The difference in cross over steering and high steering is cross over steering only moves the drag link up to the high steering arm on the passenger side and leaves the tie rod in the stock location. High steering moves both the tie rod and drag link to the top of the knuckles so you need to do both sides. My reason for doing cross over is that my front axle is moved forward 3 inches and my steering box is in the stock location.If I moved my tie rod and drag link up they would cross over each other and bind when my suspension moved. The axle I am using is a 1974 Jeep Wagoneer Dana 44 front axle. It has both flat top knuckles but neither are drilled and tapped. I searched for information and found everything I needed to mill, drill and tap my knuckles. I have noticed that some steering arm manufacturers arms are flat and some have a 10-degree cut built in where the steering attaches. I didn’t know the reason for this but I found out. The Chevy flat top knuckles have a steering arm from the factory on the drivers side so it is ready, you just have to do the passenger side to match. The Chevy knuckles are milled 80 degrees to the spindle mounting surface instead of being 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the spindle surface so the arms will need to be milled 10 degrees at the end where the steering attaches to compensate for this. Arms that are machined like this are usually more expensive than just a flat arm. Since I had to mill both knuckles I chose to mill the 10 degrees out of them. I had a 90-degree fixture that I mounted to the bed of the mill. I removed my knuckles and the ball joints and the studs that hold the spindle on. I positioned the knuckle on the fixture and drilled holes in the fixture where the spindle holes are and mounted the knuckle to the fixture. I then milled the knuckle 90 degrees to the spindle-mounting surface. This removes a lot of material off of one side of the knuckle but there is plenty of material left. I found a diagram on the net of the holes and where they are located for the studs (figure 1) and drilled and tapped the holes using a 9/16-18 tap. Now I need steering arms. The arms on the left have 10 degrees machined into the end the steering mounts to. The ones on the right are Shakerbuilt, which are flat. Figure 1 I search every steering arm manufacturer I could find and decided to go with the Shakerbuilt.com arms. These arms are flat and really a good deal compared to other arms out there. His service and price is excellent. He tapered the tie rod hole to fit the GM tie rod I am using. I got the 1” longer studs, 1” spacer, tapered cones and nuts from him all of that for a really good price. The fit of the arm and hole for the tie rod was perfect. I put locktite on the studs and tightened them. I installed the spacer and arm and bolted down the cones and nuts. Now I had to make a drag link. I used a stock wagoneer pitman arm, which has the same taper as the tie rod ends I am using.I am only making a drag link and I am going to use the stock tie rod for now. I chose to use tie rod ends instead of spherical rod ends. I drive this jeep on a daily basis, which is why I used tie rod ends. For the driver’s side I am using a tie rod ES2234R (I believe this is off of a mid 80s Chevy ¾ ton 4x4). On the passenger’s side I am using a ES2010L (I believe this is from a 91 dodge ¾ ton 4x4). Both of these tie rods have a 7/8-18 threaded shaft. If I were to buy the left and right handed taps for these it would have cost close to $200 so this is what I did. I ordered a 1985 Chevy Blazer tie rod. It has the correct threaded ends. I had to cut it down to fit. Make sure you cut the end that has the right-handed threads off and get a 7/8-18RH tap. This tap cost me $50 and I was quoted $150 for the left-handed tap. So make sure you don’t cut the left hand threaded side. The complete tie rod from a GM dealer cost me around $60. The ES2234R came with a jam nut but the ES2010L didn’t. So I ordered a 7/8-18 LH jam nut from the GM dealer (@$7.00).This completed my cross over steering assembly. Conclusion, my jeep drives great now. When I hit bumps it just keeps tracking straight. It feels like a completely different jeep now. Special thanks to Tim at Shakerbuilt.com and Ted at Peakempire.com and Dave Koons for helping me get this project completed.