steering rod strengthening

[troopymad]

i have done a bit of a search and cant find the info i need

i have seen some rigs with a bit of angle welded along the length
of there tierod - draglink to strenghten them up

whats has some of the members done and what advice to you have in regards to doing something like this

troop

[MUD CLUB]

I couldnt keep them straight (even snake's rock rods that are aparently tested on a 60tonne press) in the end i used me standard steering arm (front one) ground to fit inside the standard drag link (rear one) then welded angle onto the whole thing. I have competed with this setup for 3 years now without even a slight bend. (touch wood)
It was a bit of stuffing around but it has paid off

[want33s]

I bent my Zook drag link so beefed it up with some 4mm thick pipe.
Sliced it in half lengthways and welded it over the top of the drag link.
Standard it was 19mm thick... It is now 27mm thick and has never come close to bending..

Same practise will work on just about any drag link.

[alien]

my tierod and draglink are solid 25mm 4130 chromo bar drilled and tapped to take standard whatsits... under a zuk =)

[troopymad]

want33s thats the way ill go
i want to try and get my pipe (4mm wall) to slide over the top of my tierod and draglink
whats was the reason you cut the pipe lenght ways before welding it on?
was it to hard to find the right sized pipe?

[troopymad]

and also what does everyone think if i just got my stand d/link & tierod and welded some angle straight along them (arround 4mm think)
it would only need to have 25mm welds 50mm apart????

is there much to gain here , its still only my DD just want more strenght

[Chucky]

I had the angle welded to my steering arm, But I did have one cop who didn't like it.
I asked him what was more safer, my setup or a damaged and weakened steering arm breaking while on the highway coming home from a drive.
He agreed with me, and since there was nothing else wrong and it was obvious I took the cruiser off road he let it go.
I eneded using the machines at work to make a solid bar fitted to take standard tie rod ends. Painted black it looked factory.

[80's_delirious]

find a local engineering shop who can make up one from solid 25mm 4130, it should cost you less than $100, its just a straight bar drilled and tapped both ends to suit your rod ends.

[troopymad]

with the solid rod, how do u lock it off so it dosent turn and go out of alginment? or is this not an issue

[Mr DJ]

with the solid rod, how do u lock it off so it dosent turn and go out of alginment? or is this not an issue

Jamb nuts

[80's_delirious]

with the solid rod, how do u lock it off so it dosent turn and go out of alginment? or is this not an issue

Jamb nuts

Yep. What he said

I also ground 2 small flats on one end so I can put a big shifter on it to adjust it when needed

[want33s]

want33s thats the way ill go
i want to try and get my pipe (4mm wall) to slide over the top of my tierod and draglink
whats was the reason you cut the pipe lenght ways before welding it on?
was it to hard to find the right sized pipe?

I had to cut the pipe and weld it back together as the drag link has a ball joint at one end and a tapered hole at the other.

Pipe was easy to get at Onesteel. I think it was 20Nb.

[troopymad]

thanks for the replies
very helpful
will post up what i do

[fester2au]

find a local engineering shop who can make up one from solid 25mm 4130, it should cost you less than $100, its just a straight bar drilled and tapped both ends to suit your rod ends.

Forgive my slight misinformation if it is so but ignoring the different choices of material I was always led to believe that a thick wall hollow section would actually give more strength that a solid bar. Theory being that the solid bar is a singular structure and still generates a certain amount of flex but the hollow bar presents 2 seperate walls which resist the flex more.

I would love the correct engineering interpretation on this if someone has it.

[troopymad]

find a local engineering shop who can make up one from solid 25mm 4130, it should cost you less than $100, its just a straight bar drilled and tapped both ends to suit your rod ends.

Forgive my slight misinformation if it is so but ignoring the different choices of material I was always led to believe that a thick wall hollow section would actually give more strength that a solid bar. Theory being that the solid bar is a singular structure and still generates a certain amount of flex but the hollow bar presents 2 seperate walls which resist the flex more.

I would love the correct engineering interpretation on this if someone has it.

im no engineer but i was alao lead to belive the same thing

[alien]

lol not this again! hahaha

ok - take a pipe with walls as thick as al-foil... it bends right??? now, thicken the walls to 3mm... its stronger... thicken to 6mm, stronger again right? does this mean that once the hole in the pipe reaches .001mm its at its stongest and as soon as you make it a solid bar it becomes weaker?

[troopymad]

Weight for weight - hollow tube stronger
Size for size (i.e same outer diameters) - solid tube stronger.
and thats out of one of my dads old books

so your 100% right especially in this app (steering arms)

so thats what ill do then - to easy

[Shadow]

solid bar will not dent aswell.