Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I miss judged the height of a rock on Saturday and bent my tie rod. (I was checking stock at the time, so my mind wasn't 100% on where I was driving). I'm not the type to try to repair the tie rod as I see it as a critical safety component, which has now been weakened slightly, and bending it straight will weaken it more. So I want to replace it. So my options are.
1. Replace it with original comonent (already know how tough they are - not very)
2. Replace it with aftermerket component (eg snake racing rock rod)
3. Replace but add armour to protect the tie rod.
My questions are
1. Has anyone had experience with the rock rod? Is it tough enough to handle being hit without bending?
2. Any other options for aftermarket tie rods? What are people experience with them?
3. Has anyone seen armour that protects the tierod on a sierra, either custom made are from aftermarket supplier?
4. Why the hell does Suzuki (and most other LT 4x4 manufacturers for that matter) place the tierod in the most vunerable place??? (this question not important to answer just venting my frustration at poor design)

If you're worried about weakening the tie rod by straightening it you'd have to be worried about weakening it by armouring it too assuming you meant by welding angle or tube over the stock tie rod.

The Snake Rock Rod will only work with a high steer kit. If you have a stock drag link that attaches to the tie rod in the normal way you can't really beef up the tie rod without cutting and welding the stock item.

That's going to leave the weakest parts of the tie rod stock - the adjuster and the drag link ball joint stock.

I've not had too much trouble straightening stock tie rods.

As an aside - if you beef the tie rod too much you have to deal with the next thing up the chain breaking - a broken steering knuckle or ball joint, for example, would be a lot harder to deal with in the bush than a bent tie rod.

Just some thoughts.

Some more detail about your setup would help more - ie SPOA/SPUA, highsteer etc.

Steve.

Try Superior Engineering, Mick will do a solution for this.

Gwagensteve wrote:If you're worried about weakening the tie rod by straightening it you'd have to be worried about weakening it by armouring it too assuming you meant by welding angle or tube over the stock tie rod.

No, I didn't mean welding anything to the tie rod, what I ment was a shield attached to the axle that covered the tie rod, like I have seen on an IH AB120 (these were stock I think)

Gwagensteve wrote:The Snake Rock Rod will only work with a high steer kit.

I have a high steer kit, actually the Snake "Hi Steer Knuckle" kit

Gwagensteve wrote:I've not had too much trouble straightening stock tie rods.

As an aside - if you beef the tie rod too much you have to deal with the next thing up the chain breaking - a broken steering knuckle or ball joint, for example, would be a lot harder to deal with in the bush than a bent tie rod.

Good point. Although I hit the rock idling in low low so it was just the push of the vehicle that bent it, not the momentum. One would hope the steering knuckle could take this push as that's how the load from the wheel is transmitted to the axle.

Gwagensteve wrote:Some more detail about your setup would help more - ie SPOA/SPUA, highsteer etc.

Sorry most information is here
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic48564-0-asc-180.php Third vehicle down
But if you don't want to look my setup is

Base vehicle:
1985 Holden Drover LWB Ute

Modifications:
1.8l Izusu Diesel and 5 speed box (Holden Gemini donor)
SPOA
WT Axles
Lockrite auto locker in rear
31x10.5R15 Goodyear MT Wranglers
Speedy 15x7 wheels
Rancho 9000 Shocks all round
Custom crossmember for rear shocks
Front Rockcrawler springs
ARB front bar
4.16 Transfer gearing

I think I'd just give the snake rod a go. The tie rod guard is an interesting idea, but it might end up pretty bulky.

Steve.

some landrover discos and defenders have steering guards. they attach to the chassis though.

Taff wrote:some landrover discos and defenders have steering guards. they attach to the chassis though.

If they were attached to the chassis wouldn't the steering components become exposed when the suspension is at full droop, and wouldn't the guards become the lowest part of the vehicle at full compression?

its mainly to protect from front on bashes.


i guess your thinking something like this?

will coily knuckles fit on the earlier WT diff?? mite be an option to get the rod at the back??

yeah but you will have a diff centre in the way, thats why the coily has a high pinion diff.

11_evl wrote:will coily knuckles fit on the earlier WT diff?? mite be an option to get the rod at the back??

And because it's lower, it's vulnerable to getting dragged on stuff. On the front it can only get pushed back into the diff. under the car, it can get pushed back forever really.

Rovers use a little bracket on the diff that stops the tie rod getting dragged right back - you can just see it in the photo above.

Oh, a coiler knuckles run different calipers too. It'd be a major PITA.

Steve.

after owning a landy and breaking it enough i can assure you tie rod on the front is far far better for the reasons suggested. I must have been missing the bracket steve was talking about.

once a tyre goes toe out due to a bent link, your car becomes very difficult to move. toe in wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult.



which leads to this

Taff wrote:


its mainly to protect from front on bashes.


i guess your thinking something like this?

More like this

11_evl wrote:will coily knuckles fit on the earlier WT diff?? mite be an option to get the rod at the back??

joeblow wrote:yeah but you will have a diff centre in the way, thats why the coily has a high pinion diff.

Just go round it (not withstanding what I said above about weaking the tie rod by bending it)


(not to mention making it more vunerable as Gwagensteve pointed out. Good point by the way)

Yep, my gwagen one is set up like that, and it's massively massively beefy, and I've bent it.

Steve.