Check out my bent steering!

Happy Fathers day to all you dads! My wife & daughter accompanied me on a trail today, which ended with me severely bending my steering linkage. The drive home was interesting to say the least.

This ever happen to anyone else? What was your fix?

Hey, fun trail day! Glad you got out and back, but it's not that dire other than wearing tires if you were forced to drive it extended distances that way.

It used to happen a lot more, but two things changed. The harder the off-road expectations, the stronger the steering upgrades most were willing to pay for. The second was that most newer Bronco owners have no intention of ever going off road. Certainly not in a place that would taco a tie-rod.

The cure for my buddy and me on the Rubicon once was to borrow a crowbar from a guy in a dune-buggy and yank it straight. Plenty of Hi-Lift jacks have been used as "benders" to get a rig back down the road too. Or you could land it on a rock in the opposite direction, when that's a feasible solution.
After all, necessity is the mother of invention.

But the "cure" in this case is to get a new one. Whether you go with stock, or upgrade to stronger depends on whether you're going to keep wheeling, or have bigger tires, or just plan to get your tires wedged between two hard places very often.
A stock one was decent for it's day and the size tires that Ford put on them. The best initial upgrade in my opinion is the ones most of us vendors sell that fits the same stock setup, but is much beefier. Both in material size, and material makeup. Such as this from us at Wild Horses: http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Tie_Rod_Drag_Link_3way_Adjustable_6675yr/Custom_tie_rods
You could reuse your existing draglink it looks like, but if it's older and needing replacing anyway, definitely go with an adjustable one like shown in the pic. Gives you WAY more versatility when changing ride height for keeping the steering box perfectly centered when going straight down the road.

Larger upgrades are available for the main tubing, such as with some of the "GM 1-ton" setups, but then the weak link becomes the passenger side tie-rod end. And the design is such that the draglink is now longer than the trackbar (not optimal) and the draglink mounts to the tie-rod facing straight ahead (also not optimal) instead of how Ford had it to reduce the instance of the tie-rod "rolling" back and forth when steering.

You running the 35" tires in you sig? If so, I would definitely not go back to stock.

Paul

Thanks for the info Paul. Yep, I'm running 35" tires and wasn't even pushing the Bronco too hard today when the steering bent.

So, the steering you linked is upgraded strength from original? I was assuming it was more adjustable, but otherwise stock. I'll be replacing the entire set-up, because all the tie rods had some slop. Keeping things simple, I would like to keep the track bar's length and it's current position.

FWIW, I tried using my winch to bend the steering (pulling up), but that failed!

Most newer owners don't go off road?
Maybe.
But you see he's from Colorado and we often do; so brother DirtDonk you showed him the wrong one, this is the one you should have pointed him to:

WH Clydesdale

yep did that same thing once, then went with stone crusher steering

sykanr0ng said:

Most newer owners don't go off road?
Maybe.
But you see he's from Colorado and we often do; so brother DirtDonk you showed him the wrong one, this is the one you should have pointed him to:

WH Clydesdale

Click to expand...

Haha! Yep, I stand by my statement about "newer" owners in general, but I'm sure a higher percentage of Colorado's newer owners are more likely to do it, or at least give it a try, than are the ones elsewhere.

Thanks for the link. I was building up to the big stuff but wanted to hear what he was doing and what setup he was running before going there.
I'm a big fan of the Clydesdale, but it's not necessarily for everyone.

Paul

RADO said:

...Yep, I'm running 35" tires and wasn't even pushing the Bronco too hard today when the steering bent.

Click to expand...

I hear ya. We might have been on the Rubicon, but it was fairly easy back then and we never did figure out exactly what happened. All of a sudden my buddy Tim noticed that he couldn't steer! I was "spotting" (from the passenger seat) and wondering why he wouldn't turn this way or that.
Wasn't bent as bad as yours, but almost. Was bent rearward though and hitting the diff so it would not steer beyond a certain range.
Fun times.

RADO said:

So, the steering you linked is upgraded strength from original?

Click to expand...

Most definitely. It's not only larger, at about 1.125" diameter (vs about 7/8" for stock maybe?), but made from chrome-moly steel as well. Very robust.
The ends are only slightly larger than stock, but every little bit helps and the ends are not usually the problem area anyway.
The "GM 1-ton" stuff I mentioned has a weak link in the rod end from being necked down right where the draglink mounts. It's otherwise a very nice and big rod end, but that narrow choke point right where the stress is just leads to bending. Not always catastrophically, but definitely will mess with your toe-in at least!

The design of our replacement allows the angle of the mounting point to mimic that of Ford's original, which keeps rotational movement to a bare minimum. This improves steering feel and reduces wear and tear on the rod ends themselves.
But you're not likely to bend one unless you really try hard.

Paul

DirtDonk said:

A stock one was decent for it's day and the size tires that Ford put on them. The best initial upgrade in my opinion is the ones most of us vendors sell that fits the same stock setup, but is much beefier. Both in material size, and material makeup. Such as this from us at Wild Horses: http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Tie_Rod_Drag_Link_3way_Adjustable_6675yr/Custom_tie_rods
You could reuse your existing draglink it looks like, but if it's older and needing replacing anyway, definitely go with an adjustable one like shown in the pic. Gives you WAY more versatility when changing ride height for keeping the steering box perfectly centered when going straight down the road.


Paul

Click to expand...

I just installed this setup today, other than the fact that it looked like someone had already chewed the shit out of the draglink and returned it looks great and is considerably beefier than stock.

Also at about $90 more than a stock setup, it's actually a pretty good deal too.

One nice thing about the dual adjusters is that it's one less step to convert to tie-rod-over if you feel you need that extra clearance or a better angle on things than just the other accessories can provide.
That's not a big thing, but hey, one less hole to re-taper is a good thing!

Hmm, I see we didn't exactly fall all over ourselves putting in a detailed description of the parts on each individual page, did we? I'll see if I can write up some detailed descriptions and get them put on the parts pages.
We do have that nice detailed writeup on the main steering linkage page. It's good info and maybe enough for most. But doesn't hit on all aspects. Hey, if a little is good, more must be better. Right?;D

Paul

blue78 said:

I just installed this setup today, other than the fact that it looked like someone had already chewed the shit out of the draglink and returned it looks great and is considerably beefier than stock.

Click to expand...

Thanks blue. Sorry about the appearance. Do you think it's from the ends bouncing around in the box? Is it enough that you'd like to return it?
If so, let us know. Thanks

Did you make sure to orient the tie-rod centerlink at the same angle as the original one? That puts the mounting hole for the draglink at about a 60° angle (give or take a degree), or with the grease Zerk fitting pointing roughly up at the radiator.

Just checking. It's real easy to lay it out so that it's vertical at that point, which puts the draglink end facing straight ahead. Doesn't work as well that way though, by a very noticeable amount.

Have you driven with it yet?

Paul

DirtDonk said:

Thanks blue. Sorry about the appearance. Do you think it's from the ends bouncing around in the box? Is it enough that you'd like to return it?
If so, let us know. Thanks

Did you make sure to orient the tie-rod centerlink at the same angle as the original one? That puts the mounting hole for the draglink at about a 60° angle (give or take a degree), or with the grease Zerk fitting pointing roughly up at the radiator.

Just checking. It's real easy to lay it out so that it's vertical at that point, which puts the draglink end facing straight ahead. Doesn't work as well that way though, by a very noticeable amount.

Have you driven with it yet?

Paul

Click to expand...

No, it was the adjusting sleeve that had been worked over and one of the bags was already open, not the end of the world because I would have chewed it up myself getting everything lined up. I have not had a chance to drive it as I am in the middle of a big rebulid, but I love how it looks and I'm sure it will perform awesome. I will go out and double check the angle on that, thanks for the heads up.

DirtDonk said:

Thanks blue. Sorry about the appearance. Do you think it's from the ends bouncing around in the box? Is it enough that you'd like to return it?
If so, let us know. Thanks

Did you make sure to orient the tie-rod centerlink at the same angle as the original one? That puts the mounting hole for the draglink at about a 60° angle (give or take a degree), or with the grease Zerk fitting pointing roughly up at the radiator.

Just checking. It's real easy to lay it out so that it's vertical at that point, which puts the draglink end facing straight ahead. Doesn't work as well that way though, by a very noticeable amount.

Have you driven with it yet?

Paul

Click to expand...

Paul, can you show a picture of the proper setup? I am having a hard time picturing the right/wrong here. Or, PM me and I will send you a pic of my install to see if I may have messed up here. Thanks.

Will get something for you in the morning. Or you can send a pic of how it is to me and I'll check it out first. Send it to paulb@wildhorses4x4.com and I'll check it out.

By the way... You mention how it looks. It's some pretty fancy stuff, ain't it? But it's not stainless, so it does have to be painted. We talk all the time around here whether to just clear coat it so you can see the fine machine polish, or just go ahead and paint it black or gray or whatever.
But definitely coat it. It may look like stainless, but it's just chrome-moly and will rust as soon as it has a chance to sit outdoors for a bit.
If just rattle canning it, paint the threads too. You don't want powder coating in them thar threads, but a thin coat of paint will keep them working for many more years than just leaving them bare.

Talk to you later.

Paul

I had the one Donk first linked to, am now using the Clydesdale.

jim3326 said:

I had the one Donk first linked to, am now using the Clydesdale.

Click to expand...

Well, that's not too comforting.

Skiddy said:

yep did that same thing once, then went with stone crusher steering

Click to expand...

I was thinking the stone crusher set-up looked pretty stout, but are you having to change the heims frequently?

Yikes Jim. What were you up to when that happened? Just cruising along the street in front of your house?;D

Maybe I should have mentioned the Clydesdale right off the bat after all!
But really, most people are never going to see the limits of their 1 1/8" diameter tie-rod. However, if you're planning to go big and ride 'em hard and put 'em away wet, then going big(ger) might not be a bad idea.
I've never bent my F150 setup, which is larger than a stock EB, but smaller than ours. So I'm sure in my case it's more than enough beef for whatever size tire I end up with.

Paul

helo-mech said:

Paul, can you show a picture of the proper setup?

Click to expand...

In Jim's pic you can actually see the incorrect way to orient the tie-rod (sorry Jim!) which is the way I said seems the most intuitive when you're first setting one up.
Notice how the grease fitting on the lower draglink end is pointing roughly straight ahead?

Here is a stock one:
Notice the angle of the lower draglink end pointing more upward than forward. This is how all tie-rod and draglink interfaces should be oriented when that adjustment is available to the installer.

Paul

RADO said:

I was thinking the stone crusher set-up looked pretty stout, but are you having to change the heims frequently?

Click to expand...

it really stout as you can tell I am not that easy on my front lol. I have had it on for about 3 years and all the heims are still in great shape with no issues.

DirtDonk said:

In Jim's pic you can actually see the incorrect way to orient the tie-rod (sorry Jim!) which is the way I said seems the most intuitive when you're first setting one up.
Notice how the grease fitting on the lower draglink end is pointing roughly straight ahead?

Here is a stock one: View attachment 422958
Notice the angle of the lower draglink end pointing more upward than forward. This is how all tie-rod and draglink interfaces should be oriented when that adjustment is available to the installer.

Paul

Click to expand...

It was oriented that way. The F-100 power steering combined with the locker bent the tie rod almost 45 degrees. I had to straighten it 3 times to get home. It was a nasty little trail, using the term loosely!;D