symtoms of a bent tie rod? (1 Viewer)

[peepers]

I *think* my tie rod is bent. If i peek under there it looks slightly bent. I have a new Slee HD rod sitting in a box waiting to be installed. The ends are new OEM (in the last 5k miles).

The symptoms I experienced which caused me to look under there were:

• steering wheel way off center
• a "dead spot" when driving straight. seems to be more noticeable at higher speeds (my caster is with in factory spec)

As a result of these things the truck feels very dangerous on curvy roads, especially at speed.

I am going to inspect the sector shaft or what ever its called when the new one goes in and get an alignment.

Is there anything else I should be looking for?

 

[dgangle]

look down it/place a straight edge. you'll see it if it's bent. then measure the toe-in yourself. there are plenty of threads desribing how to do this in the 40/55 & 60 sections.

or pay someone $69.99 to put it on a machine/measure & tell you

 

[CreeperSleeper]

If it looks bent, it is...

 

[peepers]

If it looks bent, it is...

i get that much. is there anything else that can be causing the issues i am seeing or are those most likely the result of the tie rod? i only ask because it seems to be one thing after another with these vehicles... (yeah - i said it.)

 

[Nay]

i get that much. is there anything else that can be causing the issues i am seeing or are those most likely the result of the tie rod? i only ask because it seems to be one thing after another with these vehicles... (yeah - i said it.)

Bent rod, fragged TRE, or your nutz could be loose

There's a sadly typical correlation between a lift, big ass heavy tires, and "one thing after another". We talk about 35's like they are 31's around here, but they are still 35's.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Pffft... 35's are small. But I'm gonna fix that!

 

[peepers]

Bent rod, fragged TRE, or your nutz could be loose

There's a sadly typical correlation between a lift, big ass heavy tires, and "one thing after another". We talk about 35's like they are 31's around here, but they are still 35's.

i do need to check my nutz. it would be one thing if i wheeled this truck regularly or hard but i drive it like a

 

[CreeperSleeper]

i get that much. is there anything else that can be causing the issues i am seeing or are those most likely the result of the tie rod? i only ask because it seems to be one thing after another with these vehicles... (yeah - i said it.)

Sorry, I forgot the in the post your quoting...

 

[CreeperSleeper]

i do need to check my nutz. it would be one thing if i wheeled this truck regularly or hard but i drive it like a

Yes! Always check your nuts... (being serious this time.)

 

[Nay]

i do need to check my nutz. it would be one thing if i wheeled this truck regularly or hard but i drive it like a

That's why it's falling apart

Do check the nutz, I just about lost mine

 

[peepers]

nutz were tight. the tie rod was bent which lead to the alignment being off, however, the "dead spot" was a symptom of one of the new OEM tie rod ends being toast. a new slee HD tie rod is going in along with another OEM end and we are all good to go.

 

[Macro]

I knew I had one bent arm, the wheel was a little crooked and pulled a little:

Then the other night playing on the beach had a large hit on one wheel and from then on the steering wheel was 180degrees out. So I pulled the wheel off and was greeted with this:

My question, will an aftermarket ChroMoly set of arms like the OP has hold up to more abuse then an OEM set?

35" Wranglers on 10" rims with a -44 offset which is 3.25 backspace I think... so theres a bit of weight hanging out because of the offset.

 

[billmiranda]

Go wth Bud-Built.. he makes an awesome heavy duty are to replace the flimsy Toy one.

 

[peepers]

the good thing about SLEE is you can use the OEM ends. not sure about bud built but with marlin crawler you cant use OEM ends.

 

[landtank]

Bud takes the stock joints as well. Unfortunately the last tierod I installed was an inch too long and we had already cut up the original rod to salvage the joints. That really sucked. However the next set was the correct length. Must have been a 1 off problem.