$100. Steering Rod!!!! (1 Viewer)

[2badfjs]

no pics, maybe tomorrow.
so my 40 with a scout box and wagonner pitman arm(thanks mace) and 60 axles. i had to come up with a totally custom steering arm.

went to carquest saturday with my pitman arn and matched up the TREs'
used two of the same TREs', $40. each and bought a piece of 36" X 1-3/8 X .188 wall DOM for $20.
welded the TREs to the DOM and BAM!!! a $100. steering rod.

i'm happy

 

[Nomis]

Nice. Any pics of the process?

 

[Isotel]

any adjustability jim? what if you break a TRE on the trail?

 

[Pin_Head]

The proper way is to get threaded rod end inserts and then weld them in. That way the rod is adjustable and the ends are replaceable. I'm not sure what tie rod ends are made of, but if it is a carbon alloy welding them may cause problems with brittleness. The last thing you want to take chances with is your steering.

 

[Medusa]

Nice. Any pics of the process?

Unless you want your pics showing up in one or more of the booty fab threads on other boards, I would not photograph this work.

In my opinion, anyone who A) takes shortcuts on steering and B) then brags about how cheap they got off, needs some help.

 

[Wildman]

n
welded the TREs to the DOM
i'm happy

Ahhh-whowhat? WTF? where do you live so I know where to stay away from....

Thats not even close to safe, let alone not adjustable, unless I didnt read what you wrote correctly. It sounded like you mocked up the correct length and then welded the threaded portion of a tie rod end into a piece of tubing??

 

[Leaping Deer]

Doesn't Marlin and Budbuilt sell custom lengths at a reasonable price?

Marlin Crawler: Selling HySteer™ Kits since 1997!

BudBuilt - Tierods & Draglinks

Edit: I didn't realize you needed a CUSTOM one.

 

[aktundra]

A little off topic since 2badfjs needed custom steering rods, but I just finished a repair/upgrade that may be of interest to those that may pull up this thread from the archives.

I bent my relay rod, and my buddy bent his tie rod. He ended up changing out both his relay & tie rods, so I got his unbent relay rod for next to nothing.

A tie rod (if unbent) can be sleeved perfectly inside 1” sch 40 pipe. I bought a 4” long 3/4”sch 40 nipple from Lowe’s cut it in half and drilled out the I.D. with a 7/8’s step drill (sort of red-necked to use a step drill for this, but you got make it work with the tools you got !). Then used a die grinder to take out a few inches of the weld , inside either end of another piece of 1” sch 40 pipe. Now the ¾” sch 40 will fit inside the 1” sch 40, and the relay rod will fit inside the new 7/8” I.D.

Once both rods are sleeved with the Sch 40, they can be welded to the OEM rods just short of the clamping slit. THE ORIGINAL OEM PARTS EXTEND THROUGH END TO END, AND THE ORIGINAL OEM THREADS/CLAMPS ARE USED.

The trick is to do it BEFORE you bend a rod, but if you need stock lengths, it can easily be done for less than $100

 

[Isotel]

I recently had some Thick wall DOM Taped, $120 for both my Tie Rod and Drag link with Wrench Flats.. Then you would need Tie Rod ends.. mine are the 7/8" GM ones.

Steering has to be one of the worst parts to break on the trail... Most anything else and you can limp/Tow it off the trail, but if the steering is broke, you may end up Camping the night..

Ask me how i know Been there, done that, Spent the $$ on the good stuff

 

[aktundra]

I don’t mean to hi-jack the thread, but speaking of catastrophic steering failures . . . .

I got off easy. I just bent a relay rod, drove out just fine, and in fact it was not until several days later somebody pointed out that my cruiser was smiling !

I am not familiar enough with the steering to figure this out (i.e. I have not broken enough components !!) . Now that I have beefed up the relay rod, the forces that caused it to bend are going to be transferred to . . . . ?. I have never bend a tie rod, but now that it is sleeved, the forces that normally bend them will be transferred to . . ?

Where is the next weak link in the system? A bent relay rod was no real big deal. I got home fine. But the next time I over stress the system the rods will have very little “give”. Will the next weak link in the system leave me camping ?

 

[2badfjs]

Q: any adjustability jim? what if you break a TRE on the trail?

no adjustment, not needed as far as i'm concerned.

Q: In my opinion, anyone who A) takes shortcuts on steering and B) then brags about how cheap they got off, needs some help.

i don't concider this a short cut. it's just the way i had planned to do it.
if you do it right, it's not an issue.

Q: Ahhh-whowhat? WTF? where do you live so I know where to stay away from....

Thats not even close to safe, let alone not adjustable, unless I didnt read what you wrote correctly. It sounded like you mocked up the correct length and then welded the threaded portion of a tie rod end into a piece of tubing??

yes, please stay away

why is it not safe?
why does it need to be adjustable?
that's excactly what i did. but didn't use tube, it was DOM and the TRES are beefy enough.

the key is to also drill 2 or 3 holes thru the DOM and sink them into the TRES just a bit and rose bud the holes.

any other EXPERT opinions are always welcome.

i have talked to many welders and those in the know about metal and it's properties.

 

[rabid]

The adjustability is key for your alignment, and when you bend the rod .188 rod WILL bend if you drop onto it or slide swideways hard enough into the trail- I have bent a 1/4 wall rod (slid over the stock rod, cross drilled and welded) when running little 34's.

If you break off or bend a TRE on the trail, you are SOL.

My budbuilt rod was .250, sleeved with another .250 option. 1/2" thick, and around $100 a few years ago. He can cut and tap to whatever you want for length.

I am not an expert, but I would think that spreading the load down the threads of the tube would be much stronger than a few small rosebud welds and one around the outside end.

 

[Medusa]

I stand fully behind my earlier comments. Look, for a very few dollars more you could buy thicker walled DOM, drill and tap it for your desired TREs. I challenge you to argue that a thicker-walled threaded drag link is not both more functional and stronger than what you have made. If you want to run it fine, but a lot of us will still consider it booty fab.

 

[nuclearlemon]

It can be done after it's beenbent also. it just takes a bit more work. i did that to mine and ranit for years before i upgraded to ricebilt rods and 80 series ends.

 

[nuclearlemon]

Where is the next weak link in the system? A bent relay rod was no real big deal. I got home fine. But the next time I over stress the system the rods will have very little “give”. Will the next weak link in the system leave me camping ?QUOTE]

it could. your next link is the tie rod/drag link ends themselves. just carry spares. i've changed almost all of my stuff to 80 series ends on both rods, that way, i just keep one pair and it covers both rods on almost all of my rigs (i still have to upgrade the 76 pig, but that's coming).

 

[crushr]

Non-adjustable tie rod? Amateur welding on a TRE? Booty-fabulous and not real smart.

 

[2badfjs]

Non-adjustable tie rod? Amateur welding on a TRE? Booty-fabulous and not real smart.

please tell me why it needs to be adjustable? this is the rod from the pitman arm.

amateur welding? whatever

booty fab? could be

 

[Wildman]

It needs to be adjustable for alignment reasons... dur.

Yes amateur welding, if your welding stearing components in un-natural ways then your sir are an amateur. I dont care how many rock sliders and bumpers you have made, thats booty fab.

If you dont understand how it works then should you REALY be welding it?

I would love to see a picture of this thing.

please tell me why it needs to be adjustable? this is the rod from the pitman arm.

amateur welding? whatever

booty fab? could be

 

[Full_Throttle]

inspection

I am no expert here, so I have a question. If you drive this rig up to some of the trail rides I have heard of where you have to pass an inspection (like working emergency brake, ect.) would this pass the inspection? How are these type of builds handled by inspectors? Would they keep you off the trail even if all the welds were great and expertly done?

I am asking not in defense of or bashing...just curious. I am building up my 71 FJ40 w/ a scout power steering and different pitmann and I had someone(forget who) on this forum make me the link to go with my tre's...I would have never considered welding due to the loss of adjustment. But if adjustment is NOT an issue, will his welds be strong enough? I guess that is what we will find out

I live in Illinois and we really do not have any rock climbing in the area so I have no reference having never been

 

[Gear]

I was wondering the same thing. I mean if its properly welded, whats the difference between this and the threaded inserts when considering safety and ability to handle the forces. I understand the issue of not having adjustment, but why is it so unsafe to have it welded?