Trail Gear FJ80 HD Steering Kit Owners? Tie rods problems (1 Viewer)

[richardlillard1]

Didn't mean to offend, Just saw the pin and it looked like an emergency fix. Not familiar with the mod you're referring to but if it works for him then great. I will stick to having 3 bolts on my arms.

Definitely no offense taken. Replacing one of the front bolts with a hitch pin lets you free up the front end whenever it's pulled for a little bit easier flex. He just stopped pulling the pin and now he gets the same result without needing to do much.

No offense, more like , the White Elephant isn't perfect! Actually for his use, it is. He got it as a wreck/salvage title, set it up and used it. For what he does with it, starting with a cream puff would have been a shame. It's a solid wheeler, capable, reliable, clean inside, but as he says, body work is over rated! My guess; the "investment" paid off longtime ago in fun alone.

That's not a fair assessment at all and you know it! That thing could EASILY be cleaned up for the show and shine events...if he finds a place that sells bonds by the 55 gallon drum.

EDIT: Maybe we should start calling his rig the cream puff and see how long before he has an episode about it?

 

[toyota guy]

i had trail gear tre's on my old pickup crawler, they were the worst tre's i have ever used, lasted less than a year and were completely shot causing excessive play. i would not recommend the tre's but the rest of the kit is probably fine. there is a reason they are cheap.

 

[1973Guppie]

I've had the kit for awhile and am happy with it. I don't beat on my truck so can't really comment on that end. I do go wheeling but not hardcore stuff at all. It's been fine up in the big bear trails and pismo dunes.

 

[yellowgeko]

So I just want to do a follow up, I appreciate everyone's input especially on the kit that I was asking about. Actually ended up going with Marlins Marlink kit and tie rod ends. ( I bought a OME steering stabilizer) I didn't know they had actually sold stuff for 80s and after working with MItchell17, everything was squared, it was a pretty comparable price to the original kit I was asking about. I decided to go with Marlin stuff because I was worried about the tire rod ends holding up from the trail gear kit, and I like that everything is made in the USA for the Marlin stuff. So the kit on its way it's going to be here in about a week; thanks again for the input and shout out to MItchell17 from Marlin for all the help and keep in piecing it together.

 

[jkilcullen]

We can also supply a similar kit, Marlin makes our links in house with USA made DOM,

We also have our Tie rod ends that we use for our high steer that would be a factory fit on an 80 series.

The only thing that u would need to get separate is the steering stabilizer. Witch an OME stabilizer would be better than the generic on in my opinion, Our price would be 224.

Give us a call 55925CRAWL or pm me

This kit still up for grabs for the $224?

 

[MItchell17]

Yes it is but we are working on a better steering stabilizer setup at the momment as well please email me mitchell@marlincrawler.com

 

[toyota guy]

good call, Marlin is hard to beat!

 

[jkilcullen]

Yes it is but we are working on a better steering stabilizer setup at the momment as well please email me mitchell@marlincrawler.com

Email sent, looking forward to working with you to find a solution!

 

[jkilcullen]

@MItchell17 never heard back from you on this and just sent you another email. shoot me one back or give me a call (815)790-4276

 

[yellowgeko]

Saw this thread and though I would update it. The kit I used was beefy and all the components seemed strong, but two things happened. My tie rod ends ended up wearing out within a year; this was with no off roading and just daily driving.

Two years after install I was driving home and heard a pop as I turned into my neighborhood. I lost all steering. The pitman arm sheared in two the sector shaft from the steering box causing catastrophic failure. Thankfully I was not doing 60 on windy country roads, I was on my street.

Was this due to the HD kit? I believe so. I believe it put to much stress on the the steering box and sheared it. Could it have been from something else? Possibly, but my rig was a daily driver with little to no off roaming. I cruised the occasional Forrest service road and that was about it.

I for one now believe what CDAN and others have said. The OEM parts were made to act as a fuse and break before other more expensive and critical parts. I for one am back with the OEM parts now on my new rig.

 

[ajax1]

I highly doubt marlins kit broke your truck. Did the sector shaft break or the pitman or both?

 

[yellowgeko]

I highly doubt marlins kit broke your truck. Did the sector shaft break or the pitman or both?

That may be; to each their own.

The sector shaft sheared in two with the pitman arm still attached to the part that sheared off. I guess it’s not impossible that the sector shaft was compromised and the kit only finished what was started, but I don’t think that’s what happened. I was only rolling on 33s, so I doubt it was tires.


I’ll try to take a pic tomorrow if I remember. This happened a year ago but I still have the old steering box lying around.

 

[ajax1]

That may be; to each their own.

The sector shaft sheared in two with the pitman arm still attached to the part that sheared off. I guess it’s not impossible that the sector shaft was compromised and the kit only finished what was started, but I don’t think that’s what happened. I was only rolling on 33s, so I doubt it was tires.


I’ll try to take a pic tomorrow if I remember. This happened a year ago but I still have the old steering box lying around.

I don’t see how a thicker tie rod used on a vehicle that’s not offroaded, is gonna break your sector shaft and pitman arm. Yes on heavy used truck that is jammed a tire in rocks and forced to turn sure. Maybe you slid into a curb? Idk? I have seen a Slee hd rod bend. I’ve been on 37s and hd Slee tie rod and draglink for 10 years with no issues other then bending the tie rod.
Sometimes stuff breaks too

 

[yellowgeko]

I don’t see how a thicker tie rod used on a vehicle that’s not offroaded, is gonna break your sector shaft and pitman arm. Yes on heavy used truck that is jammed a tire in rocks and forced to turn sure. Maybe you slid into a curb? Idk? I have seen a Slee hd rod bend. I’ve been on 37s and hd Slee tie rod and draglink for 10 years with no issues other then bending the tie rod.
Sometimes stuff breaks too

Valid points, seems logical.

Really, I don’t know. Even if I had hit a curb, I feel like it would have bent something else rather than shear with a stock set up. That’s the point I was trying to make though; with a stock set up, something else should have broke before the shaft sheared. Which makes me thing that HD setups put stress on components not normally made for those conditions.

 

[1973Guppie]

Most likely a compromised sector shaft. Things wear over time.

 

[Douglas S]

I don’t see how a thicker tie rod used on a vehicle that’s not offroaded, is gonna break your sector shaft and pitman arm. Yes on heavy used truck that is jammed a tire in rocks and forced to turn sure. Maybe you slid into a curb? Idk? I have seen a Slee hd rod bend. I’ve been on 37s and hd Slee tie rod and draglink for 10 years with no issues other then bending the tie rod.
Sometimes stuff breaks too

I twisted the splines on my sector shaft when I still had stock size tires. I would not personally run HD steering components on these trucks without a 105 sector shaft.

I have a 105 sector shaft and have kept the stock steering components. Easy to swap out a tie rod or drag link anywhere, not so much for parts internal to the steering box.

Most likely a compromised sector shaft. Things wear over time.

IMO if a sector shaft is considered a wear item then it is severely undersized.

 

[ThreeEyedBandit]

I have seen three trucks break the stock sector shaft, two with the factory tie rod and drag link. and one with the upgraded one. All three where OBD-II truck, pretty sure all 97's.

I installed the Trail Gear links on my old 93 four plus years ago, wheeled the piss out of it and to this day it is still running the original steering box and HD links. My new 94 also has had non factory links for a couple years, so guess we shall see what comes of it.

Maybe something change with the manufacturing process in the later trucks? Seems not sure if that's the case, just what I have personally observed.

 

[1973Guppie]

I twisted the splines on my sector shaft when I still had stock size tires. I would not personally run HD steering components on these trucks without a 105 sector shaft.

I have a 105 sector shaft and have kept the stock steering components. Easy to swap out a tie rod or drag link anywhere, not so much for parts internal to the steering box.


IMO if a sector shaft is considered a wear item then it is severely undersized.

anything is a wear item depending on conditions of use, I don't disagree that it may have been undersized for the OP use and conditions.

 

[ajax1]

I have seen three trucks break the stock sector shaft, two with the factory tie rod and drag link. and one with the upgraded one. All three where OBD-II truck, pretty sure all 97's.

I installed the Trail Gear links on my old 93 four plus years ago, wheeled the piss out of it and to this day it is still running the original steering box and HD links. My new 94 also has had non factory links for a couple years, so guess we shall see what comes of it.

Maybe something change with the manufacturing process in the later trucks? Seems not sure if that's the case, just what I have personally observed.

Interesting mine is 94 and buddies is a 91 both have bent slee rods but nothing to the box or sector shaft.
Maybe he has cracked the frame around the box allowing play which in turn broke the sector shaft.
I still don’t see how you would break a sector shaft unless you have jammed a tire into something and continue to force it to turn.
I also believe new boxes from Toyota have the upgraded shaft, from 105 along with new pitman arm, could be wrong though

 

[Jgrauman]

Interesting mine is 94 and buddies is a 91 both have bent slee rods but nothing to the box or sector shaft.
Maybe he has cracked the frame around the box allowing play which in turn broke the sector shaft.
I still don’t see how you would break a sector shaft unless you have jammed a tire into something and continue to force it to turn.
I also believe new boxes from Toyota have the upgraded shaft, from 105 along with new pitman arm, could be wrong though

Can OEM tie rod ends be used with the trail gear setup? If the ones that come with it need to be replaced? Thank you