martyn668 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 So I was underneath changing the steering arm ball joint and steering damper, and noticed a bent steering rod. I assume it has been like this for probably many years as I have a steering guard fitted, and it would take some minor warpage of time and space to get behind it and bend the arm. My guess is it has done no harm being bent like that. Safety first, so obviously it needs replacing, but then I got to thinking why? It’s bent (not badly), so its length is shorter by probably a coupe of mm. So my toe-in is greater. Well that can be adjusted. I’m guessing the main reason is that a bend is a weak point. Any shock and it will simply continue to bend at that point. I will replace it. I’m just pondering. There are probably even cranked steering arms for lifted vehicles, so perhaps I’ve inadvertently completed stage one of a lift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 The problem with steering bars that I’ve found is replacement ones are either A: aftermarket and made of chocolate or B: genuine and expensive. In the end I replaced them with sumo bars which weren’t expensive compared to the genuine ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 What truck is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn668 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 Def 90 Td5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roverdrive Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Martyn The only thing I would suggest is that if the wheels take a heavy knock it may be more likely to bend more with the centre not being in line with the track rod ends. My RRC track rod bent despite having a catcher on the nose of the diff, which made for some very interesting handling. I replaced mine with Sumo bars as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn668 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 Might go Sumo. They seem to cost about the same as genuine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn668 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 My brain reminded me of something called Dan Bars (Protection and Performance). But I’ve just had a look and they go over a standard rod, so I guess since mine is bent, that would cost double. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Britpart HD steering arms are excellent, you just need to replace the TREs at some point. Sumo are good too but more expensive than Britpart and no better. Dan Bars are/were the devil's spawn, they do the job BUT if you bend one even slightly then the two bars are permanently locked together. The only benefit they gave was that, at the time the ARC didn't allow aftermarket (Sumo) bars so Dan Bars were a way of getting around the regulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneandtwo Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I’ve fitted four pairs of paddocks / britpart Steering bars now, as above they are excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zardos Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 12 hours ago, martyn668 said: I’m guessing the main reason is that a bend is a weak point. Any shock and it will simply continue to bend at that point. I had a standard one behind a steering guard, it got bent slightly in a winch challenge competition, it soon snapped due to metal fatigue. (There was a lot of left to right wheel turning at low speed/stationary so it got straightened and re-bent a lot). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Don't think a HD one doesn't bend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn668 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 There are some very funny videos on YouTube of Hummer H2 and H3 snapping steering components going over rocks. I guess they’re not built with HD components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uninformed Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Typical LR pig headedness... The drag link and track rod has been a known problem or many many DECADES, yet they did nothing about it. Ive seen them bent on LRs that have never been offroad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Well, I'd rather bend a track rod or a drag link than have to deal with a broken ball joint or swivel housing. At least I can straighten the bent bar. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 44 minutes ago, Mo Murphy said: Well, I'd rather bend a track rod or a drag link than have to deal with a broken ball joint or swivel housing. At least I can straighten the bent bar. Mo Is their not wide margin there though ? Where the original bar would have bent a very long way before a track rod or housing would break? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Not really Stephen, make the bars so strong that they don't bend and the forces just move to the next weakest point. I have HD bars and I've bent the track rod (on the same stump that split my tank 😂) It's just that the ideal of making things as strong as possible is an all or nothing thing just like putting HD half shafts in your axles. You have to address all the weak points or you still have a weak point that can fail. Where do you stop. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPendrey Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 51 minutes ago, Mo Murphy said: Not really Stephen, make the bars so strong that they don't bend and the forces just move to the next weakest point. I have HD bars and I've bent the track rod (on the same stump that split my tank 😂) It's just that the ideal of making things as strong as possible is an all or nothing thing just like putting HD half shafts in your axles. You have to address all the weak points or you still have a weak point that can fail. Where do you stop. --> Just after the split tank, when all the fuel is gone. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 You're a bad man, Scott 😂 Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 I get that it shifts the point of weakness - but I’m trying to get my head around what the relative component strengths are....so whether in the vast majority of situations the HD bars don’t bend and the impacts are still low enough that the rest of the set up can cope with it. I fitted mine on the basis that in the laning I’ve been involved with I’ve seen standard bars bent, which haven’t been easy to straighten in situ in most of those occasions, but on those with HD bars I’ve never seen a ball joint or swivel break. So I’d assumed that the failure point of the standard bars was such big distance from that of the rest of the components that I could safely operate in that space... if that makes better sense!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 When I had Dan Bars fitted I snapped a TRE, the TRE threaded part snapped immediately at the end of the Dan Bar. I put that down to the Dan bar design focussing the force and stress at that point. It could have been a bad TRE I suppose but there was no sign of any obvious manufacturing problems in the break, no air bubbles or signs of a stress fracture, just a clean break. It happened when I landed the bar on a tree stump. With the HD bars I've not had that issue although I've bent a few of them and a f***wit "marshal" on a challenge event managed to bend the tracking arm through an almost perfect S bend without damaging either the TRE or anything other than the bar. It was the first and last challenge event I'd done with that particular outfit. One thing with the HD bars, carry a spare if you can because IF you do manage to bend one you will NOT be able to bend them back without specialist hydraulic equipment ! The standard ones can normally be bent back using the weight of the vehicle but the HD ones... not a chance. The HD bars aren't unbendable and don't seem to be any stronger than the TREs but you won't bend them just by using the steering, unlike the OEM ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uninformed Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 1000s of maxi drive HD drag links and track rods sold over the years and have not heard of them causing failure of the other steering componets... The stock steering links are completely under done. Trying to excuse or reason this is just BS IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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