BRONCO SEVERE DUTY STEERING UPGRADE KIT now available from Ford Performance Parts!

[K9handler47]

Question…why would one buy tie rod braces and new bushing from Bronc busters for roughly 800$ when an all new 3.0 steering rack from ford can be purchased for 950$?

Am I missing something? New to the party.

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[mpeugeot]

Question…why wouldn’t one buy tie rod braces and new bushing from Bronc busters for roughly 800$ when an all new 3.0 steering rack from ford can be purchased for 950$?

Am I missing something? New to the party.

How much time do you have?

I am sure that someone can answer this more concisely than I can.

Personally, I purchased a HOSS 3.0 rack, it met my requirements.

 

[userdude]

Question…why wouldn’t one buy tie rod braces and new bushing from Bronc busters for roughly 800$ when an all new 3.0 steering rack from ford can be purchased for 950$?

Am I missing something? New to the party.

Fix the problem (HD rack) or band aid it (braces). The braces without a stronger housing is delaying the inevitable if you drive it hard enough. If you think about it, the braces only protect the cheapest and easiest part of the rack to replace (the tie rods) while redirecting that force into the housing, which of course is more expensive to replace. Really hard rock crawling, you'll want the billet rack even with upgraded tie rods.

 

[Aonarch]

Question…why wouldn’t one buy tie rod braces and new bushing from Bronc busters for roughly 800$ when an all new 3.0 steering rack from ford can be purchased for 950$?

Am I missing something? New to the party.

That would be like putting sprinkles on a turd.

The 3.0 rack itself is heavier duty. Every part of it.

 

[zuke]

Question…why wouldn’t one buy tie rod braces and new bushing from Bronc busters for roughly 800$ when an all new 3.0 steering rack from ford can be purchased for 950$?

Am I missing something? New to the party.

You could spend a lot of time reading through several threads and parsing a lot of drama to figure that out if you want, but here are some cliff notes;

A similar brace to to the Bronc buster one can be had for under $100 from JKS Manufacturing

A similar bushing to the Bronc Buster can be had for under $100 from Rough Country.

The Ford performance rack Will cost considerably more than $950 before you complete the install, Unless you happen to have the tuner already, or you just buy the regular Hoss 3.0 rack from a ford parts dealer and go through the process to program it yourself without the tuner.

End result;

Braces and bushings are valid, inexpensive Band Aids ($200 if you do the work), but you have to understand the risks associated with them (Moving the problem, not fixing it).

Upgraded Steering racks are a solution, but only go so far for the various spending levels. You can do a Hoss 3.0 rack for around $1000, But again, that's you doing all the work, and taking the hardest available (but least expensive) route to do it..

You can buy a bolt in rack from 74 weld, and never worry about it again for about $4000.. This is a pretty valid solution for the hardest core rock crawlers, But people like that are really few and far between...

 

[Brian_B]

With all the issues the ProCal unit was having - those seem to be starting to settle.

Anyone tried this with ProCal on a non-SAS "unapproved" Bronco yet, or will that path still require FDRS and a donor VIN?

 

[mpeugeot]

With all the issues the ProCal unit was having - those seem to be starting to settle.

Anyone tried this with ProCal on a non-SAS "unapproved" Bronco yet, or will that path still require FDRS and a donor VIN?

Although no one has yet tested it, you potentially can program it with FORSCAN and likely avoid the need to use a donor VIN and FDRS. However, this route requires a higher level of knowledge than most possess.

 

[userdude]

You could spend a lot of time reading through several threads and parsing a lot of drama to figure that out if you want, but here are some cliff notes;

A similar brace to to the Bronc buster one can be had for under $100 from JKS Manufacturing

A similar bushing to the Bronc Buster can be had for under $100 from Rough Country.

The Ford performance rack Will cost considerably more than $950 before you complete the install, Unless you happen to have the tuner already, or you just buy the regular Hoss 3.0 rack from a ford parts dealer and go through the process to program it yourself without the tuner.

End result;

Braces and bushings are valid, inexpensive Band Aids ($200 if you do the work), but you have to understand the risks associated with them (Moving the problem, not fixing it).

Upgraded Steering racks are a solution, but only go so far for the various spending levels. You can do a Hoss 3.0 rack for around $1000, But again, that's you doing all the work, and taking the hardest available (but least expensive) route to do it..

You can buy a bolt in rack from 74 weld, and never worry about it again for about $4000.. This is a pretty valid solution for the hardest core rock crawlers, But people like that are really few and far between...

The 74W stage 3 is $5400 before shipping and install. There's a nice discount if you have OnX, but that's still $5k. Depending on where the OP is, there are some folks (like @mpeugeot in Texas, if he's still doing it) who can program the rack for no charge to say a few hundred bucks if you buy one unprogrammed.

The problem I have with the tie rod brace by itself assumes there's a big enough gap between tie-rod breaking force and what would damage the rack directly. I don't know what that actually is, but just wonder if the bushing materially affects that point, and how that relates to actual off road circumstances.

In other words, if you're realistically concerned about the tie rods breaking, you should only use braces if you plan on replacing the rack eventually. Especially since you're possibly adding more wear to your rack through the brace.

 

[K9handler47]

You could spend a lot of time reading through several threads and parsing a lot of drama to figure that out if you want, but here are some cliff notes;

A similar brace to to the Bronc buster one can be had for under $100 from JKS Manufacturing

A similar bushing to the Bronc Buster can be had for under $100 from Rough Country.

The Ford performance rack Will cost considerably more than $950 before you complete the install, Unless you happen to have the tuner already, or you just buy the regular Hoss 3.0 rack from a ford parts dealer and go through the process to program it yourself without the tuner.

End result;

Braces and bushings are valid, inexpensive Band Aids ($200 if you do the work), but you have to understand the risks associated with them (Moving the problem, not fixing it).

Upgraded Steering racks are a solution, but only go so far for the various spending levels. You can do a Hoss 3.0 rack for around $1000, But again, that's you doing all the work, and taking the hardest available (but least expensive) route to do it..

You can buy a bolt in rack from 74 weld, and never worry about it again for about $4000.. This is a pretty valid solution for the hardest core rock crawlers, But people like that are really few and far between...

im in the process of buying the ford performance tune, since my sport mode is now essentially useless (see my other thread on that drama lol), so I’ll have the that covered.

The plan after that was to address the steering rack but when I priced it all out the 3.0 rack wasn’t that much more all things considered. Unless the install price is astronomical…

 

[Gene Dios]

The 74weld is incredible and Quinn is a good dude. Super helpful when I was evaluating thier options. But if those are simply out of your price range, the hoss 3 /severe duty rack isn't that difficult to install. If you have a basic level of mechanical proficiency, you've changed brakes before, etc it's totally doable. I would say that it's just a lot of little annoying things like getting procal to do it's job, bolts that are awkward to reach, tetris-ing the racks in and out of position. Do it early on a Saturday, get a second pair of hands / backup brain, and schedule an alignment for after.

 

[zuke]

im in the process of buying the ford performance tune, since my sport mode is now essentially useless (see my other thread on that drama lol), so I’ll have the that covered.

The plan after that was to address the steering rack but when I priced it all out the 3.0 rack wasn’t that much more all things considered. Unless the install price is astronomical…

I agree that the 3.0 rack is the best bang for the buck, that's why I put one in my Badlands as soon as I could (Of course the 74 Weld and Ford Performance kit weren't even options then)

If you're going to pay for the install, yeah, it won't be cheap, But you'd have that expense with any rack replacement, so it's going to be $500 to $1000 regardless.

As @Gene Dios points out though, it's totally doable for a competent DIYer, and then get an ASE Certified tech to help with the programming and alignment if the concern is preserving warranty... (Alignment doesn't have to be ASE Certified, But might as well have that guy do it)

 

[Jms1]

It is my understanding that the NON SAS Badlands has a different steering angle than the models that are currently supported by Ford Performance. As previously stated Ford Performance is coming out with the ability to include the NON SAS Badlands. My question is, would there or is there an issue for those that have previously switched to the Hoss 3.0 in the NON SAS and programmed with FDRS. Would they not have the increased steering angle (whatever that means) in the new program being it came from a Wildtrack that had a Hoss 3.0 from the factory.

 

[mpeugeot]

It is my understanding that the NON SAS Badlands has a different steering angle than the models that are currently supported by Ford Performance. As previously stated Ford Performance is coming out with the ability to include the NON SAS Badlands. My question is, would there or is there an issue for those that have previously switched to the Hoss 3.0 in the NON SAS and programmed with FDRS. Would they not have the the steering angle (whatever that means) in the new program being it came from a Wildtrack that had a Hoss 3.0 from the factory.

The only possible explanation would be the Sway Bar Disconnect or front axle length - and I don't see how it would be any different from a Sasquatch Badlands Bronco as far as the relationship to the steering rack which would matter in any meaningful way... But I am not a suspension person.

 

[Bmadda]

It is my understanding that the NON SAS Badlands has a different steering angle than the models that are currently supported by Ford Performance. As previously stated Ford Performance is coming out with the ability to include the NON SAS Badlands. My question is, would there or is there an issue for those that have previously switched to the Hoss 3.0 in the NON SAS and programmed with FDRS. Would they not have the the steering angle (whatever that means) in the new program being it came from a Wildtrack that had a Hoss 3.0 from the factory.

I have Hoss 3.0 rack installed in NON SAS BL. No issues, it's a 2dr tho. Best we have been able to tell all 6g Broncos are 3.5 turns lock to lock...however because the assist motor drives a belt, there MAY be different size pulleys to change "assist ratio". How this would affect steering feel? Not sure, but doubt it's noticeable.

 

[Jms1]

Out of curiosity has anyone installed a Hoss 3.0 in a NON SAS 4 door yet?

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