Details & update for 2021 Bronco Badlands with steering rack failure on King of the Hill K2 Trail

[P52Ranch]

Rack is still intact. Only broke the driver side. Welded it back together and drove it home. You know if I can just replace to rod? Seems it might be serviceable.

@mpeugeot posted these part numbers a couple of months back.

For instance, there are only one set of part numbers for inner and outer tie rods.

Left/Right inner tie rods MB3Z-3280-A
Left Outer Tie Rod KB3Z-3A130-D
Right Outer Tie Rod MB3Z-3A130-A

I thought I had seen a diagram showing all of the Bronco steering parts on one of the threads but I can't seem to find it.

Good Luck.

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[ryridesmotox]

I remember Cadillac 1st gen CTS-V owners trying to get warranty repairs on their glassy rear diff when they're grenading at the 1/4 mile track with Mickey Thompson sticky tires on them. You can't expect the manufacturer to cover your need for speed or offroad ,.. If you want to play be ready to pay ....

That was my last modded car, a 2004 V. It was well out of warranty when I got it and I did a bunch I dumb/fun shit to it. Just FYI GM ate a TON of money on those rear ends. They ended up with 4 generations of a rear end on a car that was produced from 2004-2007 with the last generation of rear end coming out after they ended production on the 2007s. And most of the guys that broke em got em covered, under warranty. Also, it was pretty well known that wheel hop was the killer on those. Burnouts and hard acceleration would lead to deflection of the ring gear and it would contact the case, causing it to literally explode and scatter itself hither an yawn. But that's what happens when they put a fucking base model aluminum rear end in a car with an extra 200hp and have shit rear end geometry. It was a really fun car though. When I was done mine had a 650hp LS2 based stroker, LS9 twin plate, and a iron Ford 8.8 diff. I never broke shit on that thing. Except for an injector seal and some plug wires.

This steering failure may/probably should be a learning experience like what GM had on the rear end. It's fine to put whatever garbage Ford can dig up on a focus or a Fiesta. But building the Bronco as an off-road vehicle and then throwing a less than beefy rack in it seems like a recipe for disaster. I know op is already working on a solution, but its kinda lame that Ford didn't spend some extra time/money on this part that has to do with road safety and such.

Somewhat off topic, anyone consider trying to eliminate the weak rack completely and going hydraulic ram? Or is that not an option?

 

[ollie]

But building the Bronco as an off-road vehicle and then throwing a less than beefy rack in it seems like a recipe for disaster.

There is no independent suspension manufactured with rack and pinion that can handle the abuse that a straight axle and traditional steering box can.

Consumers are purchasing these Broncos and expecting them to handle the same trails a Jeep Wrangler does. They are 2 totally different platforms for different off road conditions.

The Wrangler is for heavy duty rock crawling and hard core slow trails. The Bronco is more mellow faster flowing trails with occasional less difficult low speed obstacles.

The end user of the Broncos are going to have to have deep wallets and perform costly modifications to get even close to the strength of a traditional stock Dana 44 and steering box.

 

[ryridesmotox]

There is no independent suspension manufactured with rack and pinion that can handle the abuse that a straight axle and traditional steering box can.

Consumers are purchasing these Broncos and expecting them to handle the same trails a Jeep Wrangler does. They are 2 totally different platforms for different off road conditions.

The Wrangler is for heavy duty rock crawling and hard core slow trails. The Bronco is more mellow faster flowing trails with occasional less difficult low speed obstacles.

The end user of the Broncos are going to have to have deep wallets and perform costly modifications to get even close to the strength of a traditional stock Dana 44 and steering box.

You do realize that the m210s are literally updated D44s right? IFS has come a long way. The steering, on the other hand, seems to have taken some steps back.

A long time ago, I would have agreed that big solid axles like 1 ton full floaters were required for anything approqching serious offroading... maybe they still are for the really crazy stuff... but that started with my old 55 Chevy 4x4 and 40s in like 2002/2003 time frame. Stuff has come a long way since then.

 

[ollie]

You do realize that the m210s are literally updated D44s right? IFS has come a long way. The steering, on the other hand, seems to have taken some steps back.

I am in no way putting down IFS or rack and pinion. They just don't have a place for hard core rock crawling with the exception of highly modified KOH built rigs.

A long time ago, I would have agreed that big solid axles like 1 ton full floaters were required for anything approqching serious offroading... maybe they still are for the really crazy stuff.

Not if you are skilled enough with appropriate wheel size. It's the big tire craze that is requiring the beefing up of axles, steering and drivelines.

I have been running nothing but 2wd and max tire size of 265/70 x 17 for years and can go through some pretty precarious sections in my trucks. Of course I'm now cheating since installing a TruTrac diff with 3:73 gears. That along with my New Venture 3500 transmission I'm virtually unstoppable as long as I stay within the limitations of my skill and rigs capability.

Taking a stock Bronco on trails like King Of The Hill K2 is really outside the scope of the rigs capability. Demo days in Lucern during KOH was right at the limit of what these rigs can handle..

 

[az_dirt]

Welp. Got online today to see if I could figure something out, while driving down the street I noticed loud "pop and click" sounds with a left or right turn. Some new vibration at 35 mph. Bummer. 10,000 miles badlands sasquatch and some off-roading but not anything "hard core". I hope it is under warranty...

 

[Tcarp1]

 

[Tcarp1]

These tierods from rpg offroad look like a nice fix for the steering failures people have been having. Anyone run these yet?

 

[DoYouBronco]

in the raptor world where im from, there were 2 schools of thoughts to the upgraded tie rods.

1.) Upgrade the Outers only while Retaining the weak inner rod as failpoint before the loads get absorbed by the rack. Saving the rack is a plus but don't forget to bring an extra set of inners on the trail and tools to change one if needed. Be prepared to hold the group up for 30-45 min or Geta flat bed out there if you didn't plan accordingly.

2.)Upgrading the inner AND outer rods obviously handle much more abuse, however transfer those abrupt forces to the rack itself, or in @BroncBuster case, bend the single sheer uni ball pin on the spindle. It seems his steering reinforcement bushing saved the rack during the last lite bright wheeling session.

The only time I've seen a raptor rack fail on the trail, there was a lot more damage to worry about than the steering... IN my experience they usually start to show signs of needing to be replaced once your home safe and sound. time will tell how these bronco racks hold up and how they start showing signs of damage.

A the end of the day it just depends on which part you feel more comfortable replacing...

 

[OX1]

in the raptor world where im from, there were 2 schools of thoughts to the upgraded tie rods.

1.) Upgrade the Outers only while Retaining the weak inner rod as failpoint before the loads get absorbed by the rack. Saving the rack is a plus but don't forget to bring an extra set of inners on the trail and tools to change one if needed. Be prepared to hold the group up for 30-45 min or Geta flat bed out there if you didn't plan accordingly.

2.)Upgrading the inner AND outer rods obviously handle much more abuse, however transfer those abrupt forces to the rack itself, or in @BroncBuster case, bend the single sheer uni ball pin on the spindle. It seems his steering reinforcement bushing saved the rack during the last lite bright wheeling session.

The only time I've seen a raptor rack fail on the trail, there was a lot more damage to worry about than the steering... IN my experience they usually start to show signs of needing to be replaced once your home safe and sound. time will tell how these bronco racks hold up and how they start showing signs of damage.

A the end of the day it just depends on which part you feel more comfortable replacing...

Are these racks really that much weaker than the old bronco steering boxes and why?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Welp. Got online today to see if I could figure something out, while driving down the street I noticed loud "pop and click" sounds with a left or right turn. Some new vibration at 35 mph. Bummer. 10,000 miles badlands sasquatch and some off-roading but not anything "hard core". I hope it is under warranty...

Hello! Could you privately message us with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer? I'd like to check into this noise concern!

 

[az_dirt]

Hello! Could you privately message us with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer? I'd like to check into this noise concern!

PM sent.

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