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Tunagates

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Lifted his Bronco 2 inches, put 37 tires on it, went trailing on an extreme ( IMHO ) trail. Broke both tie rods ( tie rods are rods make you turn left right in conjuncture with the rack & pinion they "tie" to your rack in pinion who your steering column connects too) and stripped rack & pinion. , tried to have it repaired/replaced under warranty but was denied by Ford dealer.

That's about it
Thank you - much appreciated.
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fschael

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Im sure your heard the term “You gotta pay to play”! Well, you are finding out first hand what that means and its ridiculous that you think Ford is going to cover this for you. As soon as you mod a vehicle, the warranty is pretty much voided. Has been that way for atleast the past 20yrs. Jeep and every manufacture follow the same guidelines. FoMoCo is not your sponsor and when you add lift it changes A-Arm/balljoint angles, axle geometry, tierod geometry and so on, plus bigger tires especially 37s add incredible weight and stress. Didnt you have 13.50 also? There is a reason Ford has hours upon hours of R&D and thats what makes the Sasquatch package so unique. Its covered under factory warranty because it has factory parts. If I put a supercharger on my Mustang with 3 shots of nitrous and race every weekend, do you think Ford is gonna give me a new rear end, tranny, or engine when it finally goes? Hell No! Same difference with a modded 4wd. Btw, I have seen Jeeps completely explode the front differential with hardcore offroading. Doesnt mean the front axle is weak just abused above its capabalities. Everything has its limits and you do not have a Sponsorship with Ford. In fact don’t be surprised if something else minor goes bad down the rd and they deny your warranty. Especially with you having evidence all over social media of your mods and abuse. So own up to it, learn from it and move on.
That Mustang example opened my eyes. It's a perfect example for this situation.
 

Felix808

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Lifted his Bronco 2 inches, put 37 tires on it, went trailing on an extreme ( IMHO ) trail. Broke both tie rods ( tie rods are rods make you turn left right in conjuncture with the rack & pinion they "tie" to your rack in pinion who your steering column connects too) and stripped rack & pinion. , tried to have it repaired/replaced under warranty but was denied by Ford dealer.

That's about it
Thanks Cliff (Cliff Notes) ;)
 
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hozer

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From stock BL tires, 33.5 to 37. That could be damn near 200lbs of extra unsprung weight.

The geometry change with 4" of extra tire and 2" of lift on stock parts is not something I'd warranty either. Certainly wouldn't put it through the ringer without all the extra supporting mods.

Hope you can get a dealer to help ya out OP!
 

DwnSth

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I'm sorry but the tie rod is stupid weak if that obsticle caused both to break. Not sure if Ford will cover it...not sure Jeep would on similar mods. However the optics for Ford is not good. Are the components up to the task? If this becomes a common failure point then For will need to address this....that is if Ford is listening to customers anymore!
 

JPG

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One of the mechanics gurus here should do a tensile test on the original tie rods vs what's available
 

HPNQ420

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One of the mechanics gurus here should do a tensile test on the original tie rods vs what's available
The problem is that as you move out of the horizontal plane the tie rod is no longer in simple compression or tension, there is now shear and moment on it as well. The bigger the angle the more additional stresses. You can look at the outer rod and see where it will fail (where it did) as it is necked down and then there is a stress riser where the threads start. The disappointment is that the female end stripped. Failure of the outer rod should happen before that point. The stripping may have been exacerbated through deformation due to vertical loads at the threaded joint.
 
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ollie

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I’ll be the jerk here…

Lift is NOT the same as lift and larger tires. I don’t care if it’s “one size up “ we knew they market the 35s as being the absolute pinnacle of what that truck can do. That’s why they took it to Moab on 35s.

a lift changes angles and they might eat that. There will be a limit to that as well, but I can see the argument made for even up to 3/4 inch lifts being covered.

you put more rotating mass on components designed to max out at 35 inch tires. Same reason why it’s a fool’s errand to put 37s on a wrangler sport. Too much stress on the components.

Glad you had fun. Welcome to off-roading where shit is expensive.
I'm happy you said this. If only people would take into consideration just one size up or going to an "E" rated tire does in regards to accelerated wear and damage to components.

Secondly, why should a dealership and Ford warranty a repair when a lift AND 37" tires were added? They should 100% warranty the vehicle even with the marks on the skid plate IF it had stock components.
Stock or not you cannot expect Ford or any other manufacturer to warranty components from abuse in the rocks. Also to be considered is these vehicles have independent front suspension. No matter how Ford Motor Company wants to market it, the design parameters are exceeded when you do rock crawling. It is extremely rare to see independent suspension out on black diamond/level 8-10 trails or obstacles.

And sadly, now that OP has posted a viral video and posted this on social media there is not a snowballs chance in hell that it will be repaired under warranty.

This is normal damage of any off road vehicle navigating in the rocks. Broken tie rods, axles, and steering boxes are commonly damaged anytime you are enjoying a rock crawl.
 

JohnnyBronco

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Based on his up close picture, it looks more like compressive force caused the rod to bend at the narrow part until it broke. Breaking both sides and the rack is impressive, in a bad way.
Contact with oversize tires would be my first guess.

Second would be the larger tire diameter over torqued the components and thus "boom"

As far as comparison to other off-road vehicles, the A-arms and all suspension parts on my '05 LR3 were twice the size of the same on my Bronco. Will it keep me off the same pothole riddled interstates? Nah.
 

JohnnyBronco

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I'm happy you said this. If only people would take into consideration just one size up or going to an "E" rated tire does in regards to accelerated wear and damage to components.



Stock or not you cannot expect Ford or any other manufacturer to warranty components from abuse in the rocks. Also to be considered is these vehicles have independent front suspension. No matter how Ford Motor Company wants to market it, the design parameters are exceeded when you do rock crawling. It is extremely rare to see independent suspension out on black diamond/level 8-10 trails or obstacles.

And sadly, now that OP has posted a viral video and posted this on social media there is not a snowballs chance in hell that it will be repaired under warranty.

This is normal damage of any off road vehicle navigating in the rocks. Broken tie rods, axles, and steering boxes are commonly damaged anytime you are enjoying a rock crawl.
Independent suspension (and 4 wheel is better at this) does a better job at keeping tires in contact with the surface. Unless you have lockers engaged, lift any wheel of a solid axle off the ground and the other wheel won't do squat. While keeping both independent wheels in contact without a locking diff won't guarantee you still have traction but it does give a better chance.

I do not think the Bronco is the best off-roader ever built and from personal experience I would give that nod to Land Rover. I do believe the Bronco is a close substitute for the Defender, and the price difference was a major part of my decision to go domestic this time.

But warranties are designed to cover vehicles as they are delivered AND/Or modified ONLY to the extent authorized by the manufacturer. Look at a different part of the vehicle. Rated to tow 3500# and if you have a 5000# load attached and blow the clutches or gears whose fault is that?

But it IS a free country and these vehicles are not built and sold by Apple, so modify to you heart's content but also be prepared for the consequences of adding anything not equivalent to what the manufacturer offers or approves.

You can buy a Roush Bronco and due to the relationship every Ford part still carries factory warranty, but install your own crate V8 and all bets are off.
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