Frozen steering rack (with aftermarket parts)

[userdude]

What the hell is a snow sock?

I saw them in CO back in October and asked the clerk the same thing. Apparently it's a fabric material you put over your tire instead of chains. Here's someone selling it by that name:

https://autosock.us/

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[Felix808]

if you watch the same trip on the revereoverland channel they are trying out something different to test it out.

I think these guys got enough clicks from us already.

 

[Dusty at ICON]

Haven't seen the video yet but I get the gist of what's going on, from the comments here. Looks like our part in this shit-show has already been handled LOL. Thanks guys for the assist

 

[SkiRig]

Me too, but I'm not running Ridge Grapplers Sliders. I've heard nothing good about them in wet or snow.
Looks like he's carrying a lot of weight on the stock springs, too.

I have no personal experience with Nitto tires, but I know this particular Youtuber switched from OEM tires to these relatively recently precisely because of snow performance. That was odd to me because I've heard a number of people complain about Nittos in snow and rain. This guy said his OEM GY Territory tires made him slide horizontally when on an angled snow covered trail. I don't know if that is true or not but I thought it was an interesting choice to go to the NItto for snow performance. That's a heavy tire that is not even 3 peak rated so the rationale is a little suspect.

 

[Montana Bronco]

This guy said his OEM GY Territory tires made him slide horizontally when on an angled snow covered trail. I don't know if that is true or not

I bet he turned on a locker. Classic rookie mistake, where an experienced off-roader new to winter driving engages lockers thinking lockers will help. They shoot you sideways when on an angle. Sounds exactly like what he did.

 

[Bdisco]

What the hell is a snow sock?

TFL Winter tires vs socks

The Youtube vid did show some beautiful scenery.

 

[Az_Squatch_Bronco]

It could have been a cool adventure video. Instead we got this .

I did try the beer.

 

[Merc4x4]

I have no personal experience with Nitto tires, but I know this particular Youtuber switched from OEM tires to these relatively recently precisely because of snow performance. That was odd to me because I've heard a number of people complain about Nittos in snow and rain. This guy said his OEM GY Territory tires made him slide horizontally when on an angled snow covered trail. I don't know if that is true or not but I thought it was an interesting choice to go to the NItto for snow performance. That's a heavy tire that is not even 3 peak rated so the rationale is a little suspect.

I haven't run the Rigde Grapplers, but wet and snow seem to be an almost universal con in reviews.
I'm no fan of the stock GY's, but I think their traction is very good. I think they're too weak and I'm too lazy to want to deal with punctures, especially in the dirt! lol

 

[Merc4x4]

I bet he turned on a locker. Classic rookie mistake, where an experienced off-roader new to winter driving engages lockers thinking lockers will help. They shoot you sideways when on an angle. Sounds exactly like what he did.

I did that in my Mercedes. I was in the WV mountains on New Years Eve and the forest road was covered in ice. I decided to put my passenger tires on the edge in the snow and drivers' on the ice going up a little grade. The back end went sideways.
Thinking about it later, I probably would have been better off without the locker.

 

[BadlandsA51]

When someone who doesn’t really know what they are doing does modifications with questionable aftermarket parts………..

 

[popo_patty]

So I reached out to the guy in the video for his thoughts directly. I found a video of him installing the tie rods and there was no outer clamp on the boots nor did it appear to have a lip to put a clamp on.
After reaching out, he stated the same. No lip to put a clamp on nor were clamps provided for the outer edge of the boot. I suggested that maybe the lip was inverted but he responded that they had already checked that and there just wasn’t a lip on the boot to put a clamp. Attached is the screen shot from his boot along with a photo of Icons boot from their website. In the Icon photo you can see the small lip with a clamp.
Obviously I wish he had gone over this in his video as it’s misleading. But it seems he has the wrong boot or a defective boot.
He is of the opinion the design is bad. While I’m not a huge fan of Icon tie rods personally. I don’t think their design is an issue here, it’s just a defective part and he didn’t realize that when he installed it.

 

[LanceIto]

Haven't seen the video yet but I get the gist of what's going on, from the comments here. Looks like our part in this shit-show has already been handled LOL. Thanks guys for the assist

How has your part been handled?

 

[JohnnyBronco]

This second-party post is problematic. Perhaps a better warning label about the misleading title!
1. The u-tuber is irresponsible because reputations matter, and the headline, "my Bronco left me stranded in a snowstorm" is not true. Its not the Bronco. Nothing FORD broke as near as we can tell. Its the Icon aftermarket parts, including a boot which is only briefly mentioned during a repair video. And we really dont know.
2. Viewers would immediately assume that the Bronco steering rack froze up, as the poster claimed. The poster should have, during the video, when the freeze up happened, said, "I have an aftermarket steering rack and that may be my problem." Disclosure and honesty are important. Otherwise, a viewer would immediately blame Ford. Reputations of manufacturers are important. Nowhere in the video are the failed parts properly identified, except a brief, vague mention of an Icon boot. The video should not be out without that attribution or clarification.
3. Follow up is important. What happened? Was it installation errors? Part design? Bad luck?
4. Those of us who are only moderately capable mechanically, and new to aftermarket components and parts, are on 6g so that we can learn from more-capable users. We also want to know what aftermarket parts work. We want to know the weaknesses of Ford designs, or what use pushes them beyond their design limits. But the lack of clarity here is important. When posting such videos, more of a disclaimer would be important . . . Thankfully, there is a "aftermarket part" disclaimer in the leading headline box.
5. This is not the only post where it takes alot of digging before the reader realizes that its not a FORD oem part that broke, but something else. I would encourage some posting standards where the post would list some details of the build, its OEM status, etc.
6. It was a nice trip, however. There was a celebration of a Utubers 100,000 viewer status. Unfortunately, that push for success is blinding the content creator from including accurate content and responsible production.

In fact maybe @admin did relabel this thread yet you are correct. Nothing OEM as built from factory caused this Bronco to be stranded. Nothing.

And no evidence that if owner had left it factory that anything Ford would have left him stranded.

 

[lakesinai]

In fact maybe @admin did relabel this thread yet you are correct. Nothing OEM as built from factory caused this Bronco to be stranded. Nothing.

And no evidence that if owner had left it factory that anything Ford would have left him stranded.

Correct, my post is partly redundant because someone changed the title, which originally said, "My Bronco left me Stranded . . ." Which implied that Ford's steering rack design was at fault for his breakdown, where it was actually (apparently) aftermarket "upgrades", and/or their faulty installation, that caused the breakdown.

 

[LanceIto]

You can't blame the Icon boots, someone failed to put the tie rod side boot clamps on. Water freezes, water in the rack will freeze. Self inflicted.

As a field fix we tried to fit a tiny zip-tie to the end of the boot. Even that was too big. The boot was designed without a clamping surface. It was eye opening to me.

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