How worried should I be about tie rod ends?

[Morganstein]

Badlands on 37's since day 1: 12k miles and a half dozen trips off-road with no issues. That said, I did buy and install the JKS tie rod sleeves a month or 2 ago just to be safe.

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[BlueBronco]

I might look into that, but will also need to find a video on how to replace it

It's easy and can be completed with basic tools. Watch a video once and you will be fine. I carry 2 in with my recovery gear. Hadn't had to personally replace one yet but came across a guy on a trail who broke his and was able to help a brother out and make his day.

I will probably end up replacing with aftermarket tie-rods eventually but spares are cheap insurance.

inner rod only: MB3Z-3280-B
inner rod kit (inner rod, bellow, clamp): MB3Z-3280-A

 

[calgecko]

It's easy and can be completed with basic tools. Watch a video once and you will be fine. I carry 2 in with my recovery gear. Hadn't had to personally replace one yet but came across a guy on a trail who broke his and was able to help a brother out and make his day.

I will probably end up replacing with aftermarket tie-rods eventually but spares are cheap insurance.

inner rod only: MB3Z-3280-B
inner rod kit (inner rod, bellow, clamp): MB3Z-3280-A

thanks .. are they the same from right to left?

 

[Sewie]

currently driving a 2021 Chevy ZR2 Bison

Bent tie-rods are fairly common in the GM trucks, too. That Colorado might even have the same diameter inner TRE as the Bronco. Not sure if the newer ones now have 16mm.

If you haven't worried about it yet, you probably don't need to start. Every time I've seen one bend/break (including doing it myself on my old truck) on the GMs or Broncos it has involved wheel spin or a wedged tire and too much skinny pedal. Buy a spare or two for insurance.

 

[wade65]

he was on pavement, so there was nothing that should have caused his tire to NOT be able to turn.. and if you can't turn a tire on a concrete pad without worrying about the tie-rod snapping, that's pretty sad for a vehicle that is designed and marketed for being an off-road vehicle.

My dad was an old-school auto mechanic and when I was young he would always yell at me when I would turn the wheel when I was stopped with the brakes on. On dry surfaces with the brakes engaged you put a tremendous amount of strain on the suspension/tie rods when you crank over the wheel at a stop. Granted, you would think the Bronco is stout enough to manage, but as a rule, you should be moving or at least not have your foot on the brakes.
But hey, what do I know. I'm two years in and the only thing I have to verify this is a hammock and a deck of cards...

 

[JohnnyBronco]

he was on pavement, so there was nothing that should have caused his tire to NOT be able to turn.. and if you can't turn a tire on a concrete pad without worrying about the tie-rod snapping, that's pretty sad for a vehicle that is designed and marketed for being an off-road vehicle.

I believe his tire was on the grass wedged against the concrete but here (again, go ahead and ignore me) don't turn your wheels full lock as I believe there is none. There is no built in steering stop other than the full extension left and right of tge steering rack. The wheels can move farther than this and in my opinion that's when all he'll breaks loose. If there were physical stops to the wheel pivot before running out of rack my hunch is the tie rods would not get overstretched (I typed overstressed but autocorrect may know better)

OP, do you baby the engine in deathly fear of a dropped valve? Don't turn "full lock" and don't smash into trees and you should worry less

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Initially, I thought the problem with tie rods snapping, was limited to the folks running 37" or bigger tires, and/or hardcore rock crawlers.. so I wasn't too worried - since I plan on keeping the stock 35" tires on my Sasquatch Badlands, and rock crawling doesn't interest me at all.. I prefer trails that get me to scenic places up in the mountains, maybe with some inclines/declines, but no rock crawling. However, recently seeing that someone had a tie rod end snap on them with stock suspension and tires, as they were making a U-turn in their driveway, in addition to the other folks doing the more hardcore stuff - really has me concerned. Most of the time, I'm off-roading by myself (currently driving a 2021 Chevy ZR2 Bison) - again doing trails and stuff just to get into the outdoors.. but now I'm concerned that I could have a tie rod snap on me doing something really mundane, which would leave me completely up a creek ... I'm curious if anyone else is having these concerns?
Pics of the usual type of stuff I do:

Well I think whoever was driving that Bronco had beaten it to death off road and it delayed the fail until he did the u turn. I optioned for the Hoss 3.0 so I am not going to be worried at all about my upgraded tie rods.

 

[The Mountain Man]

Well I think whoever was driving that Bronco had beaten it to death off road and it delayed the fail until he did the u turn. I optioned for the Hoss 3.0 so I am not going to be worried at all about my upgraded tie rods.

 

[Felix808]

It is a good idea to keep spares on hand. Without them it can be a long day. I went with the BroncBuster Stage 3 set up, but I also ordered a complete spare set for left & right with boots (Used my Ford Points ) This way if I have a failure I can have them dialed in for alignment & just swap them in & out rather quickly. I will also be running 37's.

YMMV

 

[the paws]

Why can I turn my steering wheel on my 2018 Chevy Colorado on dry pavement without breaking a tie rod? And my 2010 Colorado. And my 2004 Colorado, and my 2000 Colorado, and on and on. Something stinks here. Has anyone here broken tie rods on other vehicles?

 

[calgecko]

Why can I turn my steering wheel on my 2018 Chevy Colorado on dry pavement without breaking a tie rod? And my 2010 Colorado. And my 2004 Colorado, and my 2000 Colorado, and on and on. Something stinks here. Has anyone here broken tie rods on other vehicles?

I was thinking the same thing. I parallel park my truck all the time, and that often involves turning the wheel from lock to lock while it's stationary.

 

[goatman2]

I was thinking the same thing. I parallel park my truck all the time, and that often involves turning the wheel from lock to lock while it's stationary.

I think a few are overreacting to the turning while completely stopped. I agree it's a bad habit, that a ton of people don't think about, but I don't think it should risk breaking a tie rod. Turning the tires while stationary tears up the asphalt. When a business owner paves the lot or slurry coats the lot it bugs the crap out of me to see twisted tie marks tearing it up right away, from people turning while stationary. it's just a bad habit, be moving at least slightly when turning.

As far as whether or not Bronco tie rods should be beefed up, I think since there are simple fixes already out there already, do it. Or carry a spare just in case. It's relatively cheap relative to what else might happen, and it's kind of a Murphy's Law thing. Small risk of a few bucks to be prepared, a major pain in the ass if it happens and not prepared.

I think we can all agree that it isn't robust enough, with the weak point the inside thread right next to the jam nut. Most won't have any problem at all, like most Jeep owners don't have a problem with bending steering. However, enough Jeep owners do bend steering that it is a common upgrade. No reason to be different here. The JKS is simple and inexpensive, and so is the aluminum sleeve, or a spare part. Not a big deal.

I think we all agree that lifts increase the risk because of more angle on the tie rod, and so do bigger tires with more leverage against the knuckle and steering. Adding rims with more offset also increases the scrub radius and puts more pressure on the steering links, so that's something to consider when picking out new rims.

 

[dgorsett]

I think a few are overreacting to the turning while completely stopped. I agree it's a bad habit, that a ton of people don't think about, but I don't think it should risk breaking a tie rod. Turning the tires while stationary tears up the asphalt. When a business owner paves the lot or slurry coats the lot it bugs the crap out of me to see twisted tie marks tearing it up right away, from people turning while stationary. it's just a bad habit, be moving at least slightly when turning.

As far as whether or not Bronco tie rods should be beefed up, I think since there are simple fixes already out there already, do it. Or carry a spare just in case. It's relatively cheap relative to what else might happen, and it's kind of a Murphy's Law thing. Small risk of a few bucks to be prepared, a major pain in the ass if it happens and not prepared.

I think we can all agree that it isn't robust enough, with the weak point the inside thread right next to the jam nut. Most won't have any problem at all, like most Jeep owners don't have a problem with bending steering. However, enough Jeep owners do bend steering that it is a common upgrade. No reason to be different here. The JKS is simple and inexpensive, and so is the aluminum sleeve, or a spare part. Not a big deal.

I think we all agree that lifts increase the risk because of more angle on the tie rod, and so do bigger tires with more leverage against the knuckle and steering. Adding rims with more offset also increases the scrub radius and puts more pressure on the steering links, so that's something to consider when picking out new rims.

You're again right on. You were also right on in your comment on the First Edition owner disappointed in off road performance vs an XJ. Most short comings of the Bronco can be traced to lack of ground clearance from low hanging fuel tank and suspension parts. Your XJs and my Bronco IIs had fewer hang down things. Still love my new Bronco and it does great on moderate trails. Folks got mean so that thread must have been killed.

 

[Sewie]

Why can I turn my steering wheel on my 2018 Chevy Colorado on dry pavement without breaking a tie rod? And my 2010 Colorado. And my 2004 Colorado, and my 2000 Colorado, and on and on. Something stinks here. Has anyone here broken tie rods on other vehicles?

Yep, bent one on my H3 (same parts as the Colorado back then BTW). Climbing uphill, in rocks, tire spun then caught. Was with someone else on another trail when almost the exact same thing happened. We just carried spares and tried to limit wheel spin/hop. When GM released bigger TREs, we upgraded - or went aftermarket if available.

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