- First Name
- Nate
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2020
- Threads
- 54
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- 2,690
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- Location
- Sac-a-tomatoes
- Vehicle(s)
- Bronco, F150
- Your Bronco Model
- Black Diamond
- Thread starter
- #1
I keep seeing people post about steering upgrades, lets talk about what you are risking.
Factory tie rods are the big item everyone talks about as being the week link. We have seen mostly two kinds of failures, bent at the adjuster or snapped at the adjuster. The snapped failure is substantially worse than the bent failure as you have a complete loss of control over a partial loss of control. It is important to see the value in the type of failure as you rather have some steering vs no steering.
Factory steering rack is the next weakest item. The biggest hazard is the loss of the tensioner that can result in a complete loss of steering. The tensioner threads break off when the internal shaft running through the housing deflects. This occurs when the driver front tire puts to much pressure on the steering system the force pushes into the plastic factory bushing deforming it and then critically failing the tensioner. You also have an issue with the passenger side as doing the same thing but instead of destroying the tensioner it eats out the aluminum housing. This extra metal enters the system and slowly destroys the plastic power assist system.
If you upgrade your tie rods you are increase the stress put on the steering rack. You are literally moving from possibility of losing 1 wheel of steering to complete loss of steering. Spending some money on a driver side Delrin bushing is about the best thing an owner can do to mitigate the design flaw of the factory steering rack. This bushing helps mitigate the loss of steering hazard by drastically increasing the force required to break the tensioner on the steering rack. At this time with what is known about the Bronco Platform I would refrain from going larger on the tie rods unless you want be part of the break it first and find out latter club.
Observations:
Most of the time the stock tie rods will fail before the steering rack.
Adding basic sleeves like JKS, Rough Country or Level Up results in a few broken racks.
Adding a steering rack bushing seems to be safe all the way up to 37s and upgraded tie rods.
Adding a passenger side housing you can move up to Icon Tie Rods and BroncBuster Braces.
This is subjective with almost no definitive proof since there are lots of different combination out there. Just don't put yourself out in the broken rack club its dangerous, its costly and takes a long time to get parts.
Factory tie rods are the big item everyone talks about as being the week link. We have seen mostly two kinds of failures, bent at the adjuster or snapped at the adjuster. The snapped failure is substantially worse than the bent failure as you have a complete loss of control over a partial loss of control. It is important to see the value in the type of failure as you rather have some steering vs no steering.
Factory steering rack is the next weakest item. The biggest hazard is the loss of the tensioner that can result in a complete loss of steering. The tensioner threads break off when the internal shaft running through the housing deflects. This occurs when the driver front tire puts to much pressure on the steering system the force pushes into the plastic factory bushing deforming it and then critically failing the tensioner. You also have an issue with the passenger side as doing the same thing but instead of destroying the tensioner it eats out the aluminum housing. This extra metal enters the system and slowly destroys the plastic power assist system.
If you upgrade your tie rods you are increase the stress put on the steering rack. You are literally moving from possibility of losing 1 wheel of steering to complete loss of steering. Spending some money on a driver side Delrin bushing is about the best thing an owner can do to mitigate the design flaw of the factory steering rack. This bushing helps mitigate the loss of steering hazard by drastically increasing the force required to break the tensioner on the steering rack. At this time with what is known about the Bronco Platform I would refrain from going larger on the tie rods unless you want be part of the break it first and find out latter club.
Observations:
Most of the time the stock tie rods will fail before the steering rack.
Adding basic sleeves like JKS, Rough Country or Level Up results in a few broken racks.
Adding a steering rack bushing seems to be safe all the way up to 37s and upgraded tie rods.
Adding a passenger side housing you can move up to Icon Tie Rods and BroncBuster Braces.
This is subjective with almost no definitive proof since there are lots of different combination out there. Just don't put yourself out in the broken rack club its dangerous, its costly and takes a long time to get parts.
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