Steering impossible while off-camber

[Rkgzx9leftcoast]

The bushing helps prevent the cross shaft from popping the cap off and leaving the steering free- wheeling. That is why I put the bushing in. I think it helps support the drivers side as well. The billet passenger housing does the same, but is spendy as hell. The bushing is pricy, buyt I felt better having it in on the trails I was doing.

Sponsored

 

[GRIFFINCONWAY]

Same thing happened to me in my bone stock badlands sasquatch on stock wheels/tires in an off camber situation. Once I got back on level ground everything was fine. Not really sure what caused it but have driven 10,000 miles since then without issue, including many off road miles.

 

[SS Bronco]

I agree the upgrade steering helps control the movement inside the rack. There’s is just a small portion of the Bronco community pushing them to the limits, who would benefit from the upgrades. Hopefully 3.0 will be better, but again a tiny fraction will be putting it to the test.

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

Flare deletes wrecked your aerodynamicals and now the steering rack is overheating.

 

[Theherofails]

Yeah mine did this a little at Sand Hollow on Double Sammy And Plan B , both solid 7 rated trails. It was only when the front locker was on and I had to turn after the obstacle. Some were off camber, some were just big ledges to climb over. It unfroze after going forward and backwards and unlocking front Diff. Probably did this 4 or 5 times over both days.

I have the Bronc buster bushing, and tie rod braces. Once it unfroze I had no issues and have driven about 1000 miles since. ( back home to AZ from Utah the next day included). I have used lockers a little on trials in AZ since, but the trails are nothing like I was on in Sand Hollow.

I think its the motor on the rack getting overheated. There is a belt inside that helps assist in steering. I have 37s, no lift on stock offset wheels as well. The rack is just undersized in my opinion for anything aftermarket. I may do the HOSS 3.0 at some point.

No great solution out there for it, but I dont think it grenaded anything either.

I think you are absolutely right. Just pulled codes. I didn’t get any dash lights while it was happening, but I have an overheated steering box code.

My best guess right now is my power steering over heated due to over working it on the 9 rated trail. The larger tires/lift are likely causing it to work harder than normal due to increased friction against the bushing and maybe even the housing, as BroncBuster has found in extreme use cases.

This leads me to believe that just doing the BroncBuster stuff isn’t going to entirely fix this..

 

[Rkgzx9leftcoast]

I think you are absolutely right. Just pulled codes. I didn’t get any dash lights while it was happening, but I have an overheated steering box code.

My best guess right now is my power steering over heated due to over working it on the 9 rated trail. The larger tires/lift are likely causing it to work harder than normal due to increased friction against the bushing and maybe even the housing, as BroncBuster has found in extreme use cases.

This leads me to believe that just doing the BroncBuster stuff isn’t going to entirely fix this..

Yeah, If you look at the 3.0 Rack the Motor and the housing is bigger. I think they realized this on the Raptor and added the bigger motor, ect. I guess time will tell if those that switched out to the 3.0 Rack are not having issues. I held off getting the Billet housing, since the 3.0 rack isnt much more.

Looks like the 3.0 housing in the new year for me. Mine is still working ok at the moment thankfully.

 

[SS Bronco]

Not positive it’s the Broncbuster parts or luck , but have worked my steering very hard over rocks with zero issues including over heating. The binding could be the reason for the excess heat.

 

[Graham1911]

I haven't even got my bronco yet but have had too much time to gradually buy parts to build when it arrives. Went from thinking that I would just add a front and rear bumper to accessory overload. I now have a Zone 3" lift with UCAs for SAS and putting 37s with zero offset wheels. Reading the forums I realized that this may cause issues with the tie rods so I ordered the JKS re-enforcement. Then realized that that was just moving the stress to stirring rack. Read on forum a couple of weeks ago where someone was getting dash warnings about stirring rack problems after wheeling. He left trail and stirring went out on highway going home. So I went ahead and took advantage of Bronc Buster Black Friday 25% off sale and bought bushing and housing. Expensive but seems like good insurance. Not planning on doing too crazy wheeling, but was also planning on just bumpers.

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

I think you are absolutely right. Just pulled codes. I didn’t get any dash lights while it was happening, but I have an overheated steering box code.

My best guess right now is my power steering over heated due to over working it on the 9 rated trail. The larger tires/lift are likely causing it to work harder than normal due to increased friction against the bushing and maybe even the housing, as BroncBuster has found in extreme use cases.

This leads me to believe that just doing the BroncBuster stuff isn’t going to entirely fix this..

I was being an absolute smart ass about it overheating because I hate flare deletes but now I'm laughing that there's actually an overheat code

 

[Oldhippie]

I had a f100 powerstreerimg box on my early Bronco and if pushed hard in the rocks it would boil water and be super hard to turn until kooled off (even with a cooler). Driving more intelligent sloved the problem...don’t turn the wheel when stopped, against a rock or if it doesn’t want to turn (two finger driving). Backing up is nearly always an option...jumping to the new Bronco, we all know the rack is an issue so I plan to baby it at least until upgraded to the raptor box...

 

[Graham1911]

I guess it just makes too much sense for Ford to just start adding beefed up stirring to 23 model forward on SAS packages. Even if they have to add a little to MSRP. It looks to me that would not only save a lot of headache to buyers, it would help Ford's reputation. But what do I know. I'm just a consumer.

 

[Snacktime]

@SS Bronco and @NORCALGXP Remember when Eric tried to do Soup Bowl and said he couldn't turn the wheel. We had him try and go back and forth to get the steering to turn? I got a feeling this is the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if a combination of front locker and angles causes the rack to limit steering torque.

I will also say there is no column lock on the bronco. Go outside and try turning the wheel to see what unassisted feels like.

I will be testing my 3.0 Rack out this weekend, but at this time I can't tell the difference. My last trip out was more of a pleasure cruise through the snow than testing limits.

 

[LockedBronco]

Yep. Pic 3 is one of the times steering was nearly impossible in either direction. Normally I would expect overly easy steering when turning downhill and a bit of resistance while turning uphill.

I went out and pulled the steering boot on the driver side and as expected, there is wear on the bushing. It appears the rack is flexing which caused the teeth to engage on the bushing, making turning incredibly difficult. That would explain the behavior.

BroncBuster Is correct in his thoughts behind the bushing replacement, but I guess not all cases present the same. What’s interesting is this problem originally started when I was on the factory 35s, so I’m not sure how much of that wear is recent.

No metal shavings, which is good. Just some contaminants from the factory boot not being completely water tight apparently. That bushing is chewed up near the teeth though.

At that angle not moving that is a lot of weight for that rack to not just turn the wheels but also move the Bronco. Even if it was a box on frame it would be the same without ram assist to help.

 

[Theherofails]

I’m heading out to do some testing. If I don’t make it back, well at least I’ll leave a beautiful corpse.

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

@SS Bronco and @NORCALGXP Remember when Eric tried to do Soup Bowl and said he couldn't turn the wheel. We had him try and go back and forth to get the steering to turn? I got a feeling this is the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if a combination of front locker and angles causes the rack to limit steering torque.

I will also say there is no column lock on the bronco. Go outside and try turning the wheel to see what unassisted feels like.

I will be testing my 3.0 Rack out this weekend, but at this time I can't tell the difference. My last trip out was more of a pleasure cruise through the snow than testing limits.

Did you and others figure out how to make the 3.0 rack work in a non-3.0 Bronco? I must have missed the fix.

Sponsored