Steering impossible while off-camber

[Theherofails]

Easy there.... I'm not inferring that everybody with a lift or bigger tires is going to break the rack, I was simply saying that once you do a lift and tires, don't be surprised IF You do break the rack.

Whether you go with the unproven HOSS 3 or the BB fix, It's pretty much the only choices we have at this point.

Unfortunately this is one of those items where you won't know that you've been "breaking it" all along until it finally gives out.

Checking for metal shavings maybe away of predicting future failure. I dunno.

You’re one of my fav people here. Don’t ever change.

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[Snacktime]

Well onto phase two! So do you have a v6, might be turbo placement related? What skid plates? How hot out when this occurs? How many times have you dunked your rack under water (silt intrusion)?

 

[Theherofails]

Well onto phase two! So do you have a v6, might be turbo placement related? What skid plates? How hot out when this occurs? How many times have you dunked your rack under water (silt intrusion)?

1)Don't think so. Would have to shoot it with my IR thermometer to know for sure. I'll take that next trip. The steering rack is tucked up next to quite literally everything on the vehicle that gets hot, so I'm sure thats part of it.

2)Factory skids still. They are holding up quite well with no major deformations. Squeaky as all hell on the rocks though.

3.)Outside temp was ~60f. Fairly mild. I was unable to off-road all summer due to installing the suspension/tires etc, so not sure how temperature dependent this is. I got my Bronco Oct 2021 so I missed last summer as well.. I did have this issue in the fall 2021 and Spring 2022 though.

4.)Countless dunks in water, and I did see slight evidence of water ingress when I checked the driver side bushing. No major contaminants and the grease looked fine, though I am going to clean and regrease the rack the same way BroncBuster shows in his video.

 

[Mattwings]

It’s interesting with all the bashing of the Bronco that needs upgrades to steering and suspension on 37s . Nearly every
Jeep I see on 35”s or larger, that actually goes off road, has a host of changes and upgrades. 37s and larger, definitely sees mods to keep it together off road and have any sense of dive ability or durability. My LJ on 33s and 2” of lift was completely spent at 60k miles and it was used very lightly compared to my Bronco. I am not bashing Jeep, just not like you shouldn’t expect to break and need to upgrade components going with lifts and larger tires. Toyota, Ford, Jeep, GM, they all build to a price, weight and epa regulations.

 

[Tricky Dick]

It’s interesting with all the bashing of the Bronco that needs upgrades to steering and suspension on 37s . Nearly every
Jeep I see on 35”s or larger, that actually goes off road, has a host of changes and upgrades. 37s and larger, definitely sees mods to keep it together off road and have any sense of dive ability or durability. My LJ on 33s and 2” of lift was completely spent at 60k miles and it was used very lightly compared to my Bronco. I am not bashing Jeep, just not like you shouldn’t expect to break and need to upgrade components going with lifts and larger tires. Toyota, Ford, Jeep, GM, they all build to a price, weight and epa regulations.

It used to be a guy wouldn't run bigger than a 33 on a stock Jeep, then a 35 if you did a D44 swap, usually paired with "GM 1 ton steering". Then 37 was kind of a no man's land, you'd want to jump right to 38+ and a D60. Yes, factory stuff has been improving, but it still has a limit and we're finding it in real time.

 

[Theherofails]

It used to be a guy wouldn't run bigger than a 33 on a stock Jeep, then a 35 if you did a D44 swap, usually paired with "GM 1 ton steering". Then 37 was kind of a no man's land, you'd want to jump right to 38+ and a D60. Yes, factory stuff has been improving, but it still has a limit and we're finding it in real time.

Absolutely. My goal with this thread is to find the solution, not beat on Ford. 37s tires are MASSIVE. We shouldn't lose sight of what we are discussing here.. This happened on a 9 rated trail, which a vast - VAST majority of people will never (nor should ever) do.

You're not getting through this with a factory Sasquatch Bronco, so the entire thing really is in the realm of insanity to begin with. Even on 37s and an Icon coil-over lift, it still required heavy use of rock sliders and a lot of faith in God (no athiests in a foxhole).. With that said, I still have no good idea on what the long term fix is other than taking frequent breaks to let the steering cool. BroncBuster bushings/billet aluminum cap? Hoss 3.0 steering rack? Who knows..

 

[OddBall88]

Absolutely. My goal with this thread is to find the solution, not beat on Ford. 37s tires are MASSIVE. We shouldn't lose sight of what we are discussing here.. This happened on a 9 rated trail, which a vast - VAST majority of people will never (nor should ever) do.

You're not getting through this with a factory Sasquatch Bronco, so the entire thing really is in the realm of insanity to begin with. Even on 37s and an Icon coil-over lift, it still required heavy use of rock sliders and a lot of faith in God (no athiests in a foxhole).. With that said, I still have no good idea on what the long term fix is other than taking frequent breaks to let the steering cool. BroncBuster bushings/billet aluminum cap? Hoss 3.0 steering rack? Who knows..

I think funhavers hydro steering system will probably be the answer for the guys wanting to run big tires.

 

[Theherofails]

I think funhavers hydro steering system will probably be the answer for the guys wanting to run big tires.

Any link or info about this? I'd love to find out more..

 

[Snacktime]

Its in the first part of the video

 

[Leesnell91]

Its in the first part of the video

Ive seen this video before and I must have just been fanboy-ing too hard and missed that part LOL. Good to know that someone is doing it. I wonder what the cost will be on it.

 

[swooshdave]

Absolutely. My goal with this thread is to find the solution, not beat on Ford. 37s tires are MASSIVE. We shouldn't lose sight of what we are discussing here.. This happened on a 9 rated trail, which a vast - VAST majority of people will never (nor should ever) do.

You're not getting through this with a factory Sasquatch Bronco, so the entire thing really is in the realm of insanity to begin with. Even on 37s and an Icon coil-over lift, it still required heavy use of rock sliders and a lot of faith in God (no athiests in a foxhole).. With that said, I still have no good idea on what the long term fix is other than taking frequent breaks to let the steering cool. BroncBuster bushings/billet aluminum cap? Hoss 3.0 steering rack? Who knows..

Maybe just be aware when you are taxing the EPAS or not. People have gotten soft with power steering and think you can just spin the wheel with one finger. But there are times when you need to think your way through a path and not just plow through.

 

[Arokcrwlr]

Ive seen this video before and I must have just been fanboy-ing too hard and missed that part LOL. Good to know that someone is doing it. I wonder what the cost will be on it.

Mucho dinero! As he said in the vid "for the 1%"...

 

[SS Bronco]

Not to get to far off topic, but is that what Arizona 9 rated trail look like? Just curious I am looking to head south this winter to do some wheeling out of the snow.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

I think funhavers hydro steering system will probably be the answer for the guys wanting to run big tires.

Maybe for a trailer queen full blown rock crawler, but what about those of us that daily drive our rigs? Not sure if hydro is applicable there, but I’ve never had a hydro system.

 

[Theherofails]

Not to get to far off topic, but is that what Arizona 9 rated trail look like? Just curious I am looking to head south this winter to do some wheeling out of the snow.

This is a short little trail called Rocker Panel Pass where you crawl over very slippery boulders while trying not to slip and smash your rig to pieces on the car sized boulders scattered around the area.

It's rated a 9 in most trail books/websites and is a bit worse than normal right now as all the sand around the giant boulders is washed out. You will see angles close to 40 degrees and it gets REAL tippy, depending on the amount of flex your vehicle has and your comfort using rock sliders to pivot. The factory rock sliders can handle it just fine but leave little room for error.

To put things in perspective, that boulder on the right is bigger than my Bronco. Same rock, just a bit closer. In this photo, my passenger rock slider is supporting the vehicle as I slide across a boulder that dwarfs my 37s. People mistakenly stack rocks on the downside near the boulder thinking it helps with the angle, but really it just increases the likelihood you slip and smash your rig.

If you head this way, let me know! I do snow wheeling out in Eastern AZ near a tiny little town called Alpine. You can easily hit 10K+ feet elevation and there will generally be feet of snow up in the mountains by that time to mess around in.

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