Tie Rods?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Conejoracer

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Posts
697
Reaction score
466
Location
Conejo Valley, California
The oem Raptor tie rod looks decidedly weak. That said, who has broken or bent a stock tie rod? The aftermarket tie rods look very enticing, but at $700 or so, are they worth it? I'm really only interested in who has actually damaged the oem tie rods, out of curiosity.
 

Humvee21

FRF Addict
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Posts
4,848
Reaction score
538
Good question. I don't have an answer for you, but I figure I'll give a little bit of input. Tie rods seem like the weak point of most if not all factory off road vehicles. It seems odd that after so many years of development they still have not learned to add beefier tie rods?? Just saying.
 

Dane

FRF Addict
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Posts
2,201
Reaction score
777
Location
Littleton, CO
Good question. I don't have an answer for you, but I figure I'll give a little bit of input. Tie rods seem like the weak point of most if not all factory off road vehicles. It seems odd that after so many years of development they still have not learned to add beefier tie rods?? Just saying.

Haven't bent a tie rod yet, but I can tell you a stock front axle isn't tough to break! :emotions122:
 

Timgco

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Posts
123
Reaction score
18
Location
Aurora, CO
On one side: If a tirerod brakes, it's an easy fix to do in the field.
A tierod, IMHO, is very easy to throw into your tool kit and does not take up much room.

On the other side: If you get a heavier duty tierod, you don't have to bring a spare along. One less part to fail under hard use.


Since I am new to the Raptor (3 weeks new) I'm not sure on the failure rate of these. On my past rigs (H2's/ H3's) the weak link was the tierods. If you broke or bent one it was easy to replace while out on the trail.
There were a coupld of HD replacments that I used and put the stock ones in my tool kit for spares.

If the Raptor ones are an issue (or some of the vets/ vendors here can share their experience on this subject) I would consider buying an HD set now and keeping the stock ones as spares in the truck's tool kit/ parts kit).
 

RPG COREY

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Posts
48
Reaction score
30
On one side: If a tirerod brakes, it's an easy fix to do in the field.
A tierod, IMHO, is very easy to throw into your tool kit and does not take up much room.



When the OE brakes, the entire wheel / tire , uca, lca, brake line, vacuum line, fender and 1/2 shaft go with it. Not pretty
 

KaiserM715

Kaiser Söze
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Posts
8,571
Reaction score
3,116
Location
Houston, TX
When the OE brakes, the entire wheel / tire , uca, lca, brake line, vacuum line, fender and 1/2 shaft go with it. Not pretty
The majority of the time, they bend, not break. There are steering hard stops on the LCA for the knuckle to prevent over-rotation, how would a bent tie rod take all of that out?
 

Yukon Joe

FRF Addict
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Posts
18,372
Reaction score
11,618
Location
Russellville, AR
I have the RPG tie rods, and I love them. I had to remove them for a time being, and could notice the difference in the front end. It felt wobbly or squishy with the stocks back on. I was happy to finally get the RPG ones back on.

With that said, I have never seen someone on here post that they broke or bent a stock tie rod.

Have you done any searches?

Joe
 

Hockster

My 45ft Bluewater Party
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Posts
5,142
Reaction score
1,871
Location
Winchester, Va
I have the RPG tie rods, and I love them. I had to remove them for a time being, and could notice the difference in the front end. It felt wobbly or squishy with the stocks back on. I was happy to finally get the RPG ones back on.

With that said, I have never seen someone on here post that they broke or bent a stock tie rod.

Have you done any searches?

Joe

That is illusion you feel .. I know you might think you feel this but, the manufacture could not legally sell a tie rod that was loose and felt wobbly.. Its the same feeling when you install a CAI and think wow this thing feels so much faster or like when I was a kid and I turned the air cleaner upside-down and felt WOW this is faster!!!...
It feels better because it justifys the spending of 700.00 for tie rods... Not saying you are crazy... The stock tie rods are not wobbly...
I think what you are feeling is more vibrations and road inputs...
 
Last edited:
Top