Tie Rod Ends

[flh2fan]

Does anybody have experience with aftermarket tie rod ends and where to get them? Are they worth the money and when and under which circumstances do the stock parts fail?
Thanks!

[flh2fan]

Does anybody have experience with aftermarket tie rod ends and where to get them? Are they worth the money and when and under which circumstances do the stock parts fail?
Thanks!

[flh2fan]

Does anybody have experience with aftermarket tie rod ends and where to get them? Are they worth the money and when and under which circumstances do the stock parts fail?
Thanks!

[SunsetShannon]

My experience with my H2 was that the tie rod was always the first thing to go!

They're the same tie-rod for the Chevy pickup for goodness sakes! You'll spend $300 or more to replace one, and keep one as a spare. Buy the time you replace one set, and have one spare set, you might as well buy an aftermarket set that won't break!

RubberDuck4x4 (http://www.rubberduck4x4.com) sells a set that are beefier than the H1 tie rods. He's sold quite a few, and the latest customer installed a customized set on his 6" lifted H2, pretty cool.

Here is his response from a previous post, that will answer your questions, and put many of the 'myths' to rest...

"The reason the factory Tie-Rods break is because the Center Link twists to the point where it makes contact with the bottom of the frame. This Twisting motion can be seen when the truck is crawling through an obstacle and the tires "Pigeon Toe" in but the Tie Rods do not bend. Once the Center link makes contact with the frame, the stress has nowhere left to go but onto the Tie-Rod itself. Thus bending the 14mm Factory Tie Rods. Once the Center link makes contact with the bottom of the frame, you cannot stress the Factory Idler and Pitman arm any further.

The same instance will happen with the RubberDuck 4x4 Tie Rods however, you will not bend the 22mm Set-up and the stress will be in keeping the wheels straight.

So, will you wear out the Factory Idler and Pitman arms faster with the Heavy Duty Tie Rods?

As stated above, the Factory Tie Rods already cause the Center Link to flex and beefing up the Tie Rods WILL NOT cause the Centerlink, Idler, or Pitman to flex any further. However, I DO NOT know how this will effect your Factory Warrenty on any steering components. But, if it were me, I would follow the instructions that are included with the kit.

So, is it better to keep the Factory set-up or to go with the Heavy Duty Tie-Rods?

Throughout the Testing process, I have seen Factory Tie Rods break in many different situations, some due to Driver error, (ie. excessive wheel spin, incorrect line. ) and some have broken over the most minor obstacles while the truck was at a crawl. The Heavy Duty Tie Rods will not make you a better driver, but they will prevent you from bending Tie-Rods under normal Wheeling.

Please call or email me with ANY questions.
(513) 617-0913 or (513) 863-0231"

Travis DePew
aka. RubberDuck

Those of you that have delt with RubberDuck on the undercarriage, know that he is always willing to answer questions... Hope this helps!

[HummerLV]

just saw in the Dec. 04 issue of 4 wheel drive & sport utility mag that FABTECHMOTORSPORTS is making a HD setup for the GM's, H2 and Trucks.
i am waiting for info from them.

[MisterEd]

Travis did his RubberDuck fix on my truck... Note it's a new application for him, 4" Rancho..
Great guy, quality work!!!!

[SunsetShannon]

More pics of RubberDuck's 'standard' Heavy Duty Set...

[SunsetShannon]

Compared the the factory tie rod...

[SunsetShannon]

Installed on a non-lifted truck...

[MC YT]

For comparison's sake, I just ordered a set of tie rods from FST Performance. If anybody's interested, I'll post a pic when I get them installed.

[HummerLV]

of course we are interested http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Hummie2]

I would be interested in hearing how the FST rodends hold up and how fast they wear. I considered using spherical rodends (heim joints) for this hydro-assist set-up I just finished for my H2, but was worried they wouldn't last as long as the Rubberduck tierod ends.

All of the stock tierods, idler arm, pitman arm and stabilizer in the foreground are now not used.

[Hummie2]

Seth...

I really wanted to try it out in the Den on that weekend, but unfortunately we can't make it. We have a wedding to go to. Lets plan some rock crawlin either in Dec or right after the first of the year.

Don

[HummerLV]

hummie2
that setup looks sweet, have any more info?

[Hummie2]

HummerLV...

Its one of my creations. I used Rubberduck tierods and machined some adapters to fit them to the ram which I special ordered from Performance Off-road Systems. The cylinder is a 2 1/2" bore X 6 1/2" stroke balanced unit with induction hardened 1 1/2" rods, should be nearly impossible to bend them. The pitman arm is a chromemoly piece from Borgenson. I fabricated the crossmember from 1 3/4" x .250 wall DOM mechanical tube and it uses existing frame holes to mount it up. I can return everything back to stock fairly easy should I ever decide to. I've got about a month of free time fitting, fabricating, welding, machining everything and about $1500 in parts in the job. Still have a little work left to do to get everything dialed in right, but it looks like it holds some promise. I will let you know more when I get some more road miles and a few off-road trips on it.

Don