I'd go a little further than not that great of parts... this type of stuff can cost people's lives.

 

so, because they use someone else's poor TRE its not their fault? If they had you use bailing wire to connect it would it not be their fault because its someone else's wire? If your parents were on a boeing jet and it crashed because the engine failed, would it not be Boeing's fault because the undersized engine made by GE aviation was not Boeings? Their choice to use a crap TRE that is too small for the application makes it their fault. WTF is the point of replacing the bar with a "heavy duty" bar if the most important part is still stock?

 

haha, so can almost anything. I'm agreeing with you, pay attention.

Dude, you have been excited way too much over this. I'm just pointing out that it makes no sense for people to keep posting that TJ incident. I don't care what they call the bar, it's got a TRE so that's your call to buy it. I'm clearly stating that the TRE broke in a place that suggest it was likely a bad part from a run of OEM replacement components OR it received a large impact and broke right there. Rusty's would have no way to control quality on that part. Just as any of our local parts retails can't verify quality on them before you buy a replacement. I don't know what to tell you, I'm trying to be really clear here. Your extravagant examples waste space on this page....

I think it should be a precedence to change from a TRE based track-bar to a double shear when lifting an XJ; just as I have on mine. So I'm not in anyway supporting the rigidity of a TRE mounted track-bar (despite fitting a larger one) or supporting Rusty's components. The thread here is clearly Rusty's fault. Which I've already stated this.

 

Failure of the TRE on their track bars is a problem that has come up before, not just in the case of that TJ. The fact that they continued to use an undersized TRE for years and after known problems come up show that in fact it should come up, because it shows that Rustys hasnt bothered to upgrade known failure points which are extremely dangerous.

 

 

Keep in mind that all of the "trail rated" "heavy duty" etc. is just marketing. There is no standard to go by or requirements to use these terms.

Most 4x4 parts companies are not big enough or organized enough to have any real quality control other than design.

After working in fab shops for 15 years and now owning one the final product quality control comes down to the effort exerted by the actual fabricators.

Also do not forget that a lot of the bigger companies use engineers creating parts based on machine failure numbers. Not 4x4 applications. IE a 3/4 16 thread rod end has a shear strength of X and X will not be obtained in a calculated environment therefore it is fine for this part we are making only to sell. Not actually to be used real world.

In the real world that rod end will see forces such as curbs being hit at 25 mph because you don't want to go to the other exit at the bank or trees on the trail that you slide down the sideways on the trail. Therefore that 3/4 rod end will break or wear faster than the proper part.

I have customers send me videos of them jumping ravines and gulleys saying "Hey my frame mount ripped off but your junk held up fine.....

That is the abuse that 4x4 parts should be intended for. Anything else should be considered irresponsible and a lie.

PLease keep in mind that I am not typing this as an advertisement for myself but as an advisory that just because something is expensive does not make it better. All of those engineers and full page magazine adds and big corporate trucks are expensive. Somebody (the consumer) has to pay for them. The only way that happens is if the parts they make are cheap and made overseas.

Over the years I have seen horrible results and even worse customer service from Skyjacker, trail master, Superlift and rough country.

Next up that is OK would be rubicon express, tera flex, and BDS.

As far as down right reliable and without question reputable is Currie, Old man Emu. JKS, Clayton offroad. BTF, I would put myself here but that is a conflict of interest for my soapbox I am standing on.

We actually re organized our process and are not a parts seller but are a parts builder. We Build everything to order per customer. I know almost setup my parts go on and customers have to wait sometimes up to 3 weeks for their parts. That sucks for guys in a hurry but we have 100% quality control. All Parts are made in America.

Quality is Number 1 because families ride in Jeeps. I have a 3 month old and a 3 year old. I cannot let any part leave my shop that I would not put on my own vehicle. I encourage consumers to pursue and demand the same level of quality for the parts they put on their own vehicles.

I hold myself personally responsible for the safety provided and reliability of my parts and the vehicles they are installed on.

Andy Carter
Ironman4x4fab.com
andy@ironman4x4fab.com
704 796 3502- personal cell.

 

VERY WELL PUT Andy.

 

people lift vechicles then think they are undestructable .All companys have breakage thats just life if you dont like a certain company dont use them its your choice!

 

sounds like you need to go back and look at those pictures one more time... the builder obviously didn't care enough to even make sure the weld hit the two parts he was welding together... how in the world can anyone consider that normal breakage? It wasn't a wear and tear thing... it wasn't a defective part that came off some assembly line where there's just so many one or two are bound to slip through... This was straight up neglect. It shows that whoever built that part doesn't give a damn about the quality of the part, the customer who buys it, the vehicle it goes on, or the people it injures or kills. The weld flat out missed the end it was meant to hold on! that was impossible to miss unless the guy welded it, packed it, and shipped it blindfolded.

 

Any time you weld in a bung (bad Idea and lazy fab) The connection should be welded as well as holes drilled and plug welded. Had that been done this bar would not have broke.

A

 

ANdy I disagree about welding bungs being a bad Idea or lazy fab, but I do agree with dilling and plug welding.. and actually knowing how to properly prepare a joint and weld it up properly.

 

the never ending post..lol...

 

i had the same trackbar in my old xj and driving down powerlines one day the right front tire droped into a little hole and the threaded end pulled out of the the trackbar, that was and will be the last thing ive bought from them.

 

From my experience, that only happens when the jam nut is not tight enough and that makes the threads get worn down to nothing

 

^ I was gonna say the same thing. You'd be surprised how much it'll deflect if the jam nut loosens up. It's things like this that remind you many other things come into play when a component fails.