Little back info: I have a 90 XJ with 5" of lift, long arms, 35s. auto locker in a Dana 30 out of a 97. Ruff Stuff's 1 ton steering setup - installed under the knuckle.

Took the jeep to Uwharrie this weekend. I have had the jeep for about 9 years now, but this is the first trip with the 35s and auto locker. I spent all day fighting the steering. Got through the rough stuff on trail 90 and the passenger side tie rod end broke at the jam nut on the threaded end. We pushed the jeep off to the side, stripped the steering off of it, and loaded up to head into town in another jeep to find parts. Waiting for a line of jeeps to pass, I noticed a sticker for Premier Welder's on his driver's fender. I hollered out the window, 'You got a welder on that truck?'
He cracked a grin and said, 'Yeah!'
"Want to weld a tie rod end for me?'
"Oh yeah! Been waiting for something to weld with this!'
Turns out he is a welder doing piping in pharmaceutical facilities. I put a bevel on the shaft, he ran two passes around that. He had some 3/4" schedule 40 pipe and 1.5"x1.5"x1/8" angle iron. Cut a short piece of pipe, split it, wrapped it around the welded joint and welded it up. Then cut (2) 4" strips of 1/2" wide flat bar out of the angle and lapped those on the top and bottom of the joint. Bolted it all back up and it drove out the trail great.

I want to prevent this from happening again. Any better setups out there? I plan to swap it over to an 'over the knuckle' setup, figure it will improve the angle on the drag link and reduce the loads on the passenger tre. I have never used an auto locker before, are there driving habits that will take it easier on the steering? Will a hydraulic steering assist ram ease the load on the tre's, or make it worse?

 

5" of lift and 35s isnt that dramatic a setup to say it needs much upgrading after already having a 1 ton steering kit.

The over the knuckle setup would reduce the angle on the steering, making it a smoother and yes reducing potential wear but with that you would also need to change your track bar setup as well.

Hydro assist wouldn't exactly relieve you of a potential break in the future either, that would just take take the load off the steering box soo it steers "easier" with big heavy tires.

What is your driving style when on the trails? Did the tre just PoP! Or were you in a bind and still into the throttle?

 

I know I'll need to redo the trackbar bracket, that's not a big deal. I have the Rough Country drop track bar, should be able to get away with redoing the axle side mount and adjusting the track bar shorter. Worse case, will need a couple hiem joints and a stick of DOM to make a new one.

I'm fairly mild on the throttle, preferring a more refined approach to obstacles. I had just got through a pretty good obstacle, bounced off one rock and it snapped. I think the 1 ton steering setup on the jeep is 5 or 6 years old, original TREs that came in the kit. Have taken it out for a couple wheeling trips a year since.

 

When’s the last time you put a wrench on the jam nut? That looks like a break that would happen if it wasn’t tight enough.

 

Maybe a month ago when I adjusted toe after the long arm install. I used (2) 1 1/4" open end wrenches, put all the oomph I had on it (I'm only 215 lbs, but have forearms like Popeye from turning wrenches for 25 years), and marked with a paint marker. Paint marks were still lined up.

 

Did the TRE break under compression or tension, i.e., were you turning passenger or driver?

 

I couldn't tell you, was over a month ago. Barely remember what I had for breakfast.

 

Would be interesting to see where the break occurred. Post a pic?

 

When installing tie rods, one must check the full range of steering to assure the tierod is not over extended. Specially important in lifted vehicles is to do this check with the suspension compressed, stretched, and even lopsided compressed and stretched left verses right sides of the vehicle. So you need to test with the body lifted up with a jack, wheels on and off ground, with one wheel in the air, other on ground, etc... This is very important for any tie rod that that runs from the Jeep frame to the axle, as this is where suspension stretch and compression effects the distances and angles between the frame and axle!!!!

Often tie rod failure is from over extension, I.e. over angled at the ball joint.
Other failures are impact damage, torn boots to let debris enter and grease come out, or too much force, say by turning huge tires against a big rock with a high power steering gear. The weakest link in the chain of steering components will fail first! That is why overlander offroad trekker drivers that go in the way out back like to carry a spare tierod end, for each type.

 

I verified the tie rods were not being maxed out when I put the long arm setup on the jeep. I'll be carrying an extra set of tie rod ends with me going forward.