Check out pix







Steering rack broke at the tie rod end! Was on the freeway going about 65mph! Boy talk about wheel wobble. Stabilizer save my wheel and other front end parts from breaking off.

Replaced rack and tie rods. Checked and aligned front end. All is good

 

Yup! I had the exact same break in the exact same spot. Except I was going about 25mph and hit a pot hole. I wonder what causes this.

 

Do you have a lift?

 

Yea, 6in Fabtech. As a matter of fact, I also have dual steering stabilizer.

 

That's what's breaking the rod.

The steering stabilizer is exerting a side force from off center of the rod itself and causing it to flex until it breaks. Every time you turn it you have to pull or push that stabilizer and it's flexing the rod. They are breaking at the threads because that's where they are weakest due to the threads. They'll survive as long as they are allowed to do their job without any side force, as long as they can stay "straight".

Take a drink straw and push it straight into a hard milkshake. It goes fine.

Now do it with a little side pressure, it folds.

 

I have a 6" Fabtech too. I was thinking about getting that same dual stabilizer but I think I'm going to hold off now

 

Thanks, For the info. I had a feeling that was the case. The truck actually rides smoother with out them. So I`m leaving them off.

 

Yeah, good idea to leave that off. Worn parts that give you notice when needing replacement are one thing ..... when parts snap at 50-60 mph and let wheels point in their own direction are another.

The piston rod of the damper is almost as big as the tie rod end from the rack. That steering damper has a bracket that makes it look like it's parallel to the steering tie rod, but that just acts like a lever. Either way, whether with the bracket spacing it away or if connected straight to the tie rod, the damper is going to exert a force or resistance to movement from the side of the tie rod and a few hundred or thousand cycles later, the tie rod simply snaps.

In the old trucks, like my older '77 .... the tie rods and drag links were huge in comparison to the tie rods that come off a rack. You could add several steering stabilizers or dampers to them and not ever have a problem .... except turning them and the big tires did accelerate wear of the steering box internals and sometimes cracked frames at the mounting pad.

Rack and pinion steering systems usually don't have such big thick ytie rod ends as they are usually short lengths that work in a straight line pull / push from the end of the rack to the spindle arm.

The only way I'ld hang all that on the truck is if you could somehow attach the steering stabilizer directly to the spindle's arm itself and not to the tie rod end. Even then, the big tires, heavy weights, steering them at speed, bumps, offset wheels, etc ..... all work to wear out parts just that much faster. As long as that's acceptable, all is OK.

 

HOLY CRAP, that's a scary break!

 

i had somthing simmilar on my 01, i dont have a rack but the tierod pulled out of the connecting sleave an hour from home, lucky for me i had a cordless drill and a nut and bolt so i could through bolt it and get home. Its deffinatly a scary fealing to have a 35 inch tire doing what ever it feels like