Thread: Track rod protection

Steve, further to PM

dont know how Isuzu sump compares to Td5

I'm waiting for the bang, I have my cranked rod canted slightly forward, and the tie rod end clamps are not super tight, if it does hit I hope it will just crank down on the TRE threads

no reports of them hitting in USA but distinct lack of Isuzu & Td5's over there


I also drive it like a bus and not a bogun in a Hilux

Guys,

My post was more a question than judgement on upgrading the rods...

I've only one bent one and that was encountering a washout (about 500mm deep x 500mm wide) 90 degrees to the road at around 45km/h (locked brakes skidding into the "trench").

Nearly flipped the 90 in a forward somersault, but luckily landed on the bull bar and dropped back wheel side. Seat belt welts and sore wrists to boot.

Only damage to the car was the bent track rod (front wheels faced about 45 degrees outwards) which I managed to butcher sort of straight-ish with a winch pull until I reached the next town. Still a menace to drive slowly as it wanted to go everywhere but straight...

I just wonder if the trackrod didn't "give" on that occasion if I would have had a failure on something else?

On daily off road drives and heavy duty work like Rick's, upgrading seems a given and I would do the same if that was my application. However not even the Camel Trophy trucks had upgraded track rods, just spares which are reasonable cheap and very easy to replace.

Cheers,

Lou

Originally Posted by goingbush

Steve, further to PM

dont know how Isuzu sump compares to Td5

I'm waiting for the bang, I have my cranked rod canted slightly forward, and the tie rod end clamps are not super tight, if it does hit I hope it will just crank down on the TRE threads

no reports of them hitting in USA but distinct lack of Isuzu & Td5's over there


I also drive it like a bus and not a bogun in a Hilux

Oh dear, I've slowed down an awful lot from how I used to drive and yet my bumps stops are very clean and the axle pads polished and I have more distance between them than you too

Maybe I should be driving a Lolux ?

You need to allow for 20mm compression of the bump stop on a good hit.
I damaged two pairs of long travel Koni's trying to maximise droop travel many years ago to prove that point to myself.
Cost me a bunch of internal parts + time to rebuild them as I'd only allowed 10-15mm of bump stop compression and damaged shockies aren't a complete game stopper compared to a holed sump.

Originally Posted by steveG

Do you have any issues with it hitting the sump?

Just had a quick look. I set mine up so the raised part will pass between the sump and diff under compression. The cranked part is not 90 degrees to the ground, it's tilted forward slightly.

Mine is tilted forward slightly, after thinking about Ricks response I'll angle it forward a little more, 45 degrees should give plenty of clearance, plus if it does hit it'll just screw the rod forward on the TRE threads.

when I had progressive front springs the axle pads were bright shiny, with the Kings they are not so shiny.

How much offset do these cranked rods actually have?
Inside - do you have a truck sump, or the winged style landy one? I've got the landy one (with the wing cut off) and it doesn't look like a cranked rod would fit between it and the diff.

I just grabbed a light and had a crawl around under the car to check it out a bit more. The damage to the current rod was definitely a rock as I can see the gouges in the rod. Considering the size of the gouge the army style rod has done pretty well. I'm guessing a standard one would have looked more like a U-bolt than the slight banana shape I've got now.

On a less positive note, the slight oil leak from my front diff housing that I thought was the filler plug - isn't.
Filler plug is bone dry but there is a wet oil line following the weld around the front cover. I'm guessing the weld is cracked

Steve