By Ken on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 06:53 am: Edit

i went wheeling awhile ago and managed to get my front axle stuck on a rock... i got pulled off and all seemed well...

well on closer examination, it turns out i bent my rear tie rod (the one that has the steering dampener on it)and managed to ding my steering dampener... the dampener seems to be fine, but the tie rod is definately bent... the steering wheel now points slightly to the right while traveling straight and the rod sometimes touches the "wheel thingy on the axle.

couple of questions...

1. what is that wierd "wheel thingy" on the axel
2. the removal and replacement of the tie rod looks fairly straight forward (is it???)
3. does anyone now of a skid plate that could have protected me from this "badness"

thanks

Ken

By Ron on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 06:59 am: Edit

You have several options for the tie rod.

Safari Gard
Rovertym
Rockware
ECR
Southdown

All sell solutions

Ron

By BillyBob on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:23 am: Edit

I wouldn't call them "solutions". More like bandaids than anything else.

By Tate on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:25 am: Edit

For #1, see the thread on "What is the round disc behind the front axle?" It's called a harmonic dampener.

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:27 am: Edit

I had the same thing happen to me a while back. I decided to get the Rovertym tie-rod/drag link set and their steering dampener relocation kit. It is all very sturdy and reasonably priced. The only think to keep in mind with the RT kit, is that it is designed to work with a standard NAPA steering dampener for a Ford 350, a D90 OME dapmpener will not fit. The napa dampener works well though, I ran it in Moab this April without any problems. It is inexpensive, too.

By Ron on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:29 am: Edit

"I wouldn't call them "solutions". More like bandaids than anything else. "

Have you ever seen anyone break/bend a tie rod with any of these "band-aids"?

I have the SG one and short of tacoing your axle the tie rod will be ok. The RW one and Rovertym ones do not effect clearance like the SG, Southdown and ECR, yet are so strong I have not heard of one failing (even under extreme use).

Ron

By pk on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:46 am: Edit

I agree with Ron, the shit is very strong. I suposse anything built by man can be broken if you try hard enough.

Also, if you stay with the stock rod and straighten it, lifting the truck with larger tires will help a lot. Also, you can rotate the rod so that the damper is hidding behind. That will offer a little bit more protection.

pk

By ron on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:50 am: Edit

If you want a real cheap solution get a length of 7/8 internal diameter pipe and sleeve the old one. (it can be done with a BFH and some bearing grease). It will make it strait and reinforce it. You will have to relocate the damper but otherwise it will be fairly easy to do.

Ron

By Mike B. on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 02:51 pm: Edit

I toasted my steering dampner, but not the tie rod. I guess that contact with a tree versus a rock might do that. Anyway, I had John at RoverTym make me a custom steering dampner relocation kit. I bought a d90 steering dampner to work with the kit. I kept the stock tie rods (7/8"), so John made a special 'gizmo' to work with the stock tie rod. I haven't put it on yet, so I can't tell you how it works.

Thanks,
Mike B.

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 03:03 pm: Edit

You cant beat Rovertym's links. Its the best of whats out there today. They are a work of art and make every trip under the rover an enjoyment..You just dont see fine machine work under a car like that ........

By Alex on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 04:06 pm: Edit

When I bent both my tie rod and drag link I replaced them both with Rockware HD units (straight tie-rod, not the bent one). It cost me $100 for both. I have not managed to bend the drag link, and I'll never test the tie-rod with the $G rockgard tube behind the axle. It was probably unnecesary as the tie-rod is strong enough, but the rockgard tube is unbreakble for sure... There is a loss of less than 1/2" of ground clearance over a naked tie rod.

I bought this stuff before Rovertym was in existence - not sure what choice I would make now. One thing to think about is this - the Rovertym steering linkage kit is more expensive than the Rockware linkage and the $SG rockgard tube combined.

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 04:24 pm: Edit

That may be true but its minimal and you have to apreciate the craftsmanship. With the set up you have there are added components . THe RTE stuff actually reduces components....

Kyle

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 04:29 pm: Edit

After smacking my original damper and front dif, I put on a Rover Accessories relocation kit w/D90 damper and a dif guard. A little OME lift and slightly larger tires helps keep things up and away too.

I think the RoverTym relocation kit is a bit cheaper, but Rover Accessories is 11 miles from my house and I like to support local guys when I can. Charles over there has been very good to work with as well.

By Alex on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 04:31 pm: Edit

I haven't gotten anything from John that wasn't overbuilt. However, I like my setup. The rockgard tube is not a complex piece of machinery - its just a skidplate, and provides an extra measure of protection from the full-throttle induced mayhem that sometimes takes over my disco.

By Ryan on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 05:01 pm: Edit

Will a OME steering dampner fit on a Disco with a brushguard and a AB steering skidplate?

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 04:18 am: Edit

Yes. The OME Disco steering dampener is a straight replacement for the stock one. If you want to use a D90 style damper and move it up front, you need a relocation kit. Your brush guard and skid plate should not get in the way in either case.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 06:15 am: Edit

Hey Mike B....
"Anyway, I had John at RoverTym make me a custom steering dampner relocation kit. I bought a d90 steering dampner to work with the kit. I kept the stock tie rods (7/8"), so John made a special 'gizmo' to work with the stock tie rod."

Could you elaborate on this? I roached my stock dampner and tie rod way back when, and I'd like to simply sleeve my links and relocate dampner (using OME D90 dampner). Not yet sure what new diameter will be with sleeved links......

By Joe Kennedy on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 08:07 am: Edit

Put a Southdown axel guard on and you won't have to worry about the axel, diff or damper.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 08:23 am: Edit

is there a loss of clearance with this southdown axle guard? Also, how much is it? Sleeving links and relocating dampner is cheep and effective...here's the picture of the D90 axle guard from SD's website:

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 09:00 am: Edit

Southdown guard is OK - it does protect alot of stuff and helps slide you over the nasties BUT it is expensive and not built as thick as it should be - I'll post a picture of mine later. I've bent mine back into shape with a 25 ton press a couple times, and now don't bother to take it off and just "fix" it with a 24" pipe wrench! Though, with all that being said - it still does its job. I think the plate itself is 3/16", but should be at least 1/4"

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 09:08 am: Edit

cool, thanks Bill. I'm not the type to try to just slide over rocks (too much sharp granite and indredibly hard metamorphics out here). When I hear the underbody hit, I hop out and take a look - if it's nothing critical, then I may proceed, or I'll back off and start making the rockpile. The SD axle guard does look good as a "slider", but if it's too thin, what's the point? I think sleeves (or better yet, RTE beefy links), relocation, and diff guard (forgot to mention that before) will work best for me. Would still like to see your pics, though. (and can you quantify "expensive"?) thanks again.

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 09:29 am: Edit

Yeah - I understand - on this side of the world we don't have as much sharp/hard stuff. It does use up a little ground clearance, but makes up for it (I think) in the sliding potential.

Expensive = very (almost $400). For the price, it could have been thicker. Maybe one day I'll make a replacement plate for it in 1/4" (yeah right, after I fix everthing else)

Right now I've got the RTE drag link and maybe one day will upgrade the rear track rod also.


Bill

By Mike B. on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 03:45 pm: Edit

Blue Gill:

The only thing that I bent was my steering dampner. My tie rod is fine. John sells a Steering Dampner relocation kit. It consists of a frame mount (like the one on a D90) and a bracket that mounts to the front tie rod. Since I insisted that I keep my existing tie rods (i.e. - NO MONEY), John made a bracket that works with a 7/8" tie rod. His regular relocation kit is made for his stuff which is 1 1/4" diameter.

Thanks,
Mike B.
New Email Address: mike@discocrazy.org

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 03:54 pm: Edit

ah hah, I see. Thank you very much for the info. I think I'll try to sleeve my rods on my own and then ask John to fab me a bracket for my new (after sleeve) tie rod diameter to go along with RTE's frame mount relocation bracket. I don't really want to buy new rods because I just replaced them from the dealer for mucho money (this was about a year ago, before I discovered the disco aftermarket). I also suffer from the same NO MONEY condition that seems to be going around (come on economy, get back up to speed!)