Track Rod protection.

[Topple]

I keep bending the track rod on my 90, without doing anything too extreme.

I've looked at the Dan Bars, but at £30ish I thought there must be a cheaper way. I've found a local stockist where I can buy some steel tube to slide over the track rod.

From my conversation on the phone the wall thickness is 4.5mm, so I figure that this will be sufficient coupled with the existing track rod to prevent too much bending.

The problem is that the minimum length I can buy is 6m. :!:  

So here's the deal, I will cut the rod into 1120mm lengths, the track rod length for a 90. and sell them in the for sale section. You can then paint them up and slide over the track rod, add some grease or silicone between the two to stop then rattling.

I guess the price would be around £10 per bar.

pm me if your interested, I will be going Thursday or Friday to check the diameters and collect.

[Digsit]

I keep bending the track rod on my 90, without doing anything too extreme.

Hmmmmm i've followed you in yr 90 a few times now

[Andy.]

Does the same measurement and fittment apply to a Discovery :?:

[Dave]

If you cut two slits in each end and put a clamp around the ends it will not rattle nor slide.
They were selling some at billing.

[Topple]

Does the same measurement and fittment apply to a Discovery

don't know, i havn't got a disco to measure against. I would be willing to cut to the correct length if known.

[freeagent]

use stainless tube if you can justify the extra pennys, it don't rust so it wont sieze up, it looks cool and is a bit stronger than mild steel...

[iianorthants]

If you cut two slits in each end and put a clamp around the ends it will not rattle nor slide.
They were selling some at billing.

 argh but if close fit and greased they roll over obstacles, so if caught in runt or catch stone shouldn't bend arms as easy.
 but some sort of rubber seal at each end would be nice or grease nipple in middle or your always going to be taking off to clean !!!!

[diesel_90]

Ive got the stuff in the shed and for 2mts now ive been going to do it but i aint got time

[colintandy]

be carefull not to bend with the bar on cos i had an intresting conversation with a very nice fella from norway on saturday and he was telling me that he got a dan bar from a supplier and bent it offroading and could not straighten it out be carefull you wont get home otherwise

[davidlandy]

Ive got the solid bars for the track and steering rods not the 'sleeve over' type.  

I had bent the old bars on many occasions but not these - recommended

Nene Valley tyres do them for about £80 which included all of the track rod ends (3)

[Topple]

I've straightened two now with a hand winch, got them straight enough to get me home.

[davidlandy]

once they have bent once they will bend agan very easily. I bent one back by hand in a vice!

[muddyweb]

Indeed... once they are bent... throw them away !

Metal Fatigue can make things very weak  :shock:

[Kenny]

I bent two standard track rods on the 90 so replaced with a sumo bar and bent that. Now sticking to standard, cheaper to replace and easier to bend back to get you home.

Damian

[Range Rover Blues]

I'm sticking with the standard one for now too, I have a spare.  Oh and I have the QT diff gaurds which will catch the track rod if it goes too far out of line.  I had thought of getting a cranked rod made (you know what thought did).  It's also an argument against fitting castor correction arms.

If you're sliding the tube over the existing bar and hoping it will spin you need to be very sure the existing one is straight.  Even then I don't think it will work too well.
You can't do this to a Disco because of the damper, also the track rod has the adjuster at the driver's side so there are 3 clamps not 2 like on a Defender.
Stainless? has anyone heard of galvanic corrosion? put Stainless next to mild steel and it uses the mild steel as a sacrificial anode, so it corrodes faster!

At the end of the day if you overdo it something is going to break, if not the track rod then what? the rod ends? the knuckle? something even harder to fix in the middle of nowhere that's what.

[Xtremeteam]

ive got a sumo bar on my racer & never bent it so far,pulled up a kerbstone with it doin 50mph but never bent it  :twisted:  :twisted: dads got a southdown guard on his 110 which totaly encloses the track rod might get 1 like that for my 90 now that ive started

[freeagent]

[Stainless? has anyone heard of galvanic corrosion? put Stainless next to mild steel and it uses the mild steel as a sacrificial anode, so it corrodes faster!]

yeah, but neither will corrode as quick as mild steel against mild steel... if you put loads of copper grease down inside the tube it'll be fine.

stainless corrodes aswell, but nowhere near as fast as mils steel or ally.

if you are that worried about galvanic corrosion slide a magnesium rod down the middle of each track rod tube, then that'll act as the anode....

[Bulli]

The standard ones are easier to fix, why not fit a track rod protector. there are loads available and as they dont fasten to any steering components the chances of being undrivable from a big hit are less.