Heavy Duty track rods

[V8MoneyPit]

Just got my heavy duty track rods from Kenson's today. Substantial piece of kit, it has to be said. Solid 30mm bar. They are supplied with new greaseable TRE's and come zinc plated.

The only down side might be that the next weakest part is likely to break instead!

[Eeyore]

That'll be the TREs themselves. They're a lot easier to change in the field if the old ones were assembled right. So it's worth carrying a couple of spares (don't worry about greasable ones, IME it makes no difference to lifespan).

As a caution, when over stressed, a TRE can go 'bang' with little warning - not like  atrack-rod which will bend and provide you with really entertaining handling!

cheers
 8)
Eeyore

[V8MoneyPit]

I think there might be some damage to the power steering too. It is quite 'tight' on centre. Not sure if it is tight or heavy until I jack it up and play tonight.

The steering box arm has rattled loose ..... again  :? ....... so I'll fit the new bars, tighten the arm and see if it improves. Oh, probably need to oil the column UJ's too! Hopefully, one or more of these will improve the steering. Hope so, it drove like a beached whale coming back from Bala on Sunday  :shock:  :D

Oh, I forgot to bring my manual with me. Anyone know the setting for toe? If not, I'll just set it to a couple of mm toe out. Should be OK until I can get it set properly.

[Mace]

I'd agree with eeyore. I've got sumo bars and always carry a spare TRE (both threads) and a ball joint splitter just incase. Easy to swap one over if they break so it doesn't spoil the fun. I heard of someone getting his Disco stuck on a tree stump. The bar took the whole weight of the vehicle no problem.

[Range Rover Blues]

The TRE should be able to hold up the car when stationary, provided they aren't worn.  It's when you hit something hard when your'e moving at a pace'  I'm sticking with standard track rods for now, the QT guard will stop them bending too far.

Out of interest, what did you pay?

[Xtremeteam]

i normally set all the tracking on any of my motors to either parallel or as near as,
ive got a sumo bar on the racer & uprooted a kirb stone with it once,didnt slow me down much either,always take a drop arm with joint pre built & a pair of tre's L&R thread

[robbie]

OK then, interesting topic this, seeig as how we seriously bent our rear bar today. The front wheels looked at an intersting angle. We managed to straighten it enough to get it home, but sure was odd to steer  :?

I see from this that there are several replacement bits, but which is probably the best?? and what is the URL/telephone for ordering them :)

Is the front bar the same length as the rear bar?? If so that would make things easy to carry spares

[Xtremeteam]

the front bar & rear bar are different lenghts & also different depending the vehicle they are on,

in regards to the sumo bars my mate is currently making them up at work from heavyer guage material then the sumo bars you can buy,not given me a price yet but hes normally reasonable

[V8MoneyPit]

The TRE should be able to hold up the car when stationary, provided they aren't worn.  It's when you hit something hard when your'e moving at a pace'  I'm sticking with standard track rods for now, the QT guard will stop them bending too far.

Out of interest, what did you pay?

£100 for the pair complete with TRE's. Not cheap for a bit of steel bar, but standard ones aren't much cheaper. So, given the need to change anyway, I chose the heavy duty route.

[landyman Ash]

the front bar & rear bar are different lenghts & also different depending the vehicle they are on,

in regards to the sumo bars my mate is currently making them up at work from heavyer guage material then the sumo bars you can buy,not given me a price yet but hes normally reasonable

I would be interested in one of them (well two I suppose) for my hybrid.  Sick of bending those bloody bars.  Bad enough the steering with the simex tyres let along with a bent track rod!  :shock:

Keep us posted mate