Fixing my steering today...

[ErikSS]

My driveshaft place has a 2nd location that does racks. He's going to try to get me better boots to help keep it clean in there. I've had problems keeping my boots sealed since I went to 2500hd TREs.

[The Roadie]

I had minor leakage behind the driver's boot, and the teflon seal shield was torn and floating around back there. Two of my tie rod end bending incidents were on the passenger side, but the one with the most energy behind it was on the driver's side. When the inner tie rod ball shaft hits the socket edge enough to bend the shaft, that's a huge side load on the hardened rack.



In my case (and I haven't put my digital calipers on it yet to measure) the rack on the driver's side looks like it had been bent backwards a few thousandths a couple of years ago, but after most of my extreme wheeling days with Greg were over. Thus the loose seal and slight leakage.

Then when I went to install new inners last week, supporting the HF tool on a jack stand to make sure I wasn't putting additional side load on the rack, I must have put in a bit more than the rack case housing could take, and the threaded collar for the tensioner adjustment bolt popped off. That destroyed my core value for the replacement I ended up getting from Rockauto. New bellow boots are gorgeous - aftermarket "universal" ones fit badly when I tried them last year. I feel so much more confident about grit staying out of the seals now.

Here's the grain of the break



When I measure the rack to see how concentric it is in the housing, I'll let you know

[Trail X]

I used the outer TRE from the 2007+ HD trucks, and used the inner TRE from our trucks. Same thread. All I needed to bridge the gap was a 7.5" long M16x1.5 threaded CrMo (class B7) rod.

It simplifies my trail spares, because all I need to stock is the threaded rod. Might pick up some amount of strength from the CrMo rod, but I'm not exactly certain of the stock TRE material to compare the material properties to.

[ErikSS]

James, how are you adjusting them?

[Trail X]

Same way you adjust stock TREs. Loosen the clamp on the steering boot, loosen the jam nut (I guess you could loosen either one) and then adjust by turning the 26mm inner TRE hex.

[TBYODA]

I used the outer TRE from the 2007+ HD trucks, and used the inner TRE from our trucks. Same thread. All I needed to bridge the gap was a 7.5" long M16x1.5 threaded CrMo (class B7) rod.

It simplifies my trail spares, because all I need to stock is the threaded rod. Might pick up some amount of strength from the CrMo rod, but I'm not exactly certain of the stock TRE material to compare the material properties to.

Seen your update to you build thread on this nice mod. For those of us that are not a ME or have access to source/buyer at work. Could you help out your fellow members with maybe a source or the best way to look it up with the right terminology.

[mikekey]

Surprised you did that James, I thought you were in favor os just using the stock TRE's. Did we all determine that the original bent shape was because of the tire position?

[Trail X]

Seen your update to you build thread on this nice mod. For those of us that are not a ME or have access to source/buyer at work. Could you help out your fellow members with maybe a source or the best way to look it up with the right terminology.

B7 grade M16 threaded rod.

I had luck finding it on Mcmaster and Fastenal. I purchased 1m sections, and cut them down to size myself.

Surprised you did that James, I thought you were in favor os just using the stock TRE's. Did we all determine that the original bent shape was because of the tire position?

I don't think I was ever in favor of the stock TREs. As soon as I saw that the tires were no longer interfering with the tie rods, I wanted a better option. I was not in favor of upping their size too far though, because it would potentially push the stresses into the rack. The thread size I used is the same as stock (M16), the only increase in strength is from the material, and that property technically doesn't come into play when calculating buckling strength (which is how these generally fail).