The tie rod roll on my truck makes it borderline dangerous to drive on the freeway. I am thinking about replacing my tie rod and drag link with a setup from Genuine Bulletproof Steering. They build the rods custom so I am trying to figure out exactly how to do it. Ideally, the tie rod bolts to the bottom of the knuckle and the drag link to the top, but the leaf spring is in the way of the drag link if done this way. Has anybody done anything like this?

 

I seriously considered doing this to mine for the same reason and would like to see someone do it.

I talked to them and they suggest mocking everything up with some EMT tubing to get the exact angles. They will have to put a bend in the steering link. Too much and the bend will bind against the tie rod link with the suspension under compression and too little bend and the steering link will bind against the leaf springs under suspension extension. As their website says, call them so they can talk you through the measuring process.

But, I decided to see if clocking my tie rod ends would work...and it does. I'm about %98 happy with how it steers now.

Determine if the whole tie rod assembly has rolled up or down against the ball joint travel limits. Loosen the bolts on the adjustment sleeve and turn onlythe very end of the tie rod on the driver's side to the opposite travel limit, up or down and snug it up. With the tires on the ground it is a little hard, but I checked to make sure there was about a 1/8" of tie rod roll as the ball joints do need to pivot a little due to the camber in the steering. Then tighten it back up.

 

I also clocked my tie rods and saw improvement but not much. Honestly, the truck is awful to drive. I wonder if I had another problem too. I did a Redhead steering box at the same time as the D60 swap so I am assuming the box is not the culprit but who know. I might have to set up the GoPro camera under there and see if I can figure out what is going on.
Once I get all of the angles and possible bends figured, I'm gonna order the new tie rods/drag link. I may have to go back to a stock pitman arm so the drag link can clear the leaf spring. Its a shame I didn't save my old one. The 3 inch drop pitman arm I have now will run the drag link straight through the passenger leaf spring It would take a significant bend to go around it... Hopefully I can figure something out though...

 

If you want to go that route I'm sure it will be stronger than the OE setup if they are using DOM tubing of .250-.375 w.t. and Heims. I have build 100's of Hi steer D60 setups for moon buggies, rock crawlers/jeeps. Sounds like they are going a little bit different route than I would, but it should work just fine. You should be able to do it without bends or any binding.

I will say for a stock truck why even go this route? I use summit for all MOOG front end components on these trucks. New tie rod, drag link, rod ends and sleeves are under 300$ for MOOG components. I usually get between 100-130k out of them before they show any play, go over 200, of course but it won't have the tight feeling to it.

 

Because of the tie rod roll.

When I did the D60 and RSK kit, I replaced all of the tie rods/drag link with new moog parts. I also did the Redhead box. On my first test drive, I was expecting some super tight steering and it was awful.

With the 3 inch drop pitman arm, the drag link is not at a very steep angle at all. Looks pretty close to stock from looking at pictures online. But I still get tons of roll... It's just a poor design in my opinion.

 

I did exactly what you are talking about. I used the Bulletproof Steering set up. This winter I am sending my pass knuckle in to have the high steer machined onto it like a king pin set up. Right now, I had to use a spacer of DOM that is 1/2" walled to raise the drag link that is on top of the knuckle (not my most favorite way to do it, but it's temporary for now and this only gets driven every so often), to clear the pass leaf spring since I also have the RSK. It made a HUGE difference in my steering. I did the Red steering box, replaced the intermediate steering shaft (mine was worn) and I just didn't get the best feeling w the Moog's and roll.

 

I have done everything you mentioned also and have the same results. Let us know what you come up with for a fix.

 

Hijo202, do you have a picture of your setup you could show me?

 

 

Like I explained earlier, I had to use a 1/2" walled DOM spacer to raise the drag link up. I first used a custom bent drag link, but changed to a straight drag link. This winter I will remove the pass knuckle and have it milled to have it like the king pin high steer where the drag link attaches up on the knuckle higher

 

that setup is exactly what I wanted to do. Just like you, I was worried about having a tall spacer like that. I ended up ordering some with a bent drag link that will go under the leaf spring. Calculating the angle to allow it to clear the leaf but not hit the tie rod was a serious pain but I think I figured it out. I guess we'll see next week when they arrive...

 

Yeah, measuring was a pain for the bent link. I still have mine sitting on my "scrap pile". The main reason I changed it out was when turning right, it would have a little bit of flex in the bend since it was pushing, and I could feel that in the steering wheel. Turning left (pulling), no issues. Now that I've used a straight link, it is more firm.

 

That's interesting. The company I ordered from steps up to a bigger, more heavy duty material for the drag link if it needs to be bent in order to try to make up for the loss in strength. It will be interesting to see how it does. No matter what, it can't be worse than what I have now! haha