Reaming out the knuckles for steering | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Reaming out the knuckles for steering

I found these bushings that allow you to move the tierod over the knuckles...what do you think?




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"TIE ROD OVER" BUSHINGS


B.C. Broncos tie rod and drag link bushings, from left to right: TRA-1, TRO-1, and TRO-2.
A popular modification to Early Broncos is the "tie rod over" conversion. This modification flips the tie rod over, and locates it ON TOP of the steering knuckles, rather than under them, the way the Bronco came from the factory. This modification lifts the tie rod about three inches higher than stock, where it is much less likely to clash with rocks and other trail obstacles. This conversion also helps reduce drag link angle, thereby reducing bump-steer. This results in fewer hangups and bent tie rods off-road, and a more stable ride on-road. The picture at left shows the Tie Rod Over Bushings being used to put the tie rod on top of the knuckles. The application in the picture is with F-150 tie rod and drag link (available below), as well as the F-150 power steering box, knuckle and disk brakes mounted on the Bronco Dana 44 front end. Notice the tie rod is about 3" higher than stock and the drag link has less angle. The lesser angle decreases bump steer.

If You Want...

F-150 knuckles & stock Bronco tie rod (stock tie-rod position)
You need two TRA-1 Tie Rod Adapter bushings.

Tie rod over conversion with F-150 tie rod & drag link
You need two TRO-1 Tie Rod Over bushings and one TRO-2 Drag Link bushing. This will also require reaming your knuckles and drag link, and the F-150 tie rod and drag link will need shortening. This conversion works with either the stock Bronco or the F-150 steering knuckles.

Tie rod over conversion with stock Bronco tie rod & drag link
You need two TRO-1 Tie Rod Over bushings and two TRA-1 Tie Rod Adapter bushings and one TRO-2 Drag Link bushing. This will also require reaming your knuckles and drag link. This conversion works with either the stock Bronco or the F-150 steering knuckles.

PRICING
TRO-1 Tie Rod Over Bushings $18.00ea.
TRO-2 Drag Link Bushing $16.00ea.
TRA-1 Tie Rod Adapter Bushing $16.00ea.
NOTE: Shipping charges are NOT included in these prices. Call B.C. Broncos to determine shipping charges. Sales tax of 7½% will be added to all orders sold in California or shipped to a California address.
 



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Seems smart to me! I would rather have the tie rod up high and out of the way then down low and smacking everything.
 






I'm with Ryan. I know fer jeeps, they make those aluminum tie rod bars or something like that, which are made to flex if they hit a rock, but I'd much rather have a higher bar to begin with, and one that doesn't flex.
Pete
 






A friend of mine just added that mod to his small Bronco. In fact he bought it from BC Broncos. The reaming went amazingly quick and the whole project didn't take much more than three hours if I remember correctly.
 






Could this mod be done on a widened TTB? In the (near?) future, I'll be installing a widened D35 TTB, 3" wider per side. I'll probably do the conversion (it's been mentioned in a thread or two) involving swapping in D44 outers. Thoughts, gentlemen. :smoke:
 






Joe, if you're going to widen a Dana35 3" per side and use Dana 44 outers, why not just swap a Dana 44 in. It's only 3.5-4" wider????? What you lose in diff ground clearance wouldn't be too bad.
 






I was thinking about doing the same conversion. I may order these sleeves for simplicity.

Great find.

Dale
 






Originally posted by BislamJoe
Could this mod be done on a widened TTB? In the (near?) future, I'll be installing a widened D35 TTB, 3" wider per side. I'll probably do the conversion (it's been mentioned in a thread or two) involving swapping in D44 outers. Thoughts, gentlemen. :smoke:

Well the way the TTB tie rods are they are really already way much more out of the way then a tie rod for a Solid Axle.
 






Thanks Ryan... sound like it woudn't be worth the effort for me.

tiessen - I'm keeping the TTB, that's why I'm not going to a D44. I don't know if you can swap in one of the fullsize TTB's without a lot of effort, so I decided to widen the D35. Unlike a lot of folks, I like the TTB. It seems the best option for general bombing around and blasting through the desert. A D50 would be super trick though... :smoke:
 






Originally posted by BislamJoe
tiessen - I'm keeping the TTB, that's why I'm not going to a D44.

I am pretty sure that he was referring to the Dana 44 TTB that came in 1980-96 Full sized Broncos, and similar year F-150's.
 






I was referring to an F150 TTB. The pivot brackets are the same, all you would have to do is fabricate radius arms (or buy some F150 ones) and deal with inboarding the coils (or outboarding the coil buckets). A way better option in my own humble opinion. Plus if you cut and turn TTB's, you lose width. If you cut and turned an F150 TTB, you'd still be wider than stock. If I was prerunning, that'd be my setup.
 






The axle is in the shop for narrowing and reaming out of the knuckles. I'll let you'all know how it works out.
 






I tried asking around about one of the fullsize TTB's and I never got a straight answer, but if all it needs are radius arms.... Unfortunately, I live in Texas, and don't really have access to any of the fab shops that do the cool stuff. I'd love to just swap in a fullsize D44 or D50 TTB, cut & turned for 4" of lift. Something else for me to pursue... And as for the coil buckets, I don't think that'd be a really big issue - I'm going for coilovers. :smoke:
 






I personally think that it wouldn't all that hard to set up your truck w/ the 44 TTB. The hardest part would be fabricating a set of radius arms and brackets to work w/ them. I see a set of super long arms that attatch right in the middle of the truck.
 






I got to really thinkin' about this; this may end up a lot cheaper than the kit from Baja Concepts, with different coils, coilovers, la-dee-da...

But another thought: If I'm going to swap in a full-size TTB (and a 9" in rear, i'm also planning a V8 swap), why not find a Dana 50 TTB and a Ford 10.25? Stepping up to the 3/4 ton running gear with a full-float rear should make my X almost bulletproof (for an IFS), eh? I plan to run a 35 though, and I'm not sure if I need to lose that much clearance. I'm not sure how much bigger the diffies are on the D50 and 10.25 as opposed to the D44 and 9". :smoke:

Edit: I just remember the Dana 44 HD ttb unit... Maybe that would be a good choice?
 






the only problem is you're a pre-runner type. All that unsprung weight would make the axles hard to control when you are hauling ass. I think the very largest axle that would work could be the 44.

I would get the 8.8 out of the same bronco or f150 that you got the 44 out of. For what you are doing it should be plenty strong enough. If you must go beefier make sure that the axle you get is a full floater.
 






I didn't think about how much more weight I'd end up with from the D50 or 10.25... Maybe if I were building a rock rig... I'd run a D60 front then anyway.

I was told to go with a 9" since I'll be running a fairly built V8 (after the swap). But I've been told that the 8.8" version of the OxLocker will be available fairly soon. If the 8.8 will be strong enough, then by crikey, I'll run a full-floater 8.8... :smoke:
 






can the d35 crowd use the above mentioned bronco mod? flipping the tierods for more clearance? with different knuckles?
 






Uh.... dude,

go look at your knuckles. they are already on top for the d35 ttb..
 



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hehe... ok i was just kidding ;)
 






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