ICON XD Forged Tie Rods

[broncorik]

Sorry I should have been clearer the end cap of the rack was showing signs of wear. Attached are a few pics of mine. Inside the end cap of the rack there is only a seal. No real support In my opinion. The tie rod operating angles on a lifted Sas will transmit a bunch of force into the rack. If you beef up tie tie rods and do not address the rack you will be sorry. That said I’m impatiently waiting to buy these tie rods

It seems like the new rack and tie rods coming together as a full setup from Ford for less than $1,000 seems like a way to go for many people as long as they can sort out the programming on their own? I like the Bronco buster stuff but almost $400 for that bushing seems like a lot of money, and then $400 for the band-aids for the factory tie rods (the icon tie rods will effectively end any need to buy those Bronc buster blocks), and over $1,000 for the upgrade to the factory rack seems like a lot of money. The bummer with a Ford rack is that they sell as only as a long rack or a short rack (the short rack comes with the inner tie rods and the long rack comes with both inners and outers). There's also a $400 core charge...but you get a stronger motor to help turn bigger tires. If somebody buys the icon tie rods when they are available, and the short rack from Ford, they're still into it for about $1,400 plus the core charge (and they would not even be using the Ford inners). You are running 37s, correct? How much lift? I am just stock Sasquatch with 35s and do not intend lifting it any more that...just wondering if the "tipping point" for wear and breakage is when the angulation changes to any greater degree then the factory Sasquatch and 35s,? If not, then I can imagine that Ford will be replacing a lot of steering racks and tie rod ends for all the folks who keep their rigs stock.

Sponsored

 

[camojeeper]

So I’m not sure I don’t have an updated rack in my Sas wildtrak. Non Hoss 3.0 Built 9/13/22 I say this because my inner tie rods are a 38mm wrench not a 32mm? I also think the new ford braptor fanchy smanchy rack will be junk too. Ford does not build billet strong stuff for us guys that are really using our broncos. They use cheap pot metal just strong enough to get by stuff for the masses . I’ll take some better pictures today when I go down to the shop of the seal/bushing.
honestly it’s way easier to change a tie rod than the rack. I agree with you on the price of broncbuster seems a lil steep. But everything in there kit was spot on and very complete. Did the bushing first then the end cap and there braces in less than 2 hours. Also there kit was like 1700 not bad in my opinion

 

[broncorik]

So I’m not sure I don’t have an updated rack in my Sas wildtrak. Non Hoss 3.0 Built 9/13/22 I say this because my inner tie rods are a 38mm wrench not a 32mm? I also think the new ford braptor fanchy smanchy rack will be junk too. Ford does not build billet strong stuff for us guys that are really using our broncos. They use cheap pot metal just strong enough to get by stuff for the masses . I’ll take some better pictures today when I go down to the shop of the seal/bushing.
honestly it’s way easier to change a tie rod than the rack. I agree with you on the price of broncbuster seems a lil steep. But everything in there kit was spot on and very complete. Did the bushing first then the end cap and there braces in less than 2 hours. Also there kit was like 1700 not bad in my opinion

The inner HOSS 3.0 tie rod is 44mm (and the HOSS 3.0 setup would be in your window sticker under options... somewhere just north of $2,000)...I know because I had to buy this in case I break down on the trail and then I swap to the HOSS tie rods from my weak sauce 2.0 tie rods I'll have a way to torque it properly...

 

[Snacktime]

@camojeeper let me check my broken rack at lunch for the same seal issue. Your pictures show how poor the casting actually is. I am of the opinion that neither the hoss 3.0 rack or BroncBuster parts are anything more than a temporary fix. Need to move up to a much larger rack with more end support and upgraded pinion support.

Icon upgrade will be bolt in, Hoss 3.0 is a larger diameter boot. Someone will have to prove that a factory boot fits on hoss 3.0 tie rod (most likely not an issue).

 

[Gtrekker]

Hey guys I thought I'd post a few spy pics of something we've been working on here at ICON that we've hinted at elsewhere. This is our Extreme Duty Forged Tie Rod, shown in these photos next to a stock Bronco tie rod.

The adjustment threads, where we've seen most of the failures happen on stock tie rods, is 18mm versus 14mm on stock Bronco tie rods.

The outer tie rod is forged steel and has the same bend as factory tie rods for fitting all of the stock factory wheel diameters and offsets, along with just about any aftermarket wheel.

The tie rod end joint is beefier, metal on metal and greasable. It has the same operating range of angle as the stock unit.

The inner ball stud is machined from 4140 chromoly.

Not shown but the tie rods will come with a boot and other associated bits. These photos are of our first prototypes, which we will be displayed at the SEMA show in a couple of weeks. If you're going to be at SEMA, look for them in the ICON booth or in the New Products Showcase if you'd like to check them out in person. We're thinking the first production run will be done and ready to ship sometime in January. Pricing should end up somewhere in the $350 range for the complete kit (both sides). These will work with all HOSS 1.0 and HOSS 2.0 equipped Broncos (basically everything except Bronco Raptor and HOSS 3.0-equipped Wildtrak).

Please note that this is a sneak peek at a product that has not yet been released or announced to our dealers so if you inquire they won't know anything about it yet other than what they may have seen here. They'll get the official info and announcement when the time is right but we wanted to give you guys an early look since these are going to be at SEMA anyhow, and they have some relevance to the discussions that have been going on over in our Coilovers thread.

Perfect, just what I need!!! Until January then...

 

[broncorik]

@camojeeper let me check my broken rack at lunch for the same seal issue. Your pictures show how poor the casting actually is. I am of the opinion that neither the hoss 3.0 rack or BroncBuster parts are anything more than a temporary fix. Need to move up to a much larger rack with more end support and upgraded pinion support.

Icon upgrade will be bolt in, Hoss 3.0 is a larger diameter boot. Someone will have to prove that a factory boot fits on hoss 3.0 tie rod (most likely not an issue).

If you use the HOSS 3.0 tie rod and a factory rack you need to stretch the OEM boot over the HOSS inner tie rod...but it has been confirmed to work. Just carry zip ties. You can't use the HOSS tie rod boot on the OEM rack because the HOSS rack is larger in diameter.

 

[Rick Astley]

Calling on @Tricky Dick To go full send on a pair of these and figure out the next weakest component!

 

[Tricky Dick]

Calling on @Tricky Dick To go full send on a pair of these and figure out the next weakest component!

Honestly I'm perfectly content with the stock ones and doubt I'll even break one since I have no current intentions of going bigger than 35s.

 

[Dmorty217]

Honestly I'm perfectly content with the stock ones and doubt I'll even break one since I have no current intentions of going bigger than 35s.

Aren’t those tractor tires you put on essentially 37s? Maybe not in weight but it can’t be far off??

 

[Tricky Dick]

Aren’t those tractor tires you put on essentially 37s? Maybe not in weight but it can’t be far off??

They do measure out close to some 37s. I guess we'll see.

 

[604Bronco]

I have no current intentions of going bigger than 35s.

They do measure out close to some 37s.

I know 20 minutes between posts is a long time, but can you make up your mind please?

 

[camojeeper]

@camojeeper let me check my broken rack at lunch for the same seal issue. Your pictures show how poor the casting actually is. I am of the opinion that neither the hoss 3.0 rack or BroncBuster parts are anything more than a temporary fix. Need to move up to a much larger rack with more end support and upgraded pinion support.

Icon upgrade will be bolt in, Hoss 3.0 is a larger diameter boot. Someone will have to prove that a factory boot fits on hoss 3.0 tie rod (most likely not an issue).

My apologies to Icon for the thread hijack

Here are some more pics of my end piece of the stock rack with 700 miles onit look at the casting line if you look close you can see the wear/ out of round. I haven’t even had time to wheel it yet so this is all on road wear.

 

[Rick Astley]

lets talk about that thumb!

also, you are running a mildly lifted rig on 37's, that wear isnt going to happen on a sasquatch setup, so going over and above for mods to fit an out-of-spec setup is simply par for the course. Push the specs, it will have downstream expenses.

 

[goatman2]

To keep a bit of perspective, no one runs much bigger tires on a Jeep with the stock steering. Steering upgrades are just assumed as lift and bigger tires are installed. Steering upgrades for off road reliabilty are simply par for the course...to be expected. Tie rods, drag links, and steering gears are very standard upgrades, and it's no cheap. Only mall crawlers slap 37's on anything and not expect to spend some dough on steering upgrades. Just sayin'.

BTW, I think the Icon heavy duty tie rods are a great improvement.

 

[Dusty at ICON]

My apologies to Icon for the thread hijack

No worries, this is a great discussion!

Sponsored