Steering rack bushings cheap options and alternatives. Reviews pending!

[Frankie945]

Just a quick thought this morning but I think we should drop all the BB bashing. The guy has done positive things for the bronco community and he’s beat up on his bronco many times now trying to break stuff to find the weak links so we didn’t have to, mainly the steering components but other parts too. We have a cheaper alternative now to the bushing and we should just leave it at that.

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[fdchief]

I just mean from the perspective of being the face of another company in this field, I don't want to put others down while promoting my brand.


After dragging vets into his sob story, a military discount would be a great move.

As a three tour combat vet, this stuck out to me..... im a proud veteran, and proud to have been given the privilege of defending the american way. Personally it doesnt matter to me where a product is made, ill gladly pay and have paid double to support american businesses, however by him trying to use us a pawn in his speech radiated desperation. If competition makes you do a self check on your product then i cant think of anything more american. Who cares where it is made, simple capitalism, create a product as cheap as possible and sell it for as much profit as possible, but when you are caught price gouging your products and you are held to toe the line and you create a sob story post, then youve lost my support. Sadly i was going to order sleeves this weekend, and now im looking elsewhere.

I dont know BroncBuster, and i have greatly enjoyed his videos, and learned a ton by watching his stuff, however like i tell my boys on my baseball team, stop complaining and get better.

 

[BroncoAg]

As a three tour combat vet, this stuck out to me..... im a proud veteran, and proud to have been given the privilege of defending the american way. Personally it doesnt matter to me where a product is made, ill gladly pay and have paid double to support american businesses, however by him trying to use us a pawn in his speech radiated desperation. If competition makes you do a self check on your product then i cant think of anything more american. Who cares where it is made, simple capitalism, create a product as cheap as possible and sell it for as much profit as possible, but when you are caught price gouging your products and you are held to toe the line and you create a sob story post, then youve lost my support. Sadly i was going to order sleeves this weekend, and now im looking elsewhere.

I dont know BroncBuster, and i have greatly enjoyed his videos, and learned a ton by watching his stuff, however like i tell my boys on my baseball team, stop complaining and get better.

This. Since the bushing came out I feel like there's been this pretension that it took so much elite American machining skill to come up with this part. I'll grant that the thought to create the part is unique (maybe it's an obvious solution when you google how on other vehicles they've fixed this issue?). What's NOT unique and makes you look silly is pretending NO ONE else could (or should) run a CNC mill to make these stupid things and that they can't do it for realllllly cheap.

 

[da_jokker]

I have both BB and RC bushings. Took measurements and my take away is that the BB is thicker where it counts. The surface with the lobe is thicker BB is 4/32 RC is 3/32 this is the area where the steering shaft will rest on. The main hole that the shaft goes in is tighter on the BB at 1 8/32" the RC is 1 9/32" which means not as tight of a fit to the steering shaft. The over all thickness of the BB is 30/32" RC is 29/32".

I will be installing the BB on my rack, if I do not get my 3.0 Hoss rack installed before Moab.

Input is welcome as is questions i'm not an engineer.

BB on the left.

Finally something relative to this thread. Mine are supposed to show up today and I was going to take measurements but you beat me to it.

Sounds like they are within less than 1 mm difference (0.03125 inch)

I used to be a machinist that ran .05 tolerances all day long. .03 is good enough for me

 

[Rwhite692]

.......wheel the shaft all the way in, then put 4 wood screws in the bushing forming a square and then use wire to make a web. Then turn the rig on, slowly steer to the left and let the shaft pop it out.

Exactly how I was planning to remove the stock (black) bushing. Spent way too many years as a mechanic not to know this trick, lol. When I watched BB's install videos (both his, and the one he did at MORR) I couldn't believe they were sitting there trying to gouge them out with a pick, etc....

 

[Silence]

Just a quick thought this morning but I think we should drop all the BB bashing. The guy has done positive things for the bronco community and he’s beat up on his bronco many times now trying to break stuff to find the weak links so we didn’t have to, mainly the steering components but other parts too. We have a cheaper alternative now to the bushing and we should just leave it at that.

Disagreed. Regardless of his contributions, he welcomed it with this ill-conceived video that had no relevance to the message, let alone is full of falsehoods and hypocrisy. It seems his contributions were all intended with monetizing his platform and with an expectation of no competition.

 

[darkscion0]

FYI, the stock black bushing pops right out if you grab it with any sort of pick. Seems like it's more to keep large debris out so it's not in their tight at all.

Exactly how I was planning to remove the stock (black) bushing. Spent way too many years as a mechanic not to know this trick, lol. When I watched BB's install videos (both his, and the one he did at MORR) I couldn't believe they were sitting there trying to gouge them out with a pick, etc....

 

[DallasCajun]

Disagreed. Regardless of his contributions, he welcomed it with this ill-conceived video that had no relevance to the message, let alone is full of falsehoods and hypocrisy. It seems his contributions were all intended with monetizing his platform and with an expectation of no competition.

I'm with you...I had no issue with the situation until a video is posted aggressively calling out the competition with empty claims about the legality of the situation. And to top it off actively delete responses to said video that didn't support his position. To me everything about that goes against American spirit:

• Adapt a product that solves the same issue on other vehicles and claim it as your own
• Establish a market price that does not align to cost/value but then take exception to competition (free enterprise and competition are what our economy is based on)
• Silence the voices that disagree with you (claim to love Free Speech until it goes against you)

This entire scenario has me wondering why the same response didn't happen when other brands started launching tie-rod supports, steering rack housings or even body lifts. The reality is that all of these solution have been developed previously by other brands for other vehicles and adapted to meet various needs. Most at some point had some sort of Patent protection and in most cases those patents expired ages ago.

I'd have far more respect for the brand if they would have adapted to the new market situation and worked to develop scale. Every business must adapt to survive much less grow. My hope for this situation is they learn and adapt as opposed to let it overwhelm and crush their business. As stated before, he's been a valuable (and entertaining) resource to this community so best wishes to finding a path forward.

Damn...that was a lot...sorry about it. And I haven't even poured a drink yet

 

[Rwhite692]

I think that BB must have also protested the clamp-on tie rod clamshell type reinforcements that Kid Chaos was making and selling. I have a set, and they are really well made. (I actually found those before I ever heard of or knew anything about broncbuster, lol). Now kid chaos isn't selling them anymore. I wonder why, since it's another ridiculously simple thing that would be pretty tough to defend, as a patent.

 

[mcinfantry]

I think that BB must have also protested the clamp-on tie rod clamshell type reinforcements that Kid Chaos was making and selling. I have a set, and they are really well made. (I actually found those before I ever heard of or knew anything about broncbuster, lol). Now kid chaos isn't selling them anymore. I wonder why, since it's another ridiculously simple thing that would be pretty tough to defend, as a patent.

He does hold a patent on those

 

[Rwhite692]

He does hold a patent on those

Any idea what the patent # is?

 

[mcinfantry]

Any idea what the patent # is?

So there you have it

https://patents.google.com/patent/US11584434B1/en?assignee=Broncbuster&oq=Broncbuster

 

[Tex]

he’s beat up on his bronco many times now trying to break stuff to find the weak links so we didn’t have to

Not really, that's just a simple business tactic. Bash your brand new vehicles on youtube for views (some of the most successful YT channels got big from this), which gives you free advertising for your business, and gives you street cred all at the same time (a short search here or on their channel will show you how successful it was). He didn't need to break things in spectacular fashion to find weak points, anyone that's been wheeling an IFS rig with larger than stock tires could take one look at a picture of a Bronco and say "yeah I bet those tie rods are going to need upgrading". We found out about the steering rack in short order after better tie rods and braces became available, and as far as I know, none of the members here were wheeling all that hard when they busted their racks. So we figured out tie rods and racks, both of which didn't require a kamikaze approach to find out, what else has he found on the Bronco that needs upgrading? Seems like most everything on his site not directly related to the steering is just reselling someone else's product.

I think we should drop all the BB bashing./QUOTE]

That's probably for the best, not so much for the reasons you gave (as mentioned above), but because there's really no need to. The gig is up, he knows it just as well as we do. Only time will tell if he's going to come up with something meaningful and stay relevant or disappear into a sea of aftermarket suppliers all selling the same Bronco parts and branded stuff. All he really has to do is cruise around this forum and cherry pick a few ideas to run with (and there are some really good ones here that have been tossed out into public domain). He won't be able to patent them, but he can be the first to bring them to market, and that's worth some good money if executed properly.

 

[broncorik]

Even if the BB brace is a good concept, they are simply reinforcing a weak assembly...which Icon did an even better (and more affordable) job of addressing. Icon has never bragged about reinventing the wheel (tie rod) and comparatively their price for what one gets seems fair. Before they released their product, I bought a set of 3.0 tie rods for spares and that was a better deal than the BB reinforcements. The bushing is simply a similar concept to the bushing someone else made for another rack with similar issues...it isn't like the BB design is akin to splitting an atom (for the first time). The video went way over the top and actually felt a little insulting...the guy trying to make it seem like "we're all in this together and all Bronco owners NEED to buy MY product...because AMERICA" (and "I have kids to support...and if you don't buy from me you're part of the "problem"). All of us have basic things we need to spend money on other than Broncos, and BB seems to be forgetting that the several hundred dollars we can save can be better spent elsewhere. He also forgets that regardless of how some folks feel about China, a LOT of stuff many of us purchase/use (like, say, LEDs in most of our Baja Design or DD lights) come from such places.

 

[cbrownabq]

Installed the RC bushings and JKS sleeves along with a Readylift leveling kit the other night. The bushings seemed like good quality. I used a very large socket to tap them in.

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