Tie Rod --- Ahhh Rod

[Mudderoy]

Ok I thought my Jeep was steering and handling perfectally fine until some of you started talking about "ever since I upgraded my tie rod it's as solid as a rock!" Now I'm thinking my is wandering on the road due to a flexing tie rod.

Bastards. So I started looking around after reading about the Big Daddy Tie Rod. Looks good beefy, but I read some stuff about this moving the weak point to the other compents.

So before I go buy a Big Daddy Tie Rod for $99.95 shipped is this my best bang for the buck? Also anyone know of something that has it cheaper?

[DETOURS]

Do the ends have play?

Have someone move the wheels left and right, watch the ends of the tie rod for delays in movement.........if you're not wheeling it, the stock end can simply be replaced. (try rockauto.com or NAPA)

[Mudderoy]

Do the ends have play?

Have someone move the wheels left and right, watch the ends of the tie rod for delays in movement.........if you're not wheeling it, the stock end can simply be replaced. (try rockauto.com or NAPA)

It's been a few months since I checked it but last time, no no play. My understand was the thin tie rod actually flexed because of the tire size.

I was going to replace the tie rod and ends at the same time anyway. 140k on a tie rod end is pretty good I think.

[BlueXJ]

I upgraded mine to ZJ tie rod (Solid) and HD tierod ends. It seems to be more smooth on the highway but I can't tell any difference off road.

[muddeprived]

The bigger tie rod would move your weak point to the tie rod ends. No big deal there. Buy the big daddy and install it with new tie rods on both ends. Keep the stock tie rod and tie rod ends in the jeep as spares. DONE.

I never upgraded my steering but I did replace every steering component with new oem parts and all my old stock steering is wrapped up as spares.

[2000XJ]

The Big Daddy is a great upgrade. I personally would rather have the weak point be the actual ends because they're a breeze to change, versus the entire tie rod. They're also cheaper

[xjjeepthing]

I just kept my old set up assembled. I break an end no problem

[BlueXJ]

I have my old OEM set in the box my ZJ set came in and it goes in the Jeep as spares when we go to a trail. 3 nuts and I can change the whole thing on the trail and since I haven't moved anything I retain alignment.

[2000XJ]

The stock drag link is also rumored to be over 3 times stronger than the factory drag link, and in my experience, I've only ever seen one stock drag link break.... and it was on a Red trail under a TJ Rubi on 37's..... so it probably doesn't make sense to change the entire setup.

[Mudderoy]

The stock drag link is also rumored to be over 3 times stronger than the factory drag link, and in my experience, I've only ever seen one stock drag link break.... and it was on a Red trail under a TJ Rubi on 37's..... so it probably doesn't make sense to change the entire setup.

I am CORNfused. What is the difference between the stock and the factory drag link?

[BlueXJ]

I think he is comparing ZJ V8 stuff to OEM XJ stuff.

[2000XJ]

Negative, that's my mistake. I meant that the stock Drag Link is over 3x stronger than the stock Tie Rod.... woops