Alumi Flex Tie Rods

[Saharicon]

Basically just wondering what your guys thoughts are on them.

[HeavyMetal]

stupid.

get a tie rod that blows rocks up, not one that morphs around them to some degree

aka any piece of 1.25" or 1.5" DOM with 1/4 wall

[Ktmracer419]

i have seen them flex, and not flex back

[Buffalo Phil]

I would not buy tie rod that flexes to begin with.

[Saharicon]

$20 ?

[Even]

I haven't heard anything personally about them but the concept seems retarded to me. Get a tie rod that mashes rocks, not folds up on them, and if your really worried about hitting it, then go fucking hi-steer

[HeavyMetal]

$20 ?

im gettin a full tie rod made for 65, food for thought.

rock blow uppable

[XJtheXtremeJeep]

will where are you getting said tierod made, i gotta get a drag link made soon and that cheap would be nice

[HeavyMetal]

dont know if it will be that cheap

but i went through Justin (customcreationsllc) on here

doesnt include TREs

[XJtheXtremeJeep]

ok cool, yeah the TRE's i need for my jk steering is 75 dollars a peice..... gonna be a killer when i gotta get em so im tryin to get a cheap strong draglink

[crosbike]

ok cool, yeah the TRE's i need for my jk steering is 75 dollars a peice..... gonna be a killer when i gotta get em so im tryin to get a cheap strong draglink

why are you running jk ends?

[XJLI]

JK tie rod sucks as well, no one makes a flip kit. just ream down for 1-ton ends.

[Hydra]

this idea seems like a good idea, except i highly doubt it will perform every time, i mean its gotta bend and stay bent eventually, and you still retain your stock drag link pos

[customcreationsllc]

I think what they are trying to say is not that the aluminum tie rod is not stronger it is just more flexible. Steel Modulus of elasticity= 28.8x10^6 psi aluminum= 10.0x10^6 psi
therefor the aluminum will bend 3 times easier.
If you hit your tie rod hard enough to bend it back to the axle the aluminum one will spring back the steel one will stay bent. But it takes 3 times the force to bend the steel one back to the axle.

Hope this make some sense.
The Yield Strength will determine how far it can flex before it is permanently deformed. Since all steels have basically the same modulus of elasticity mild steel tie rod and a chromoly tie rod will both flex the same amount with the same amount of force but the chromoly can go further before it is permanently deformed.
Since the Modulus of Elasticity is lower for aluminum it by a 1/3 it will have 1/3 less internal stress then steel would bent the same distance but aluminum has almost half the yield strength as steel. I would have to calculate out exactly how much further the aluminum one can bend then the steel.
I Know home much you all like math. Who was a fan of math again.

Steel also has a larger Yield flat section than aluminum so once it has been permanently deformed it can bend a lot further before breaking unlike aluminum especially heat treated aluminum like T6 which you need to have any strength at all.
So you can permanently bend steel without loosing much strength i.e. roll cages.
If you made an aluminum cage you would have to make it you of annealed material and heat treat it when your done.

I personally like steel it is a hell of a lot easier to weld, modify and you can bend it back.

I would definitely make sure you have steering stops on both sides of your knuckle before adding a flexible tie rod. Bending the tie rod might over steer your knuckle causing the u-joint to bind.
I would recommend having 2 steering stops per knuckle anyways. Especial the people still running "Y" style steering linkage.

[XJLI]

good read