GM owners, anyone have experience with these tie-rod sleeves?

[rayra]

Finally found this solution for the spindly tie rod ends on these trucks / SUVs. Most are only a 1/2" dia rod, on vehicles weighing 5k-6k+ pounds. One good jam into a rut or off-camber off-road slide into an obstruction, and they'll bend, screwing your alignment and your tires in short order when you are back on pavement.
These are thick-walled steel tubing sleeves which take the place of the jamb nut at the tie rod end ball joint / steering knuckle, providing a major reinforcement to this weak point in the design.

http://www.roughcountry.com/gm-tie-rod-sleeves-1144.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr6pyPPtJrM


yea or nay? Anything better that doesn't cost significantly more?

Or does it just make more sense to carry a junkyard spare tie rod end and the tools to change it in the field?

 

[ZMagic97]

I have these on my lifted 06 GMC Sierra. Very happy with then.

 

[1stDeuce]

I have a truck that's seen plenty of ruts and bumps and still has it's factory tie rods. If the tie rod was wheel to wheel, like on a solid axle, It would have to be a lot larger dia, but it's only about 12" long, so it's fine at the smaller diameter. (The shorter it is, the less likely it is to buckle...) Unless you're REALLY hard on stuff, or you really force the wheeel, or run the tie rod into something, you shouldn't have any issues with the stock parts.

That said, sleeves like you show do make the tie rod stronger, though if you run it directly into something, like a log in a mud pit or something like that, it can still break right where the sleeve meets the outer tie rod end. The only danger with sleeves is that if you live in the rust belt, they can also fill full of salt and yuk and seize solid, so you can't adjust toe anymore. Then you'll need new tie rods and new sleeves!

I think Merchant sells a version too. I was going to buy from him when I was considering it, but since I haven't had any trouble, and don't wheel the truck much these days, I decided to not to.
Good luck!!
Chris

 

[J.R.]

I have been running sleeves on my '05 for about 8 years. I'm in the rocks and ruts alot and I didnt want to deal with a bent tierod out in the desert somewhere.

But!
They REALLY confuse the alignment tech's around where I live. Even after I tell them that I have sleeves on my truck and outright ask them if they have ever delt with sleeves in a truck before. They ALL shake there head "yes" and say "no problem"..........Then I stand in the lobby and watch through the window as they stand in front of my truck on the rack........You can see the look of utter confusion grow across their face. Then they walk back into the lobby and tell me that my front end is "Really messed up, because the tie rod just turns and it doesnt change any thing....so something must be broken inside the tierod end." This is where I go out into the bay and explain to the tech what a sleeve is and show them that if you unscrew/backoff the sleeve all the way, then back off the TRE jam nut all the way to the sleeve you can use the flats on the sleeve to adjust the tierods. They say " OH Cool!" and then I get my alignment done.

Before my next alignment I think I'll get a set of HD tie rods, and skip the whole song and dance.


Edit: I just watched that video you posted up. Apparently the sleeves from Merchant Auto are longer than the sleeves in the video...there was alot of tie rod still exposed on their truck. And also I reinstalled the jam nuts on mine, again as said above to help lock the sleeve in place so the TRE can be adjusted because when the sleeve is on the rod it covers the flats on the tie rod.

 

[eggman918]

I have a truck that's seen plenty of ruts and bumps and still has it's factory tie rods. If the tie rod was wheel to wheel, like on a solid axle, It would have to be a lot larger dia, but it's only about 12" long, so it's fine at the smaller diameter. (The shorter it is, the less likely it is to buckle...) Unless you're REALLY hard on stuff, or you really force the wheeel, or run the tie rod into something, you shouldn't have any issues with the stock parts.

That said, sleeves like you show do make the tie rod stronger, though if you run it directly into something, like a log in a mud pit or something like that, it can still break right where the sleeve meets the outer tie rod end. The only danger with sleeves is that if you live in the rust belt, they can also fill full of salt and yuk and seize solid, so you can't adjust toe anymore. Then you'll need new tie rods and new sleeves!

I think Merchant sells a version too. I was going to buy from him when I was considering it, but since I haven't had any trouble, and don't wheel the truck much these days, I decided to not to.
Good luck!!
Chris

if you fill the void with a high quality anti seize you "should' be able to avoid the effects of road salt.

 

[1stDeuce]

if you fill the void with a high quality anti seize you "should' be able to avoid the effects of road salt.

You're obviously from the desert... We used anti-seize on everything when I lived in MI. It helps for a few months, but not through a winter. We used to joke that it must have been water based... Chassis grease did a better job on most stuff, so I suppose you could pack them with chassis grease, but what a mess...

I just looked and the Merchant ones are stainless. Nice touch, but as the OP is in LA, my concerns, and reasons for using stainless are probably moot.
For $34, if you're in there, you might as well put them on. At least then you can wish you had.

 

[rayra]

Yep, desert and drought. Water and road salt are very rare. Maybe one ski / snow trip a year.

Looking more into the alignment complications. Thanks for the responses so far.

 

[AA1PR]

check out 02tahoemd's build thread he has some really impressive ones or here ~ http://rareparts.com/products/heavy-duty-tie-rod-assemblies.php

 

[rayra]

Yep, those look real nice and are essentially a direct replacement with no change to the alignment process. But they list at over $400 for a pair. And their offering on Amazon is a single side for $154, a very muddled listing.
The sleeves are $35 for the pair.
The direct factory replacement part is $23ea.

so $23 and a couple wrenches carried along.
Sleeves for $35, likely to forestall all but the worst incident.
or $310 for the 'Rare' beef.

 

[rayra]

Just as a late follow-up, I did finally install the Rough Country sleeves, detailed at the end of this topic -
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ckup-Suburban-Yukon-etc?p=2226914#post2226914

I ran into exactly the same head-scratching confusion with a local alignment guy. He couldn't figure out how to adjust them, with the inner rod flats obscured. I explained he could adjust the inner tie rod by grasping it with vise grips on the remaining exposed position. I did it with a small pipe wrench at home, before I remembered my ViseGrips. This also worked fine as my tie rod parts weren't rusty / corroded. And I had taken the opportunity while I had things apart ot clean and grease things.
But he had pulled me down into the pit to tell me I had other woes anyway and they weren't going to be doing the alignment without ~$700 in replacement repairs. That I can do myself with about $100 in parts. Pitman Arm, Idler Arm and I might as well throw new tie rod parts on it too, they're inexpensive at rockauto.com. And he'd claimed lower ball joints too, but damned if I can make them budge at home, no matter what I try. He didn't SHOW me, so I wonder if he just tossed that in too for the 'upsell'.

Anyway, they're in, I'm happy with the install / product.

 

[Yroundrdn]

I've always upgraded the tie rods on my vehicles but did have one negative experience on my F350 Supper Duty. I slid into a ditch while wheeling in the rain and the weight of the truck found the next weakest link in the steering system which was my steering box. I stripped the gears, blew fluid everywhere and had an expensive repair. In that situation I would have rather had a bent tie rod. Sometimes the weak current weak link is the simplest fix when off road.

 

[ckupq]

FWIW these don't work with MOOG problem solver inner TREs I learned out the hard way after I bought them.

 

[locrwln]

I just went with the Kryptonite upgrade initially and the only problem I have had at an alignment shop is the steering support. They want to tighten it and in fact they broke the pitman arm one by trying to "fix" it.
.

.
Jack