Steering rack failures?

[Jason B]

Hi Folks,

...Trashing a several $ million prototype at the end of its useful life....

Phil

Several $ million prototype? How many do they build for a particular year model? How much of the prototype carries over to production?

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[P. A. Schilke]

Several $ million prototype? How many do they build for a particular year model? How much of the prototype carries over to production?

Hi Jason,

The scope of the new program defines how many prototypes are built and to what level of testing in needed.....50 to 100 used to be common but there was a push to keep a prototype running 24/7 and reduce the numbers needed....not sure how it works. Prototypes are scrapped at the end of the program before production starts...They are usually very tired vehicles having been rode hard and put away wet too many times. Then right before Job 1, there is a 4P build (Pre Production Product Proveout) that may entail 10 to 20 vehicles. The 4P vehicles are salable but are usually scrapped as well. When I retired...a new ground up vehicle from clean sheet of paper to job 1 was about $3Billion. Lot of money risked in hopes of recovery and profit through sales, eh? A minor freshening is much less expensive as you start with a production vehicle and modify it as needed.

Example: I got a Windstar Prototype...one of the first to come out of build. We spent three months instrumented it for data acquisition. Went out on trial run over the pot hole course and tore the rear axle out of the vehicle $3 Million prototype was severely wounded...Build stopped until we could figure out what happened.... Poor Windstar (We called a Windlemon) needed a major rebuild. I think I gave the details in another very old thread...but do not recall....

Best,
Phil

 

[Whiplash]

After completing my full front and rear mid-travel suspension, I gave it a couple test hits thru a series of 3 very acute speed bumps...the kind you normally would slow to 5-10 mph for . I hit them square on at 20 - 35 and 50 mph... initial impact jolts were less than expected, and rear only had a momentary loss of contact with the ground at 50 mph ...passed with flying colors...no damage...?

 

[slowmachine]

Back in my Jeep CJ days, it was somewhat common for the combination of oversized tires and power steering to exert enough leverage on the front leaf spring shackles to break the shackle at the welds. I don’t remember hearing of an occasion where this happened with smaller than 33” tires. I ran 31x10.5s, and carried a couple of extra shackles in my recovery box behind the rear seat, but never had to replace a shackle on the trail. People got the idea that a stronger shackle would be useful, and various off-road suppliers started to make them. That beefy “upgrade” shackle was virtually indestructible, so the next-weakest component became the new point of failure. In this case, the welds holding front shackle mount to the frame would fail, or sometimes the mount itself, or even the frame rail would break. They make alternators that can be used to run a stick welder. Sometimes “upgrades” cause more problems than they solve.

 

[Aonarch]

Large tires combined with a tire getting wedged in rut , can cause tie rod failure...after a few alignments I noticed toe angle was what would change the most after some offroading... so .....I replaced the stock tie rod ends with APG Billet ends with the Heim steering joints...

Holy F they are proud of those...

To the OP, bring spares on your wheeling trips. U joints & tie rods.

 

[McLeadslinger]

Unfortunately, they are the only aftermarket ends on the market currently. I definitely plan on bringing spare parts.

Holy F they are proud of those...

To the OP, bring spares on your wheeling trips. U joints & tie rods.

 

[Aonarch]

I'd just fab up my own

https://www.barnes4wd.com/Suspension-Joints_c_7.html

 

[Whiplash]

Expensive....yes.... but , mill work is not cheap.... there is more to it than just the price of the Heim joint..... Give APG credit for designing and providing after market suspension parts for the Ranger with cast steel spindles.... choices are limited ....

 

[Yama_Ranger]

SVC has billet tie rods for the. Ranger as well. I have an APG long-travel setup. and no complaints but the SVC option is possibly a good option and quite a bit less money
https://svcoffroad.com/collections/...vc-offroad-2019-ford-ranger-steering-tie-rods

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