Post by jeepchipjones on Nov 10, 2004 8:29:22 GMT -5
Okay, Garrett ordered a heavy duty cross over steering kit from Bullet Proof Steering, and installed it yesterday evening. Well, of course we had to go test it to see if the new steering would hit anything when hes flexed out. So we went to Candlestick park and Garrett flexed a good 3 feet without any tires coming off the ground, and his new steering was awesome. Well, on the way out, Garrett decided to play on the large rocks they have in the parking lot. He plays on them for a while, and then I say, "Lets go play on the big ones over here." So Garrett lines up with these two huge rocks, and starts to crawl up on top of them. Well, apparently, these rocks were not happy with what was happening to them, so they start to move... a lot. I tell Garrett to stop, I tell him to not turn the wheel any, b/c both tires were barely hanging on and his front axle was sitting right over the top of one of the rocks. Im thinking to myself, "We're about to find out how tough these new links really are." I tell him the only thing he can do is back down it, but very slowly. He starts backing down, and his tires slip, and the whole weight of the front of the Jeep comes to rest on...... you guessed it, his new tie rod. Well, its flexed up about 3 or 4 inches at this time, and Im thinking, "Maybe itll go back to its original state when he gets off the rock." Well, his tires are both sitting in the air, about 6" above the ground. I tell him to keep going, theres nothing else he can do. So he keeps going, and the tie rod keeps bending. He gets off the rock, and the tie rod is about 6" taller in the center than on the sides. Garrett's pissed at this moment. We limp it back to the Arch. building, find a piece of a small c-beam, bend the tie rod back close to original, and weld the c-beam on it. It is now stronger than it was when it was new, just not as pretty. It made for some good pics though, Im sure Brad will be on here sometime today with them. See yall at Waffle House!!!
