• Welcome to H4O! For a reduced ad experience, please login or register with the forum.

Tie Rods BulletProof Hunner

Hunner

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,334
Location
Arkansas
I keep finding orphaned posts that grow into detailed information that people are looking for. I will build this here just for information purposes for people wanting to know. I can then refer them to this link. I do not have any connection with BulletProof I just worked with them to make some tie rods for me as the prototyper as they had no access to an H3. So I will work on moving some stuff recreated on here and drag in other information condensed some what that I quit posting. It may take me a while to reconstruct.

I was working with a friend back in 06 on some ideas for tie rods that I worked with on open wheel formula cars when we ran across someone using BP design parts on a Bronco.
We decided why re-invent some thing somebody else already figured out and I called Randy.

I never saw so many options on his website now. Mine were first as he told me I would have to do all the measuring because he did not have an H3. I spent a month taking things apart and following a long list of instructions. Then I had to throw in my ideas specifically for the H3. That was just to get the prototype made. Then I fitted those and listed some changes needed to clear things and had to adjust my suspension as well using mods I already did. I shot many digital images to send to him and we talked on the phone a lot while I was on a creeper!
Looks like after that he made that list of options. I would have to study all that some but sounds like I have a combination of several of those. "Hunner version"
He did add me some little cross pieces on the clevis when I was trying to get boots to stay on but he said that was pain in the rear and would not offer that except by special order. I later found that just tightening the hell out of those good toggle hose clamps I could get the boots to stay on so I don't think those are needed.

I did choose the trail proof version size, I figured I would have clearance problems with anything bigger and these are huge compared to stock.
I at that time was cranked to 24 inches but also came down to 23.5 when I got the prototype to clear the ant-sway bar even with longer links, (gosh I wonder if that is where that figure came from I see stated all the time, now?)
I have the misalignment spacers at the outer end and a special washer and mine are mounted on top of the knuckle arm.
I have the best spherical rod ends he offered after a number of people said Heims were not good, but that was on Jeeps and maybe those were not this hi-tech or came from the hardware store. I know several lift kits for Jeeps came with less than reliable Heims style rod ends.
I have the bend at the outer end because I wanted the rod ends to be level when sitting at rest so they could start there and go the max either way.

I had a clearance problem with the lateral bolts that connect the tie rod to the clevis where they slide between part of the frame.
He had me grind them down to clear for a pattern and then he had new bolts made so they would be plated. The guy is meticulous for detail in his machining.
We agreed on a torque setting so the holes for the cotter pins would line up at that setting. It's tough to drill in 9.7 bolts.
Everything else I modded and adjusted so I did not have any clearance problems lock to lock or level or full droop.
I will also add despite some one of questionable knowledge stating that the problem with these is they cause bump steer, that without ever having any. Maarveloous!
I DO NOT HAVE BUMP STEER!
I did have some I could feel over whoop de doos at speed with the OEM, they flex. That I concluded by seeing a number of them bend first and then break. They flexed!
I noticed the lack of that and the spring action that did to the front end. When I told him that he laughed and said he wondered if I would notice that, why heck yea me and my H3 are close! First thing I did was hit the trails that I used to have to go slow on or bounce all over the place. Zoom zoom very little hood lifting.
I in the past posted very specific details and then he asked me to remove some of that on the forum I was on at the time because of comments from said person and a couple of others which had doubts that now, 80,000+ miles have proven to be baseless. The spherical rod ends are still firm. I sometimes go wheeling and occasionally post some pictures.

I think where the options came into play was that some people with Rancho or Tuff Country contacted him and thus 4 inch more lift would change all our calculations.
Randy also lists a bunch of specs to measure and I think that is as much as wanting to make sure all H3's are the same as it is he wants to make sure the person doing this doesn't think it's a one size fits all slap it on and take off kind of mod.
Because at the time mine was the only one with them fitted.
I helped someone fill all that out and walked them thru how to do the measurement and we came up real close to the same thing. However I don't think they spent the money.
Good gosh here I go again on a long post but short ones just raise questions and long ones might also but I tried.
"This is just nuts and bolts but they have to be in the right order." Hunner 2012
BULLETPROOF-H3_much-steeper-maxi-1.jpg

_DSC7916.jpg

re5085.jpg
 
Last edited:

Hunner

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,334
Location
Arkansas
I decided to put this on this forum so it can follow us as we go forward and I have had some people ask about it lately.
Remember when I had those made I had just bought the last two 14mm in the system and drove to Dallas to get them at Sewell's body shop. It was dismal as to when there would be more so I hoarded a bunch. Then I went to Long Ranch, Texas to meet with Phil Day from Trail Duty and a bunch to do some wheeling and discuss all this mess about broken tie rods.
I paid about what two sets of 14mm tie rods cost at the time which was higher than OEM are now. So it was easy for me to justify the time Involved to have them made. I was just shocked at what the end retail price was. They could of course be copied by a good machine shop and BP was concerned about that as much as I revealed but he just did not want someone to make a cheap knock off and spoil the idea. The machine work is very nice and precise. It was my understanding the bend in the hollow threaded tube was sort of a unique process.
If anyone does get some of these as far as I know there may only be one other person who has them.
I would be glad to help if anyone wants to know the finer details of fitting them to the H3 since I figured it out.
 
Last edited:

Hunner

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,334
Location
Arkansas
i have seen them work and have photos somewhere?

great product

You must mean this one you shot.
I was high centered on this rock shelf. As most of you should know when you take the weight off the front end or even jack up the front the wheels on an H3 they have a tendency to toe in. Sometimes with catastrophic results.
These BP when under forced conditions can go past the 23 degrees of articulation of the OEM, up to 30 if the suspension will allow that and the spherical rod ends rotate the tie rods to their limits if need be.
In this case the drivers side was not touching the ground so was able to move differently than the pass side. Several people close by thought I had broken 1 or both tie rods. Tim was concerned for me which I appreciate the help by all. I checked them and realized they were doing there thing. Neo of course being the resident guide gave me some traction but I ended up having to back off and take a different line.
No damage, ran the rest of Steel Bender.
8xs0201.jpg
 

Pappibri

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,611
Location
Cohoctah, MI
Great Pic Hunner.... One would think by the look that maybe a tierod is broke... Good thing you had the Bulletproofs ha.. Might have had a couple broke tierods otherwise.
 

atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,211
Location
massachusetts
Thank you for opening up this discussion! For the sake of discussion, from my research of HD tie rod upgrades on different platforms and IFS suspension geometry There are a few very important points to keep constant to relieve bump steer and toe in/ toe out changes throughout your suspension travel. Unfortunately one of them seems to be to always use a straight tierod if possible as to keep the tierod as parallel to the lower control arm. Also the center of the tierod pivot at the knuckle needs to stay as close to the stock height above the knuckle as possible, from what I can tell this seems to follow the idea of keeping the tie rod as parallel as possible to the lower control arm. The other thing that I am curious about is that with the inner clevis the pivot points are moved outwards which in theory makes the rack "wider" while not alot this would necessitate a slightly shorter tierod and the angle of the tierod would be increased. As you can see in the pictures the tierod is not parallel with the lower control arm but rather is closer towards the knuckle side. In theory this would cause bumpsteer (may work fine in practice) to fix this would require the the height of the heim above the knuckle to be increased. The increase in angle would also require a bend in the tierod to make the heim joint sit closer to level at ride height but would cause toe in at full suspension droop. When it all comes down to it though, this design looks like it is more than serving the purpose of providing hummer owners with a stronger tierod option that has yet to leave you stranded. I am just looking to go a little different route with mine that allows me to use off the shelf tie rod ends that I can pick up at any auto parts store.
 

Hunner

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,334
Location
Arkansas
When you posted you were going to make some tie rods I felt like bringing this back up for discussion would help our community of Hummers here that seem to be the dedicated off-road owners. Whatever you come up with that would help, at a reasonable price, would probably be welcomed by most. However in the past most people just bought spare OEM tie rods and were happy with that. I also think as the Hummer community grew people adjusted their driving to the H3 IFS instead of yeeha slam bam pickumup truck style bashing.
Being new to our group you may not know that I am open to any improvements anyone can come up with. I have contributed some of my ideas, in case they could be considered by others that want to make some other mods, if I don't think I can complete them. While never claiming to know it all I do know some things that work and would never endure using something that did not work properly. I am not defending these as the ultimate solution for everyone and I have nothing to gain from doing so. I also do not claim to fully have all the theory absorbed enough to be critical of any of the successfully functioning design parameters of these.
I do know that others have now used a similar design on an H3.
My goal was not only make a stronger tie rod without slapping on a sleeve of some sort but one that would relieve stress on the steering rack by having swivel joints and more articulation so things did not max out and apply force back on the rack.
I have read the theories and tried to soak all that up. I discussed this at length with several others that do this, but Randy addressed the problems knowing full well the starting point was a problem already as he was shocked at the standard angle of the OEM tie rods. I admit I was skeptical from what others said but Randy was willing to work with me to get a design that was both durable and safe. I cannot explain it as well as he does but he seems to have been right. I have some emails where he went into detail about the design that I could use for some explanation. I decided as usual, to let someone with a great deal more knowledge and skill than I have to make me a workable component.
There were some other design discussions we abandon from his past experience and knowledge and this basic clevis design without the H3 feature, were his signature proven design for other vehicles. He was concerned any more stylish looking clevis with smaller machined area would not hold up to the abuse of off-road I showed him in pictures or trails I was repeatedly running at Superlift.
Bottom line is, it works.

quote "The increase in angle would also require a bend in the tierod to make the heim joint sit closer to level at ride height but would cause toe in at full suspension droop."
end quote.

A little bit about this, without making new knuckles, by the design of the H3 suspension and already steep angles of the tie rods, this was how he addressed the problem.
Jack up a stock H3 and watch what happens to the toe in. I'm not as concerned about toe in on the trail while briefly lifted as I am on the road. I have logged over 50,000 miles on these. I have to tally that up. As I have posted that was on two different H3's.

If you are going to try a different design or approach it will be interesting to see the results. Keep us in the loop if we can help.

This shot I posted is with the steering turned to lock on the passenger side, thus the angle of the outer end. I seem to make long posts because it's hard not to and possible leave out explanations that could be misunderstood.
re5085.jpg

Here is a straight on shot. Notice the contour of the lower a-arm and tie rod. To have level tie rods would be a major design change of the knuckle the way I see it and probably create some high steer problems.
s7182_resize.jpg

cr_8474.jpg

crs7155sh.jpg

Stock angles
6482_resize.jpg


UPDATE 1/15/17 well over 100,000 miles on same spherical rod ends, so much for the fear of failure as compared to standard Heims!
 
Last edited:
Top