Poor Confused Bronco

[DTJB]

I seen some mud racers have R&P steering mounted on the axles a few years ago.

How did they have them mounted? I saw one where a guy was trying it and it was directly front and center. But it looked like it would be the first expensive bit I would destroy in that area.

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[Geoarch]

What do they build those things with?

 

[Rusty PW]

How did they have them mounted? I saw one where a guy was trying it and it was directly front and center. But it looked like it would be the first expensive bit I would destroy in that area.

The 3 that I seen had the rack mounted in front, up high. The axle pumpkin was on the passenger side. The steering shaft went over top of the axle tube on the driver side.

 

[dcmdon]

The tie rod ends break.

There is now was a factory upgrade available for the 2022 model year that provided heavier duty tie rod ends. But it seems to be gone from the configurator now.

 

[LostWoods]

I seen some mud racers have R&P steering mounted on the axles a few years ago.

How did they have them mounted? I saw one where a guy was trying it and it was directly front and center. But it looked like it would be the first expensive bit I would destroy in that area.

The 3 that I seen had the rack mounted in front, up high. The axle pumpkin was on the passenger side. The steering shaft went over top of the axle tube on the driver side.

Some mud drag trucks seem to love the R&P design but they're also 4-linked with very restricted wheel travel. It's not a great design off road.

 

[LostWoods]

I know this isn't a forum that is going to get IFS/R&P love but a solid axle design is good for one thing and it's the one thing jeep people care about. IFS and R&P is superior in every other way and you can absolutely build an R&P setup to be as bulletproof as you're willing to invest. It's just not a common need among most owners.

Go out and drive a TJ or JK with large tires and the factory gearbox and tie rod and see how far that gets you. We used to replace TJ parts on the regular even with just 35s and it's not uncommon to find people putting parts off 1-ton or larger on their JK/JL/JT to beef up the front end. Vehicles are built to the typical use case and much like the JL, the average use case doesn't involve dirt by a country mile.

I'm sure I probably posted this rant above somewhere but idiots gonna idiot and think their stock vehicle will handle all that right foot but the aftermarket will eventually fill the gaps for those who need it and the Bronco will be just fine. It's more than capable in even stock form of what 95% of Jeep people are capable of driving anyway.

 

[dajudge]

I know this isn't a forum that is going to get IFS/R&P love but a solid axle design is good for one thing and it's the one thing jeep people care about. IFS and R&P is superior in every other way and you can absolutely build an R&P setup to be as bulletproof as you're willing to invest. It's just not a common need among most owners.

Go out and drive a TJ or JK with large tires and the factory gearbox and tie rod and see how far that gets you. We used to replace TJ parts on the regular even with just 35s and it's not uncommon to find people putting parts off 1-ton or larger on their JK/JL/JT to beef up the front end. Vehicles are built to the typical use case and much like the JL, the average use case doesn't involve dirt by a country mile.

I'm sure I probably posted this rant above somewhere but idiots gonna idiot and think their stock vehicle will handle all that right foot but the aftermarket will eventually fill the gaps for those who need it and the Bronco will be just fine. It's more than capable in even stock form of what 95% of Jeep people are capable of driving anyway.

Your argument might be valid if Ford hadn't released the Bronco by showing it running around off road. They advertise it as an off road vehicle! In the case of the picture posted, the dealer refused to fix it because "the skid plates were scratched"! Ford jumped into the deep end without bothering to learn how to swim. Also, it isn't just the tie-rods that are breaking, the R&Ps are as well. IFS can be built to high standards but it cost 3 times what the vehicle cost in the first place.
Yes, someone will eventually come out with a better steering system, but until that happens, better treat it like a D30.

 

[bleda2002]

In ford's defense, I read an article that they are already on their 3rd redesign of the HOSS suspension. For this 3rd redesign they basically re-did everything with 32% stronger (thicker) inner and outter tie rod ends, 40% stronger steering rack, and ditched the bilsteins for fox shocks. It seems they are at least trying to reach a decent level of robustness offroad although i think to ford off road means raptor (AKA desert running) not rock crawling so its still more 4 runner than wrangler imo.

 

[LostWoods]

Your argument might be valid if Ford hadn't released the Bronco by showing it running around off road. They advertise it as an off road vehicle! In the case of the picture posted, the dealer refused to fix it because "the skid plates were scratched"! Ford jumped into the deep end without bothering to learn how to swim. Also, it isn't just the tie-rods that are breaking, the R&Ps are as well. IFS can be built to high standards but it cost 3 times what the vehicle cost in the first place.
Yes, someone will eventually come out with a better steering system, but until that happens, better treat it like a D30.

The current Cherokee and Grand Cherokee are advertised the same way... just because it's shown as an off-roader doesn't mean it's going to handle anything you throw at it off-road.

The problem is people are dumbasses. They watch people on YouTube going full send in a trail pig, go buy their first new off-roader, and throw any sense of line selection and technique out the window thinking that's the normal protocol. Jeeps put up with that abuse better by the design of the axle but that doesn't mean the Bronco is faulty.

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