bad rugged ridge experience

so i created this thread to vent about a common setup that people use. so feel free to include any words of wisdom.

so i bought a brand new rugged ridge heavy duty steering setup brand new in the box from some guy. i have been running it for about six months now with no "huge" issues. i am on 6.5" of lift and 35s locked up front and rear.

so the other day i was driving down a nice gravel road at about 15mph when i lose all steering. i was able to bring it to a stopped relatively quickly and safely so no one was hurt. the passenger side tie rod end pulled straight out of the tie rod stripping all of the threads. this loss of steering caused me to lose all control. now imagine if this was on a highway at a higher rate of speed? keep this in mind...

i called rugged ridge directly and explained to them my dilemna to see if they would replace it or do anything for me. the only answer i got was "we are sorry but all we can do is give you part numbers to replace what you broke since you didnt purchase it directly from us." then i proceeded to ask them what would have happened if i was on the freeway when this happened? all they had to say was "we are sorry"

rugged ridge products and service are a waste of money and a bunch of D bags to deal with! i will never recomend their product to anyone!!!

vent over....

Can't see that happening if the jam nut was tight and you had no "huge" issues.

well it happened. never had an issue with it until then. dont know what caused it but it happened

What are no "huge" issues?

Things like this don't happen out of nowhere, there must have been something leading up to it. I just find it hard to believe that after 6 months of driving fine that the TRE popped out of the tie rod.

With an inverted-T style steering, you are basically TRYING to unthread that TRE from the tie rod. I have the same style steering and I know that that jamnut loves to come loose.

Is RR the manufacturer, or just a retailer? Their headers in the catalogs I get look just like the APN/Banks/Edelbrock/etc header, which makes me very suspicious.

the issues i was talking about is i replaced one tie rod end and the grease boots. i always make sure everything in my steering is tight. i have had a lot of bad steering experiences before so i always make sure its tight

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending RR either, but I've heard too many stories about loose jam nuts.

o me too i have seen many loose jam nuts and heard all the stories. hence why i keep mine tight unless it came loose on a gravel road

yes it broke and that may be their fault but you are not the original purchaser. how do they know that they werent already used. you cant blame them for not warrantying them. otherwise everyone would be doing it.

i know the RR setup gets a lot of tie rod roll on the passenger side. if you can stop this it will help with your problem. check out adding a spacer like JCR does.

hubs97xj said:

Is RR the manufacturer, or just a retailer? Their headers in the catalogs I get look just like the APN/Banks/Edelbrock/etc header, which makes me very suspicious.

Click to expand...

They are a manufacturer/distributor known for making knock offs of every other brand and trying to undercut in cost (and usually quality). They have some parts no one else makes, but they're generally a last resort thing to most CJ & other model Jeep enthusiasts.

Companies who are proud of their products will stand by them. How long ago was it originally purchased by the first owner?

not too long before i got it. so less than a year

I would call them up and ask them nicely again to make your experience with them positive so you might do business with them in the future. Businesses don't like to be threatened but they also don't like losing customers or potential customers. Most customers have more pull than they think. All that is based on my experience with customer service on both ends. Good luck.