1 tonne steering and TRE redundancy

WJ knuckle swap with Chev 1 tonne TRE's. Used the High angle's for the drag link, and regular TRE's for the tie rod.

I had drag link TRE fail (and while I have several spares, for some reason they're all LH *sigh*), and since I'm also building up my buddies SAS (on his chev) and going with chev 1 tonnes as well, a thought just occurred to me.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the high angle TRE's for the drag link AND the tie rod, and only have to carry one type of spare? I figure this makes way more sense (especially as my buddies going to have the same steering setup in a few weeks), as we'd only have to carry 2 high angle TRE's instead of 2 HA and 2 regular.

I'm using ES2027L and ES2026R for the HA right now. Can anyone think of any good reason to NOT use the HA's for the tie rod?

Sounds OK in theory, but on mine, the tie rod would be hitting the diff cover without the offset TRE's I used. Have you checked that there's clearance lock to lock?

Yup. My wheels are 15" with 4.5 offset, which isn't enough to clear the offset TRE's. I chopped down the spring perches and it all JUST clears (occasionally touches the diff cover, but doesn't clamp down on it).

Just wondering if the high angle are structurally any weaker than the non HA's. Sure would be nice to only have to carry 2 spares between two trucks.

blistovmhz said:

I'm using ES2027L and ES2026R for the HA right now. Can anyone think of any good reason to NOT use the HA's for the tie rod?

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Both the 2026 and the 2027 TRE's have a 60 degree range in motion as you already know. Using either of them should not be a problem. The are both available in left hand thread and right hand thread. However, one,...the 2027 is 2.25 inches shorter than the 2026 which are 6.50 and 8.75 inches respectively. Check to see if the rod between the 2 TRE's could accommodate the change in length.

Strength wise, I have no idea but I do not see why there should be a difference.

Build the rods myself. The tie-rod might be a little bit long as it's got TK234's on it right now, which thread right to the joint, where the ES202x have an inch or two of taper after the joint, before the thread starts. Not a big deal as I can just chop the rod down and throw in another insert.

The 2027/2026 have a deeper taper than the 2234's. You'll have to ream your knuckle further.

markw said:

The 2027/2026 have a deeper taper than the 2234's. You'll have to ream your knuckle further.

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Eyup. Had to do the draglink ends so am aware.
Well, seems like this is a go if they'll fit behind my little wheels. Just waiting for some more TRE's (should arrive today) and I'll check clearance. woot!