Ever tried to turn your wheel when the truck is not running? Has your power steering ever ran low on fluid? Has your power steering ever stopped work for one-reason-or-another? If so, you understand the amount of force being applied to your steering components. Turing your tires back-and-forth places a lot of stress on everything in your steering set-up - the drag link included.
Have you ever stood on an empty Coke/beer can? It's hard to believe that the can will support your weight! But what happens when you dent the can? Can you straighten your coke/beer can and expect it to hold your weight again?
The stock Rover drag link is hollow - it's built much like a beer can. The stock drag link is thin, and the steel is mild. The stock link is not made to take a hit from its sides, rather, it's made to to be pushed and pulled from it's ends.
So what happens when your stock drag link takes a hit? It's bends, right? By just simply bending the drag link back into place, does that restore its original strength? Is your drag link brand new again?
Only an idiot would think so.
Once your drag link is bent, the strength is compromised. It's no longer safe to use. It may be fine to get you off the trail, but it should not be trusted to get you home at highway speeds. There is a lot of force on that steering component and it if fails, you're fucked. The only way to safely get home would be to sleeve the drag link with your high-lift handle, or weld some sort of support to your link. Once your stock drag ink is bent, dented, or creased, it's done.
Now, I'm now nearly as experienced as Ian when it comes to Rover, obviously, but I've never seen a steering box explode do to something hitting the drag link or wheel. In fact, I've only seen one Rover steering box break, period. It was on a truck running 37" tires and a "high flow" power steering set-up. He basically twisted the sector shaft in two while turning in big rocks. Once we tore it apart to repair, you could see the sector shaft was a lemon from the factory as the metal was porous.
Rovertym makes a nice "HD" drag link and you see a lot of them in the States. I've even made a hand full of links much like the Rovertym design, but I've since changed my mind as to what I think is the "best".
The RTE shaft is a stainless steel base. This is nice because it's non-rusting and strong. But being strong is not the only selling point of the RTE link. The RTE link is made from 303 stainless which contains chromoly. Chromoly is good because is has memory to it. If the RTE link should ever take a hit it will return to it's original form - to a point, of course, as anything can still be bent.
The RTE link is also solid. Many people argue that a hollow tube is stronger than a solid link because the hollow tube has two side that have to bend. That's bullshit. A hollow tube is only 93% as strong as a solid link.
Other vendors such as Rockware and Rovertracks use a hollow DOM link. I like these for a few reasons, but I installed the Rockware over the Rovertracks link due to the use of clamps vs jam nuts on the tie rod ends. I like the clamps as it's a sure thing your tie rod ends are not going to come loose and allow the drag link to spin. This feature is not nearly as important on the drag link as it is on the tie rod. Plus, the clamps look stock.
I also like the DOM links because they're steel. If something were to happen and the link gets bent, I can weld a support to the link to get me home. You can't weld to the RTE links.
On my D1, I went with a D-90 set-up. This allowed me to move the steering dampner up front where it belongs, and still leaves me with a clean install. I had to use a RRC pitman arm, a D-90 drag link, a D-90 dampner mount and a D2 weld on frame mount to mate the steering dampner. (I would post pics of my set-up, but I don't guess I have any).
As for Ian's claim to short lived tie rod ends, I've had that issue, too. I was using cheap replacements from Lemforder. Well, they do not last. But the genuine tie rod ends hold up very well. I was going through the Lemforder ends in a very short time period - sometimes as little as 3k miles. But the genuine ends have lasted several years. They're only $10.00 more each, but well worth it.
HD Steering?
Linear Mode
