CONFIRMED: Fabtech 2500HD Tie Rod Ends - DO NOT USE

[mikekey]

Well, everyone can proceed to laugh at me for my expensive lesson. But the Fabtech 2500HD tie rod ends will not work on our platform. Based on my findings you can rule out the Rareparts tie rod ends and all the other fancy tie rods that where discussed in Fishsticks original "Fixing my steering today..." thread that are not standard 2500HD tie rods, which of course have been verified to work.

While they did bolt directly up and fit per sé, the issue is that they're too big to pull into the steering housing (not sure if this is the correct terminology)

Just so you understand, here are pictures.

How the OEM tie rod pulls into the housing.

How the Fabtech hits the steering housing.

2 hours of adjustments and I just couldn't get it to work without it severely limiting the vehicles turning radius. So guess I'll be selling these things and doing like everyone else.

Hopefully no one else bought these. But now you all know.

[Opeth]

Trial and error, thanks for letting us know.

[Moots1288]

Damn.. I guess its RC sleeves to the rescue. Good thing you tried though, sucks they didnt work out though.

[ErikSS]

With that information, my opinion is as follows. The BEST TRE set up for our platform is Brand New ACDelco 2500HD tie rod ends with the Rough Country Sleeves. The bored out Sleeves over Moog are working on my truck great. I have now installed an upgraded boot that goes from the rack, accross all the way to the outer TRE sealing all joins from the eliments. I got these neoprene boots from a local shop who does driveshafts and has a steering specialty shop downtown chicago. The quirck is that the rack side of these boots is 2.5" where as the stock ones are 2.25". After taking a min to think about it, I decided to see how they tighten down. I feel they sealed right up with a standard hose clamp and the outer end was a nice tight fit. I did use a hose clamp on that end as well. I will see what I can do about pics, but I didn't take any during the install.

[blazinlow89]

Thanks for the heads up Mike. Without the trial and error efforts of other members and yourself we would not have some of the mods that we do.

[bartonmd]

That's good to know, Mike! Thanks for taking one for the team! Knowing what doesn't work is just as important as knowing what works!

Mike

[mikekey]

You win some you lose some. The bummer part is, my OE's are damaged, Advanced and O'reilly's wants close $20 more for the Moogs in the store than online, so guess I won't get the Trailblazer out of the garage today.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Thanks for giving it a try. I am still pretty satisfied with my stockers. Very few failures. Most failures are cheap 3/4 ton ones.

[ErikSS]

Thanks for giving it a try. I am still pretty satisfied with my stockers. Very few failures. Most failures are cheap 3/4 ton ones.

If I hadn't switched, I probably wouldn't have had a failure. I can't deny being very happy with my current set up, but I don't think I needed them.

[Opeth]

You win some you lose some. The bummer part is, my OE's are damaged, Advanced and O'reilly's wants close $20 more for the Moogs in the store than online, so guess I won't get the Trailblazer out of the garage today.

I buy most of my parts through advanced online at a huge discount( usually 30% off ) then still pick them up in the local store, just choose pick up as an option. I just search for advanced coupons through google and try a couple that give me the biggest discount.

[v7guy]

That really sucks to hear Mike, but it's the way it goes sometimes.

Any chance you can toss it on the lathe and turn it down a bit?

[mikekey]

Thought about it, think it might compromise the ends.

The material needed to remove is quite significant. The end of the tie rod is 2 full inches, where the OE units are 1 1/4 inch.

Maybe you can see what I'm talking about here.

[ErikSS]

It does look like it would compromise the strength if you had to take much off the outside diameter. It's a shame they won't work. Moogs and Rough Country! 5/8" drill bit.... good to go!

[mikekey]

Really, if the 2500HD rod is the same size and able to pull into the bore, that means that is still just as weak as the OE unit.

Thanks to the Roadie for this picture:


So while one area might be stronger, the outter with the HD rods, the inner is still a weak point that can bend. I'm not sure that makes the HD's worth it. I thought they were bigger. But now that I experienced this, there may be a limit.

[Trail X]

Don't worry too much about those inner TREs, as far as I can recall Bill's the only one to ever bend an inner tie rod. The likelyhood is low unless you drive like a deranged electrical engineer.

[HARDTRAILZ]

That's about as rare as upper control arm failures.

[mikekey]

That's about as rare as upper control arm failures.

So what you're implying is, we need to fabricate a "custom" solution.

[djthumper]

That's about as rare as upper control arm failures.

So what you're implying is, we need to fabricate a "custom" solution.

Who is this we? Unless you have a mouse in your pocket I see you written all over it.

[Diacom]

You win some you lose some. The bummer part is, my OE's are damaged, Advanced and O'reilly's wants close $20 more for the Moogs in the store than online, so guess I won't get the Trailblazer out of the garage today.

I know it's a bit late for you Mike, but you could have done an order online with in store pickup with either of those places and saved the close to $20.

[mikekey]

They're prices online we not better than Rock Auto. To be honest, those places have lost the vast majority of my business over the years.