Now that my cross steer is all mocked up, I measured for my steering link/drag link and am ready to buy. Speedway has a pretty good sale going on and has been my go to for the gasser build. They have the drag link in steel the length I need. But they dont have the steering link in my length. They will cut to fit, but its like triple the price. I had intended to go with steel because it seemed the right thing to do. But they offer a bunch of swedged aluminum tie rod tubes. They are 1.125 as opposed to .875 OD of the steel. Im assuming since they have more options in aluminum than they do in steel that its probably common practice? Is aluminum safe for steering linkage in a street/strip car? Should I save the weight and buy the tie rod tube out of aluminum too? Or should I give up the sale and find a steel tube from somewhere other than Speedway? Googling this mostly leads me to threads about rock crawling, so that doesnt cross over much.
The tie rod tubes on my car (the Galaxie in my avatar) are aluminum. They are a larger diameter than the original steel of course, but 50, 000 miles of normal driving with a couple of fairly aggressive evasive maneuvers, no signs of trouble. Besides they are anodized a nice gold color and sure do look pretty.
I would buy the next size too long (in steel), cut it to the length you need, then run a tap in the end.
If you get a longer one and shorten it , make sure you cut the right hand thread. Left hand taps are harder to find and more expensive. Try Welder Series for tie rods and drag links. ( welderseries.com ) Quick service and usually in stock.
probably not if I’m honest. In all seriousness though, I can probably go elsewhere and get them in the length I need. I don’t HAVE to buy from speedway. It’s just convenient. But I wanted to know if I’m overthinking it. I mean hey, it’s a race car. If aluminum in extra thickness is just fine, I would like to save the front end weight. Thus the question. so far I’ve gotten some alternate options, which I appreciate to be sure. But I’m still hopeing someone comes in with a more scientific go or no go answer. I might look to see if QA1 takes phone calls on the weekend.
I agree with DDDenny, spend the extra bucks and do it in STEEL. YOU NEVER, NEVER, EVER! CHEAP OUT ON STEERING OR BRAKES . DENNIS ( CHROME LADY )
Ok if you do not put that high a value on your life, please put a high value on others, including mine!
It was a joke, relax. Im yet to see a real world argument save for the one guy who says he has had aluminum ones for years with no issue. I had it in my head that steel was going to be better, but Im not certain that a 1.125 aluminum tube isnt superior to a .875 steel tube.
The aluminum is intended for race cars. I have put them thru hell many times and they are tougher than people think they would be. I would recommend using the straight tubes, not the swedged, though. The swedge tube will break right at the end of the threads every time. Some of the steel tubes are pretty thin and tend to flex a lot, the thicker aluminum tubes won't flex as much. I usually step up to the direct tap tubing with the thicker wall section. SPark
Thats kinda what I was thinking too with the steel ones. Where do you source yours from? Are those tubes, tubular throughout or are they solid in the middle with only the outside being drilled/tapped?
We use all aluminum steering and 4 link bars for some off topic off road stuff. 7075 is amazing stuff, it beats the hell out of breaking or bending stuff beyond repair. Wide open design will make whatever you need. There are plenty of other companies that can do it also. I wouldn't hesitate to run alum tube.
Yeah, in my googling I have seen that too, that most of the good aluminum stuff is 7075 instead of 6061. I think I might opt for that. Speedway does have my Tie Rod in a 1.13 4130 Chromoly. So maybe Ill buy that and look for my steering link elsewhere in either the better aluminum of a chromoly.
People only look at things like tie rod linkage from 1 mindset, that's driving it down the street. Hardly anyone thinks about the worst case scenario like the engineers who design oem stuff do, that's accidents. Tie rods and other linkage are designed out of materials meant to bend without breaking. This is to give the driver some kind of control without losing all steering control. Aluminum has a tendency to break when bent to some extremes where steel will still be together. I looked at aluminum rods but working in the collision side of the auto field I always look at things from that side. Yeah yeah I know.... How often does it happen.. It won't happen to you... Etc etc... I have a shop full of wrecked cars and owners who thought the same thing...
One consideration, is fatigue life. In steel, matl. properties include an Endurance Limit. Stay below that stress level, and far less likely to fail. Steering gear undergoes peak, and fatigue loads, these consort to break things. Al, does not, in my 'corroded' memory, offer an endurance limit value. This implies (to me), that after enough fatigue loading, it may come undone. The above is loosely, eng. matl. speak interpreted. Matl. engineer could help in choosing right stuff.
You guys saying Aluminum is no good better not look under a car made in this century. Most control arms are made of aluminum. Spindles too! If I have any on the scrap pile I will take a picture of how much they can bend without breaking.
I bought a set of left and right-hand taps years ago and make all my own tie rods and drag links using standard aftermarket rod ends. Also bought the proper tapered reamer. They came in really handy in making the Mysterion clone. I use with ½” schedule 40 pipe, perfect for left and right hand 11/16” NF tread taps. Making tapered weld-in bungs. 1/2" x 0.16 wall pipe.
i don't know, so i'm asking. OEMs use aluminum for control arms, are none of them using it for any steering parts?
FWIW. I know I have to replace the heim joints every so often. The links are that expensive. Unless you do step up and buy custom 7075 stuff. I don’t mind replacing every now and then with the joints. Again, there are a ton of these aluminum rods for sale. If they were getting people killed I feel like they would have been sued into oblivion by now.
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