Okay now for my tough guy of the week award. I am running mwgasman, he is visiting from 200 miles away. He launches 4 hi and shears a half shaft. My camera man says it looked like mid track. He finishes the run out about a second and half slow. I see him following me on pit road but he never shows in staging. Another friend comes up and say he shattered the half shaft PLUS shears a tie rod off. This is 8:30PM on Saturday night and he's a long way from home. I finally track him down and he's located a half shaft and tie rod end from a guy that we met earlier in the day from the dyno. Then he proceeds to fix it with a dim led headlamp in the darkest part of the parking lot. Goes for a little test drive and heads straight back to the line. This beers for you Michael!!!

Hopefully he gets tie rod sleeves soon!

He has sleeves he sheered the pin end off.

From what I've been reading lately sleeves are not the end-all cure to breaking things up front. They certainly do help but know more then one guy that has broken tie rods with the sleeves. I think they transfer the force/energy outward which is where most guys are snapping the tie rods at the very end. I'm sure I could break mine (with sleeves) if I tried given enough boost at take off.

Thanks for all your help guys.

Thanks to Brian who gave me his tie rod end and halfshaft. Lucky for me he had just completed a SFA conversion on his truck.

We pulled the halfshaft out of the spindle and put the new tie rod end on in the parking lot. A good visual once over, and a good check of steering linkages, a test drive in the parking lot and then ran a 14.67@97 in 2WD with an unboosted launch.

I'm sure the halfshaft broke on launch. I have been having rubbing issues with my tires (damm lift and wheel/tire combo) and my t-bars were cranked. I also did not have SD's center link, so toe-in was not well controlled. The front end bounced pretty hard on launch and i'm sure the inner CV joint fractured then. I have not had time to take a picture of it yet but all that was left of the inner cv joint was the flange that bolts to the diff. Luck for me it didn't do any serious damage during the run. My tie rod sleeve has a scratch on the bottom side and I think the half shaft knocked it off when I tried to park in the parking lot at full right steering lock.

Los Lobos had an extra SD center link at his house, I will put that on this week. I put the new halfshaft in tonight when I got home. I also lowered my t-bars to a "stock" ride height/CV angle. Going to do some bumper trimming this week.

NOTE: A word to the wise, be VERY careful about applying high horsepower to a front end with high CV angles.

NOTE: A word to the wise, be VERY careful about applying high horsepower to a front end with high CV angles.

very good point, seam the same damage on another, due to the lift i think

increasing that CV angle is very bad news for high HP applications... many try and run the level for racing..

Michael, I am sorry I had to bail on you before the parts arrived. You showed class by keeping your head up and getting it back out there. I would have been kicking and screaming in the parking lot...again):h

NOTE: A word to the wise, be VERY careful about applying high horsepower to a front end with high CV angles.

very good point, seam the same damage on another, due to the lift i think

Cranking mine all the way down on the 4" lift helped immensely. Was smooth as silk all the way down the track. I could visually tell my tires were toed out after cranking them down which I'm sure compensated a lot for the toe-in on launch. I've never had bad CV angles even with the lift ...nearly parallel to ground.

Glad everything worked out the way it did. It was scary to watch though....announcer said "lots of smoke and parts on the track". Between Mike and Karl it looked like a war zone out there.

anyone there i have a few ?'s

i want to pull the truck for the first time and i have a superchip in it and took the muffler off so its open but wondering what gear to run the truck in and what power level to put the chip on? anybody have any ideas thanks

i want to pull the truck for the first time and i have a superchip in it and took the muffler off so its open but wondering what gear to run the truck in and what power level to put the chip on? anybody have any ideas thanks

Low range and 3rd gear tow/haul.
Give it all the power u got then some more and a new fuel filter may help too.
Some tierod sleeves and back out the torsion bar screws (jack it up first to take weight off the front end).
Get all the weight u can on the front axle.
Wider tires can help on soft track.
Max air in rear tires and the front drop down til u see some bulging.
max hitch height (usually 26")

Michael,
Sorry I missed it. Got there after it happened and saw the damage. There was grease everywhere. You got it back together and back to the staging area to race again. I agree with Carl that you should have the tough guy of the week award.
Mark
:beerchug:

Michael's wife also earned the "most understanding wife of the week award"... Even with all the carnage she was just cool as a cucumber. I always fear the wife more than the bill):h

I'm lucky to have an understanding wife. She is used to me breaking things. :D

Its all back together now. My axle center to fender opening is now 6" taller than the trucks I measured at the dealer yesterday. I had to do some front bumper trimming. I have no rubbing now. I am going to shim the bumper out about 1/2" and then I should be able to lower the axles to level for racing. I am thinking about strapping the front end down for racing so I don't have that nasty hop. The SD center link goes in tonight.

We called Fabtech today and talked to the tech guys about their tie rod ends. The shafts and cups are much beefier, but the ball and tapered end that goes in to the steering knuckle is the same as the stock piece. I don't think they are any stronger than the stocker/SD sleeve combo.

Thanks again,
Mike

I think the only kit/part that addresses the outer tierod end is the Bulletproof Steering kit, which requires drilling the spindle for an oversized bolt. I do think there is far less stress on the components when they are not at such an angle, and I will be lowering mine from now on as well.

We called Fabtech today and talked to the tech guys about their tie rod ends. The shafts and cups are much beefier, but the ball and tapered end that goes in to the steering knuckle is the same as the stock piece. I don't think they are any stronger than the stocker/SD sleeve combo.