reinforced tie rods?

lawnripper

can I reinforce my tie rods for my 2000 pds ezgo?

BGW

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scottyb

I have not read or seen a tie rod failure problem, so my question is...
Why?

lawnripper

mainly curious.. my buddy gave me what I think is a after market tie rod assembly for my cart. I noticed the shopezgo tie rod essembly is not the black powder coated type I just recieved.. then I wandered if the one I just got may be a cheaper quality replacement..So I have my welder friend over doing some projects and I have a tube which fits snug over the tie rod and was thinking how easy it would be to tack that on and strenghtin these tie rods. Lotta bumby roads here.

AirJunky

I've seen this done on VW Bugs that were converted to a Baja Bug or a Rail. They usually run oversized tires offroad..... and haul a$$! They would run the tie rod thru a pipe or piece of DOM, then tack the ends & then install a heavier duty tie rod end.



Saw one one time that the guy had just taken a piece of angle iron, cut it to length & welded it right to the tie rod. Probably not the best way to do it though.

lawnripper

there it is.. right on thanks.. may not be nessesary at all for my slow little cart. but if it cant hurt.. I would like to try it out. thanks for the replies! and the pic!

AirJunky

Also hear of guys running heim joints instead of real tie rod ends. Seems like it would be quite a bit stronger, but transfer a LOT of feedback up the steering column.

Good luck. And let us know what you end up doing.

scottyb

Seems like the failure point would not be the rod but the ball/socket joint or the thread connection at the rod? Just a guess though, let us know what you decide to do and how it works out.

lawnripper

Scotty your're probally right.. As long as you guys think that reinforcing it can't really hurt.. (as long as it is done correctly) then I think I am gonna try it out.

AirJunky

I agree that the weakest point would then be the threaded part of a stock tie rod. Which I imagine is why guys are using larger, heavier duty tie rods or heim joints.

But like Scotty said earlier, it's not a real common issue with carts. Maybe in the rough in Costa Rica, but not around here on the kind of carts we see on this forum. But if your running some big horsepower, oversized tires & really torturing that cart, then maybe.....

And I gotta imagine that by building up the tie rod, your moving the failure point to something else. Maybe the spindles?

slonomo

A alot of atv off road mudding guys do this mod. It's a must for those because they hit rocks and ruts all the time, really bends the stockers. I've never seen a golf cart bend a rod, but I can't see any negative to doing it. As long as it doesn't touch the frame or get hung up while the suspension is working.