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Hotchkis Steering Kit - Rod ends durability?

Malicious

Malicious

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Hi All,

Considering the Hotchkis steering kit, here's a link to the product:
http://www.hotchkis.net/mopar_adjustable_steering_rod_kit.html

I like the unit, light, adjustable solid, low friction, etc. However, I have one concern, how well will the rod ends hold up to that kind of use? IE copping a lot of road grim, dirt, oil, grease, etc with no real boot or seal?

Will they hold up really well? Am I just being over cautious? Or are they really more of a track day warrior / occasional use product?

Cheers!
 
I can they will hold up fine. Now if you want to save ALOT of money, get some C body tie rods (11/16) and some solid sleeves and your done!!!
 
Going of B body tie rod prices and using the cheapest tie rods on summit (in my spread sheet) the cheapest I could see was around $200. Classic sells this kit for $300. So I thought it might be worth the extra few coins.

You don't rate it? I thought the free movement in the rod ends would make the steering smother and more responsive.
 
The turning resistance of stock ball joints will typically exceed that in the tie rod ends, so you probably won't feel it at all. And a little steering drag will help stability, especially with stock alingments with little or no caster. I have used heim joints in rally car (a very dirty sport), and they do indeed get dirt in them and wear. That is more severe than street drving so YMMV. If the car is parked outside in an area that is rainy/humid, then that will add to the deterioration of heim joints.
 
I have them on my car and spend a year on the road (down for more upgrades) and haven't noticed any wear. I am in Oklahoma and drive the car daily when it is on the road to include rain.
 
I was mainly concerned because of the position of them, down really low in the steering. I assume that would see more weather and grim the an upper control arm for example. Thanks for the comments.

Jim bob the dancing bear; did you notice any noticeable improvement from the hotchkis setup?
 
I just checked Oreilly Auto Parts and for about 30 bucks a tie rod (120) and PST has solid steel adjustment sleeves for about 50 bucks (pair) that will net you 170 bucks for the 11/16 set up. That is considerably cheaper than the stuff your looking at and for a car that is not going to abused, you can beat it.
 
check out the hotchkis, road runner pro touring car, that car is beated on all the time and holds up well
 
5.7 Thanks for looking into it for me, only down side is I'm in Australia, so vendors like Rock Auto that charge like a wounded bull for shipping are a no go. I'll probably get it from summit, they have pretty good postage rates. I'm leaning toward a traditional unit. It'll save $100 that I could put toward adjustable strut rods to fine tune that standard geometry instead and I get the piece of mind of dust boots.

Benno, I was more thinking about how my car might see more weather (especially as I'm in Melbourne!), whether (no pun) I like it or not. Race use verses daily use and all that, but your probably right, the amount of work it gets should be a good indication. Plus I know from previous uses that rod ends are great, but this time I'm not building a race car, just a fast cruiser. Do you have the rack and pinion set up on yours now or are you running a gear box still?

Thanks for the thoughts guys!
 
I love my car. The TVS really made the car handle great and that was on stock 225/70/14's. I now have my brakes and 18" rims on (but not back on the road). Once it is back on the road I will be able to take corners better. Everyone that has ridden in it has commented on how well it handles.
 
Just order parts for a c body from summit and your set.
 
I had problems with the hotchkis tie rods with the heim joints. After installing we found that it was too long and the wheels ware toed in. We even used the hotchkis upper a arm, so no idea why we could not get this to work. My mechanic insisted that it must be for a C-body or something, but I was assured by hotchkis that the tie rods I had were the only available set for mopar and I verified the length. No idea why we couldn't get these to work. The other problem we had was that the taper adapter that they provide with the kit just didn't seem big enough to properly seat properly like the stock tie rod ends.

In the end I bought the proforged tie rod sleeve with standard ends. Hotchkis tie rods going up for sale on eBay.
 
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