Warning on dogbone, torque rod failure.

[Stretch44875]

Recently had a dogbone (torque rod) come off the lower left rear axle while driving. This happened on a level stretch of road, about 45 mph. Truck acted like I blew a front tire, and headed straight for the ditch. I was able to control it, and pulled off.

Now for the scary part. If the rod end had failed 50 miles sooner, I would have been flat towing a 20,000lbs broken M108 home. With the broken dogbone, the towed truck would have pushed the M35 right into a jacknife, leading to who knows what. A roll over would not have been out of the question, and loss of life could have easily happened.

I had looked recently at the rod ends, and all of them appeared in the same condition, with no rubber missing, and tight(by hand anyways). The rubber on the broken part was intact, with no wear.

I personally will not trust any truck that hasn't had keepers installed on the dogbones now. I had modified the M108 already, now going to do the M35.

Here's a link the the thread where I did the M108.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce-...od-dogbone-mod-removal.html?highlight=dogbone

 

[Warthog]

Seems like there has been a rash of dogbone failures lately.

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

[DieselBob]

Glad to hear it didn't go south on you. Now I have another project to do. Thanks for the tip. Don't remember seeing that before.

 

[Stretch44875]

I saw the other thread on it, and noticed his looked like new, and it still came apart. Mine was also in good shape and came apart. Figured I'd post my problem and solution.

 

[CobraCDR]

Glad it wasn't more serious. Please post the results of your progress on it!

 

[hdexpert]

Good to know Stretch!! I just picked up 6 new dogbones from GL. They're in the classifieds if anyone needs them.

 

[73m819]

the dogbones are part on the PM check list for go/no go truck in the -10, the check requires a pry bar

 

[Warthog]

the dogbones are part on the PM check list for go/no go truck in the -10, the check requires a pry bar

PM? -10? What in the world are you talking about? You mean I can't just jump in and drive whereever/whenever I want? I thought this was a free country....

All kidding aside, alot of people do just that.

 

[wreckerman893]

I thought this was a free country

If you believe that, try not paying your taxes.

 

[Floridianson]

Lucky and thanks for the info. Yea 30 year old rubber not the best thing to be betting your life on.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Greetings Dennis. How hard was that end to drill? I have some backups and figure I should start drilling them and replace before a catastrophy.

 

[Stretch44875]

Pretty easy, don't think the metal was hardened. I put the dogbone back on with a hydraulic cylinder, and it pass the pry bar test. Looks like it never came off.

 

[Ditch Baby]

surprised there hasnt been any aftermarket/fabbed upgrades for these. they are so simple.

couple heim style joints and some DOM. Done.

 

[bones1]

I saw some on ...bay once with heim joints.

 

[Recovry4x4]

C&C has one that appears to have a balljoint type end assy. See em on the bay.

 

[tm america]

I have seen some balljoint style before to.I am in the process of making a kit that goes on the bolts that are hold the dogbone brackets to the axle.. The kit will bolt on in about an hour and keep things from coming off if one does fail.. I think the biggest issue is flexing the truck out makes the dry rotted rubber crack and separate from the metal.. If there is a big interest in these kits i might move it higher on my to do list.. I don't know a price but i know they will be about half or less then doing all new dogbone ends.Even with new dogbone i would sleep better knowing that they won't come off even if they fail

 

[Ditch Baby]

I was searching around for some other alternatives, been into the whole off roading scene since i was able to drive. The heim joints came into mind first.

I have 8 of these Ballistic Joints on the control arms of my '99 2500 Ram Cummins (4 control arms, one on each end)
Weldable Ballistic Joints & Bushings

Yea they arnt as smooth (edit- as in ride quality, road vibrations are transferred more) as the rubber type ones they replaced, but the difference is hardly noticeable anymore, plus the added performance of them.

they have held up great, but there isnt one large enough for the size of hold on the dog bone brackets.

also remember coming across this-

Bulldog hitch onelink setup--- - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

basically its a "Bulldog" style coupler used for trailers.

bolt in a trailer ball in the dogbone brackets, use these couplers on each end connected with steel tubing.

there are a few variations as you see in that thread, from grader balls to a company they made that pretty "360 joint"

again it lacks the rubber, but as rough as these things are anyway will you really notice it?


Just things ive pondered....

 

[DHennon]

Nice post, thanks!

 

[khandoh]

Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know how they managed to snap the dogbone on the 900 wrecker they had at Robins without the EUC a while back?