Design flaws? Torque rod, split rims?

[doghead]

Yup, they're junk.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Personaly i have never had anything close to a rim or torque rod faill. I think i have heard of 1 or 2 rods fail, non catastrofic as they where off road twisting the truck up. I think you would be better off finding a economical cure to duramax injectors or 6.0 head gaskets

That's fine, I did and found when a single rod came off the bushing, it CRUSHED the brake line leading to loss of brake fluid. Good thing it was noticed backing into my pole barn rather than on a highway. Bettter now than trying to stop on a highway behind a toyota.

After looking at the location of the brake line and the leaf spring/torque rod arrangement it's simply a bad design prone to failure of one component leading to failure of all(resulting in death).

 

[porkysplace]

Did you inspect the torque rod for cracks prior to driving over the gopher hole ? every auto and truck maker has had recall
every now and then mass produced parts have a few defective ones pass through . And for such a "minty condition truck you sure are having alot of problems .

Edit; posted about cracks while you were posting ,It appears you have failed to properly inspect this truck since aquiring it or don't have the mechanicial skills to do it yourself. And should have a proffesional mechanic go over this truck for your saftey and the saftey of everyone on the road.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Did you inspect the torque rod for cracks prior to driving over the gopher hole ? ever auto and truck maker has had recall
ever now and then mass produced parts have a few defective ones pass through . And for such a "minty condition truck you sure are having alot of problems .

Well That was a great help considering I was talking abut the design. THANKS buddy.

LOL now I have to inspect a military truck to drive over gopher mounds in my backyard..... Talk about contredictions in this thread.

 

[ODdave]

Start a thread with pictures of the problem (what you saw) and include how you "re-designed" it (moved the line to a better spot) That way it could be a good upgrade to the rest of us.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Did you inspect the torque rod for cracks prior to driving over the gopher hole ? ever auto and truck maker has had recall
ever now and then mass produced parts have a few defective ones pass through . And for such a "minty condition truck you sure are having alot of problems .

And you're posting drunk. be careful porky!

 

[hndrsonj]

Suppose I was an engineer? I've built a lot of things, the design is non-redundant. Doesn't take an idiot to see that. One failure leads to catastrophic failure of your brake lines leading to death or injury.

Paranoid enough to understand you have access enough to change my sig line, which you have. So you have access to everything I post on this site. My IP even. Paranoid? No, realistic.

I BELIEVE the off road capability of the system for the Military trumped the very limited potential of a torque rod failure.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Start a thread with pictures of the problem (what you saw) and include how you "re-designed" it (moved the line to a better spot) That way it could be a good upgrade to the rest of us.

Already did. And the line would probably be served ABOVE the axle rather than tetherd behind it, just waiting for the leaf spring to slam into it once the torque rod fails/breaks/comes off bushing.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Here ODDave:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/76286-broke-my-a3-dogbone.html

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Okay. that makes sense. I was one in a thousand failures. Thank you. Never imagined people would hate me for pointing out a failure in design.

 

[doghead]

Here ODDave:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/76286-broke-my-a3-dogbone.html

And this is why the proper forum etiquette is, to continue a thread(especially your own) on the very same topic, so as to not need to repeat everything .

 

[73m819]

The torque rod(strut) design and use has been around since the first truck suspension design and still in use today, the failure of a torque rod and causing a catastrophic failure is NOT the fault of the torque rod design, yes the brake line might need to be moved. WE are talking about TWO different things here, DESIGN OF THE TOUQUE ROD and PLACEMENT of brake lines, NOTHING WRONG with the torque rod design

Edit- in fact this design was used BEFORE motorized vehicles, some heavy haul WAGONS used this design to keep from pulling the rear axle out from under it

 

[doghead]

I think we need to look at the location of that spring clamp. Is it that close on all A3 and A2 trucks?

 

[DUG]

Okay. Just bring a check for 10,000 dollars and we have a deal.

You want ten grand for a POS truck designed and built by the lowest bidder that you admit is full of design flaws?

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

And this is why the proper forum etiquette is, to continue a thread(especially your own) on the very same topic, so as to not need to repeat everything .

It was asked if I had a pic. I did and provided it. Why the obvious animosity from a couple of you guys?

 

[ODdave]

Find a BFH and use it on the rest of the truck. Please return with reports of what else can break. I swill stay tunned.

Sorry, Guess im just being an azzhole today

 

[doghead]

No animosity from me. I'm just trying to run an efficient and useful forum.

 

[doghead]

The location of the clamp to the brake line is a valid issue to consider(when a dog bone fails).

It's just a bit frustrating to me , to have taken this long in the thread to see what your concern/issue is.(and it took a link to your previous thread on this subject)

 

[91W350]

Each rear axle has two torque rods below the axle and one above on one side. They allow these trucks to do some unbelievable things off road on tires designed in the late 1930s. Your torque rod failure is unusual, who knows what kind of abuse it has survived before. I saw deuces being moved with a large fork lift, running the fork under the frame between the tandems. Lateral pressure like that was way more than they were designed for. I watched a truck driver throw chains over the torque rods and use a large cheater pipe on the boomer. I asked him if he knew those arms were mounted in rubber. He scoffed at me and said he does it all the time. I suppose he does. If you did not check the condition of those arms before driving, it is hard to tell what they have been through. It is a very well thought out suspension, one that has hauled our troops and equipment untold billions of miles in all sorts of conditions. I always check mine initially with a pry bar and about weekly I give them a good looking over. I slide under the truck and let the air bleed off, I inspect lines for leakage and look at the torque arms. I usually try to move them with my bare hands and look for any chunking out of the rubber. It has proven to be a very strong and versatile design, almost to the point of overkill. But you can break about anything with a little abuse. Your gopher mounds did not cause the damage, it had previous outside help. You do realize that your 1998 frame may have been built in the 1960's and upgraded to A3 specs. Glen

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

The torque rod(strut) design and use has been around since the first truck suspension design and still in use today, the failure of a torque rod and causing a catastrophic failure is NOT the fault of the torque rod design, yes the brake line might need to be moved. WE are talking about TWO different things here, DESIGN OF THE TORQUE ROD and PLACEMENT of brake lines, NOTHING WRONG with the torque rod design

The design didn't depend on one single component. Don't try to play games. I made myself clear. It seems you two are trying to make me resort to yelling, screaming and posting bad words. Sorry drill instructors, just stating the facts of the matter. It's the reversed strut with o security on the ends. It's not secured but in the middle. One failure of a rod leads to catastrophic failure.