Cross-sections and wall thickness for various OEM suspension components

[phageghost]

Couldn't find any local buyers for some of my take-off suspension parts, so took a cold saw to them on their way to the glue factory landfill. Thought it might be of interest to share what these things look like in cross section along with some rough caliper measurements of wall thickness.

Tie rod (0.1475 in)

Drag Link (0.286 in)

Front Trackbar (0.179 in)

Rear Trackbar (0.126 in)

Front Driveshaft (0.158 in):

Rear Driveshaft (0.173 in)

Sponsored

 

[word302]

Pretty cool, but the quality of the metal is more important and judging by the weight of these things it ain’t great. I’m actually surprised the drag link is that thick after tossing mine.

 

[phageghost]

Pretty cool, but the quality of the metal is more important and judging by the weight of these things it ain’t great. I’m actually surprised the drag link is that thick after tossing mine.

Yeah - I wouldn’t have guessed the drag link to be nearly twice as thick as the tie rod, but in hindsight it makes sense - the drag link handles all the steering force while the tie rod only sees half of it.

I was able to sell the control arms, otherwise I would have liked to cut them open - they were almost frighteningly light

 

[jadmt]

Pretty cool, but the quality of the metal is more important and judging by the weight of these things it ain’t great. I’m actually surprised the drag link is that thick after tossing mine.

I actually think the quality of the oem way better than people think.

 

[jadmt]

OP, thanks for doing this. very cool. had not seen a stock DS cut in half before only twisted

 

[AnnDee4444]

I've got a few non-suspension parts to add:

Stock crossmember forward-most tube (commonly removed when adding a skid plate). Asfir & M.O.R.E. skid plates were measured here: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/2-0-engine-skid-plates.49229/page-19#post-1658896

Rear bumper brackets (OEM steel bumper, but likely the same on plastic). Metalcloak's brackets measured here: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/oem-steel-bumper-rock-rail-improvements.90638/

Front & rear OEM steel bumpers. Also I believe this is the same as the OEM & Mopar "rock rails" (FWIW: OEM & Mopar are definitely the same thickness, just not 100% sure what I measured.)

 

[AnnDee4444]

Yeah - I wouldn’t have guessed the drag link to be nearly twice as thick as the tie rod, but in hindsight it makes sense - the drag link handles all the steering force while the tie rod only sees half of it.

It also has to resist tension/compression of the entire axle assembly moving around, while the tie-rod's tension/compression limited to the wheel/tire/knuckle weight (assuming proper offset/scrub radius).

I'm surprised that the drag link & track bar aren't similar... I expected the track bar to be the strongest.

Sponsored