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Alumi-flex tie rods

Troy...
that guy has some very interesting character flaws to say the least...
He talks trash about some great fabricators in the business and has had some very questionable business practices.
He's had some 4wheelers run into him on the trail and he was quite rude.

As far as ALUMIFLEX goes... its basically t-6 aluminum (solid). Very light, very strong. I actually have a tie rod made of the stuff. Does it still bend? Yes... is it worth it? Yes. I'd save the money on the "alumiflex" and buy some t-6 rod and have it machined with flats and tapped for tierods. :D
 
bull... If they had some memory metal aluminum that could bend 8" and return with no distortion they'd be selling it for a hell of a lot more than that and everyone would want one.
 
T6 is a heat-treatment specification for aluminum; it has nothing to do with what the actual alloy is.
 
T-6 is a fabricators term for 60 series aluminum. 70 series is more rigid with less memory.

Troy is a low caliber fabricator in the eyes of many of us AZ wheelers. He is also arrogant and rude. As Juan said just by some t-6 aluminum and be doned with it.
 
bdozeraz runs one of those tierods. He says he loves it. He beats the hell out of it in the rocks and he said it is fine. I personally would avoid Troy at all costs. I do what was said earlier and have a piece of solid stock aluminum machined for tierod ends. I am sure that is all Troy does. It will bend if you hit it hard enough.

Marv Springer runs solid aluminum links on his buggy and has bent the piss out of several of them.

Harley
 
az-k5 said:
T-6 is a fabricators term for 60 series aluminum. 70 series is more rigid with less memory.
Click to expand...

While T6 may very well be a slang term for fabricators referring to 6xxx Al alloys, it is still an incorrect usage of the term. T6 is a heat-treatment specification, not an alloy. It means the Al in question has been solution heat-treated, then artificially aged by precipitation heat-treatment. Many Al alloys can be heat-treated to T6-spec; not all of them are suitable for use as suspension or steering links. If you go to a metal supplier and ask for T6, the first question you'll be asked is "What alloy?"
Anyhoo, if you really want an aluminum tierod or draglink, good alloys would be 7075 or 7178. 7075 has a tensile strength of 77KSI and bearing strength of 139KSI. It's difficult to bend, and is also very hard. 7178 has a tensile strength of 84KSI and bearing strength of 151KSI.
 
Cant say anything about Troy, don't know the guy...

My experiences with aluminum:

6065- Bends and has memory. I didnt have much luck with it. It will break.

7075- This is what I am currently running for all of my front and rear links and tie rod. I have had awesome luck with it so far. It will bend a substantial amount, but it always goes back straight. If you want aluminum, definately go for the 7075, although it is pricey.
 
This thread got me curious so I did some digging and some calcs. I compared 1020 CR (common DOM alloy) 1.5" x .375" tube to 7075 T6 and 6061 T6 bar stock.
_________Wt/ft_______YTS (ksi)_______Elongation at Break
1020------4.517---------50.8---------------15%
6061------2.070---------37.0---------------12%
7075------2.163---------67.0---------------11%

7075's Yield Tensile Strength is higher than 1020's, but it's elongation is lower. 6061 is a disaster looking for a place to happen.

Not convinced, for ~2 lbs/ft I'd rather have mild steel's near infinite fatigue life.
 
I am running one of his tie rods and it works great. I've beat the piss out of it, even pushed it back hard enough to make a crease in the diff cover and it came right back. As far as Troy goes you got to take him with a grain of salt. He is kind of full of himself. He gave me a pretty good deal on the tie rod cause I live just down the street from his house. I don't know what he regularly charges for them.

Brent

P.S.
Just looked at the link. Beware I don't think what he is advertising there includes tie rod ends, so you will be looking at about another $60 bucks a side for quality ends.
 
Thanks Guys... I appreciate all the feedback. My tre's are pretty bad right now, so I'll be doing something REAL soon. All that being said, looks like I'll just go with one of the tie rods from any one of the site sponsors. I wasn't concerned with the weight vs. steel. I came across Troy's website and was just curious about the product.
 
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