The purpose of the present invention is to provide a tie rod of automotive steering device which simplifies the structure of an outer ball joint, is not affected by a bending load, and is easy to perform a wheel alignment operation. To this end, the present invention comprises: an inner ball pin (110) having an inner bail (111) coupled to one end thereof and an inner coupling part (110a) formed on the other end thereof, the inner ball pin (110) having a horizontal length; an outer ball pin (120) having an outer coupling part (120a) formed on one end thereof to be coupled to the inner coupling part (110a), and an outer ball (121) coupled to the other end thereof, the outer ball pin (120) having a horizontal length; an inner ball housing (113) which receives the inner ball (111) in a horizontal direction so as to form an inner ball joint and is coupled to a rack bar (300) of a steering gear box in a horizontal state; and an outer ball housing (123) which receives the outer ball (121) in a horizontal direction so as to form an outer ball joint and is coupled to a knuckle coupling part (400) in a horizontal state.

A vehicle has a frame, a motor, a driveshaft operatively connected to the motor, a front differential operatively connected to the driveshaft, a pair of front half-shafts operatively connecting the front differential to front wheels, at least one rear wheel, a steering wheel, a steering column operatively connected to the steering wheel, a rack and pinion assembly operatively connected to the steering column, the rack and pinion assembly being disposed rearward of the front differential, a right tie rod having a left end operatively connected to a rack of the rack and pinion assembly and a right end operatively connected to the right wheel, and a left tie rod having a right end operatively connected to the rack and a left end operatively connected to the left wheel. The inner ends of the tie rods are disposed forwardly of a vertically and laterally extending central plane of the rack.

A modular steering system for vehicles can be applied in common to left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles and can avoid interference with peripheral parts. A steering housing and a reducer housing are separately provided to detachably assemble the steering housing and the reducer housing on the left or right of a rack bar housing and to adjust their mounting angles.

A rack bar assembly for a rack electric power steering system is provided. The rack bar assembly includes a first rack bar extending axially. The rack bar assembly also includes a second rack bar extending axially, wherein the first rack bar and the second rack bar are spaced a radial distance from each other and oriented parallel to each other.

A steering rack support assembly with a support shaft and a sleeve. The support shaft has a first end, a second end, and at least two mounting members. The cross section of the support shaft may be substantially the same along the length of the support shaft. A first of the at least two mounting members may be affixed to the first end of the support shaft, while a second of the at least two mounting members may be affixed to the second end. Each of the at least two mounting members may be configured to couple to the frame of the vehicle. The sleeve is disposed around an outer surface of the support shaft and is slidably coupled to the support shaft. A bracket affixed to the sleeve may be configured to couple to a rack and pinion assembly, a first tie rod, and a second tie rod.

The system and method of making an asymmetrical buckling portion in a linkage member that is formed at the same time a hexagonal holding feature is being formed. The presence of the elongated groove drives the force of a buckling event asymmetrically through the inner tie rod ball stud near the area of failure, which influences the tie rod assembly to buckle in the direction of the groove, prior to other components in the linkage system and thus negates the effects of inner tie rod ball stud run-out tolerances that are present in conventional inner tie rod ball studs formed by machining.

Disclosed is a vehicle having a breakaway tie rod. The tie rod has a longitudinal axis oriented substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and includes a rod portion and a receiver portion. The rod portion includes a proximal ball joint disposed at the proximal end and a male coupling section disposed at the distal end. The receiver portion includes a female coupling section disposed at the proximal end, a distal ball joint disposed at the distal end, and a narrowing feature disposed between the proximal end and distal end. The male coupling section of the rod portion is received into the female coupling section of the receiver portion, forming a connection, and the distal end of the rod portion is disposed proximate to the narrowing feature. The narrowing feature is configured to fracture when subjected to a threshold force substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

An electric power steering assembly includes an electric motor, a gearset, and a ball-screw assembly. The gearset couples the electric motor and a ball nut of the ball-screw assembly such that the electric motor is operable to rotate the ball nut relative to the ball shaft. A plurality of bearings are circulatable through a helical track, which is defined between the ball nut and a ball shaft of the ball-screw assembly, when the ball nut rotates relative to the ball shaft in order to translate the ball shaft relative to the ball nut.

A vehicle has a frame, a motor, a driveshaft operatively connected to the motor, a front differential operatively connected to the driveshaft, a pair of front half-shafts operatively connecting the front differential to front wheels, at least one rear wheel, a steering wheel, a steering column operatively connected to the steering wheel, a rack and pinion assembly operatively connected to the steering column, the rack and pinion assembly being disposed rearward of the front differential, a right tie rod having a left end operatively connected to a rack of the rack and pinion assembly and a right end operatively connected to the right wheel, and a left tie rod having a right end operatively connected to the rack and a left end operatively connected to the left wheel. The inner ends of the tie rods are disposed forwardly of a vertically and laterally extending central plane of the rack.

A centering stabilizer including a first section that produces a pulling force along a longitudinal axis; a second section that produces a pushing force along a longitudinal axis; and connecting means that connects the first and second sections such that the longitudinal axis of the first section is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the second section. The stabilizer also includes first mounting means attached to the first section, wherein the first mounting means securely attaches the centering stabilizer to a first portion of a steering system of a vehicle, and second mounting means attached to the second section, wherein the second mounting means securely attaches the centering stabilizer to a second portion of the vehicle, wherein when the set of steerable wheels are displaced from a straight ahead driving position, a distance between the first portion of the vehicle steering system and the second portion of the vehicle changes.