Currie Currectlync vs. Savvy Ultimate Steering

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Alex M.

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I'm curious which one I should go with, the Currie Currectlync or the Savvy Ultimate Steering? I run 33" tires and do some off-roading but nothing extreme.

I'm also not really sure what the difference is between them.
 
From what I understand the Savvy kit is literally just a Currie Currectlync with the only differentiating factor being the tie rod (the drag link is identical in both the Currie and Savvy kits). The tie rod is heat treated and made to be practically indestructible. Not to say that the Currie tie rod isn't strong as hell (because it is).

I remember reading something from the guys at Savvy a while back where they were saying that the only reason they ever made their ultimate steering kit was because they could.

The issue with the Savvy kit is that it is so strong that if something does go wrong it's likely going to cause some serious damage to other suspension components.

I love Savvy and everything those guys produce, but unless you are just the most hardcore of hardcore off-roaders, then the Currie Currectlync is all you'll need and then some.

Maybe @mrblaine can chime in since he'd be a bit more knowledgable in regards to this. He also knows the guys at Savvy personally so maybe he can shed some light on why they made their ultimate kit in the first place.

I'm not sure how anyone was bending the Currectlync tie rod, but I'm sure some crazy yahoos managed to do it!
 
I switched to the Savvy Ultimate tie-rod a little over five years ago. Before switching, I managed to bend the stock Currie tie rod maybe 4 times over about ten years. Probably from sliding off rocks and landing on the tie rod, not from high-speed frontal impacts... likely from what Blaine calls driving by Braille lol. Fortunately I was able to straighten the tie rod each time afterward with a big press, using a 20 ton press at the minimum which took some elbow grease. The 50 ton press at my local welding shop does the straightening a lot more easily. The Currie tie rod is very (!) tough to bend, and it's just as tough to straighten out.

However, that the Currie tie rod will bend at times is a designed-in benefit. Currie heat-treated it so it'd bend just before breaking something more critical upstream of the tie rod. Some erroneously believe tie rods should be made so strong that they won't bend which is a mistaken belief. Better to bend the tie rod and be able to dial the toe-in back out so you can drive home than to break something else further up the food chain.

Savvy's Ultimate tie rod design makes use of a stronger alloy (4340) and heat treating process to make the tie-rod harder to bend but if it does bend, it will spring back straight again. That's a huge benefit! Blaine can undoubtedly explain it better since he's the brains behind the design.

So since installing the Savvy Ultimate tie rod, I've either become a better driver (doubtful), it has better resisted being bent, or it has bent but straightened itself back out again. The bottom line is I haven't had any more bent tie rods since installing it.

It's hard to say when you would need to upgrade to Savvy's Ultimate tie-rod. I guess you need it if you've bent your Currie tie rod more than once, which would be unlikely for most wheelers, or if you drive by Braille like I apparently do.
:)
 
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If the tie rod doesn't break what's likely to break upstream from that?
 
Jerry Bransford said:
I'm to the point Chris where I don't want to break anything else out on the trail lol. And knock-on-wood, it's been a while since anything major was broken.
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Breaking something on the trail kind of ruins your day, hasn't happened to me yet (knock on wood).
 
Chris said:
From what I understand the Savvy kit is literally just a Currie Currectlync with the only differentiating factor being the tie rod (the drag link is identical in both the Currie and Savvy kits). The tie rod is heat treated and made to be practically indestructible. Not to say that the Currie tie rod isn't strong as hell (because it is).

I remember reading something from the guys at Savvy a while back where they were saying that the only reason they ever made their ultimate steering kit was because they could.

The issue with the Savvy kit is that it is so strong that if something does go wrong it's likely going to cause some serious damage to other suspension components.

I love Savvy and everything those guys produce, but unless you are just the most hardcore of hardcore off-roaders, then the Currie Currectlync is all you'll need and then some.

Maybe @mrblaine can chime in since he'd be a bit more knowledgable in regards to this. He also knows the guys at Savvy personally so maybe he can shed some light on why they made their ultimate kit in the first place.

I'm not sure how anyone was bending the Currectlync tie rod, but I'm sure some crazy yahoos managed to do it!
Click to expand...
I designed the Savvy 4340 tie rod due to the large complement of folks that sniveled and cried because they were able to bend the Currie Tie Rod and hopped on the boards screaming about how crappy it was and how it "failed" on them. It did not matter how many times it was patiently explained that John Currie had carefully arranged the heat treat level of the solid chromemolly tie rod in order for it to bend and not damage other components upstream if you abused it, they still screamed "failure" even through they drove it home.

We discussed it and said "fine, you want one you can't bend, here you go, you can't bend it but if you take out something else, don't call us" and that's how it came about. Now, to be fair, it is very flexible but that can't be promoted because folks tend to not understand "flexible" and will misconstrue that to mean weak and it isn't in the least. Flexible only means that it can take a lot of lateral load and return to it's normal unbent state unless you are able to concentrate the forces high enough in a small area at which point it may deform enough to bend permanently. It is just like a high strength axle shaft when it comes out of the heat treat oven which means they need to be straightened.

Here is one holding the front of a rig off the ground.

DSC_2248.JPG


After the jack was removed.

DSC_2252.JPG
 
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mrblaine said:
I designed the Savvy 4340 tie rod due to the large complement of folks that sniveled and cried because they were able to bend the Currie Tie Rod and hopped on the boards screaming about how crappy it was and how it "failed" on them. It did not matter how many times it was patiently explained that John Currie had carefully arranged the heat treat level of the solid chromemolly tie rod in order for it to bend and not damage other components upstream if you abused it, they still screamed "failure" even through they drove it home.

We discussed it and said "fine, you want one you can't bend, here you go, you can't bend it but if you take out something else, don't call us" and that's how it came about. Now, to be fair, it is very flexible but that can't be promoted because folks tend to not understand "flexible" and will misconstrue that to mean weak and it isn't in the least. Flexible only means that it can take a lot of lateral load and return to it's normal unbent state unless you are able to concentrate the forces high enough in a small area at which point it may deform enough to bend permanently. It is just like a high strength axle shaft when it comes out of the heat treat oven which means they need to be straightened.

Here is one holding the front of a rig off the ground.

View attachment 1762

After the jack was removed.

View attachment 1763
Click to expand...

This pretty much sums up what I thought I had read somewhere before. The Currie tie rod is just fine, there happened to be some people out there complaining about how crappy it was so you made something to shut them up.

I don't know... To bend that Currie tie rod they really must have been driving by Braille like Jerry does :D
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
I switched to the Savvy Ultimate tie-rod a little over five years ago. Before switching, I managed to bend the stock Currie tie rod maybe 4 times over about ten years. Probably from sliding off rocks and landing on the tie rod, not from high-speed frontal impacts... likely from what Blaine calls driving by Braille lol. Fortunately I was able to straighten the tie rod each time afterward with a big press, using a 20 ton press at the minimum which took some elbow grease. The 50 ton press at my local welding shop does the straightening a lot more easily. The Currie tie rod is very (!) tough to bend, and it's just as tough to straighten out.

However, that the Currie tie rod will bend at times is a designed-in benefit. Currie heat-treated it so it'd bend just before breaking something more critical upstream of the tie rod. Some erroneously believe tie rods should be made so strong that they won't bend which is a mistaken belief. Better to bend the tie rod and be able to dial the toe-in back out so you can drive home than to break something else further up the food chain.

Savvy's Ultimate tie rod design makes use of a stronger alloy (4340) and heat treating process to make the tie-rod harder to bend but if it does bend, it will spring back straight again. That's a huge benefit! Blaine can undoubtedly explain it better since he's the brains behind the design.

So since installing the Savvy Ultimate tie rod, I've either become a better driver (doubtful), it has better resisted being bent, or it has bent but straightened itself back out again. The bottom line is I haven't had any more bent tie rods since installing it.

It's hard to say when you would need to upgrade to Savvy's Ultimate tie-rod. I guess you need it if you've bent your Currie tie rod more than once, which would be unlikely for most wheelers, or if you drive by Braille like I apparently do.
:)
Click to expand...
Great write up, thanks. Do you have to purchase the Saavy kit from Saavy, or are there other distributors?
 
So I recently bought the Currie Steering and proceeded to bend my tie rod slipping off a rock and landing square on it. Of course on the first trail run it saw. I was able to drive it home and I re-adjusted the toe back to within spec. There is something else wrong that I can't quite explain. It's almost like a little delayed steering if that makes sense. I don't know if anyone else has experienced that. Any help would be great. I'm going to look at it more after work today. Thanks in advance!!
 
John L said:
Great write up, thanks. Do you have to purchase the Saavy kit from Saavy, or are there other distributors?
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Pretty sure it's only available on Savvy's website. Savvy sells a few things on Amazon but I didn't see their Ultimate steering kit there.

Bending a Currie tie rod should in no way give anyone the idea that Currie's tie rod is too weak, it's not. Currie heat treated it so it wouldn't bend easily but it will bend before something else further up the steering system breaks. I needed to have mine straightened something like 3X but it takes a heck of a press to do it.

I did finally replace it with Savvy's tie rod and I haven't needed to straighten that one though I can't say that that's due to the different Savvy heat treatment, I have learned to drive better, or I'm just doing easier trails now lol. I fully expect at least one reply telling me it is for sure the latter lol.
 
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Looks like I killed a brand new TRE on my Currie steering where it attaches to the pitman arm. I did a dry steering test and it clunks and moves. Does anyone know if I can warranty or do I just buy a TRE?
 
sjalkian said:
Looks like I killed a brand new TRE on my Currie steering where it attaches to the pitman arm. I did a dry steering test and it clunks and moves. Does anyone know if I can warranty or do I just buy a TRE?
Click to expand...

This sounds like my kind of luck. Unfortunately, my guess is you'll likely have to straighten it or buy a new one. Here's what their website says, which I can certainly respect their perspective.

Warranty

Currie Enterprises (Currie) warranties, to the original purchaser, all items manufactured by Currie to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for 2 (two) years from delivery date on invoice. Any alteration or improper use will void this warranty. Because all parts which we sell are intended for use in heavy duty applications, it is not possible to warranty or guarantee the performance of any items.
 
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Irun said:
This sounds like my kind of luck. Unfortunately, my guess is you'll likely have to straighten it or buy a new one. Here's what their website says, which I can certainly respect their perspective.

Warranty

Currie Enterprises (Currie) warranties, to the original purchaser, all items manufactured by Currie to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for 2 (two) years from delivery date on invoice. Any alteration or improper use will void this warranty. Because all parts which we sell are intended for use in heavy duty applications, it is not possible to warranty or guarantee the performance of any items.
Click to expand...
Thanks Rich. I figured.
 
How is a slight bend in a tie rod such a big problem? Reset the toe and as long as it doesn't bind or contact anything it is still perfectly serviceable.
The number of old trucks and tractor tie rods that are twisted and bent or have the rod ends welded to the outside of the rod has to be over 50% yet they still go down the road straight.
I'm not talking about the soda straw that comes stock on a TJ, but if you have a bit of a bend in the ZJ tie rod or any higher quality one then just get it back in spec and drive on.
Everybody likes to claim these are tractors. Any tractor sidelined because of a slight bow in the tie rod is more likely to be a lawnmower.
 
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