It's a real issue. I haven't broken one but I know plenty of people who have. There are quite a few remedies available on the market, from splints and sleeves to strengthen your existing tie rods, to massive CNC machined billet tie rods with heim joints. In my opinion the best solution is the XD Forged Tie Rod kit from ICON (
here's a LINK). It's not a splint or a band-aid, it's a solution. It uses real, greaseable automotive style ball joints rather than motorsports-style heim joints. It's made of CNC machined chromoly and forged steel. It's beefier in every dimension than the stock tie rods, including the threads where the inner and outer tie rods meet, which is where they usually break. The stock Bronco tie rods have a 14mm thread. The ICON tie rods have an 18mm thread. That's even bigger than the HOSS3/Raptor tie rods which have a 16mm thread. Disclaimer: I work for ICON so you may take my recommendation with a grain of salt. But it's right.
Also, because this is of course going to come up probably in the very next post in this thread, I'll address the "doesn't that just transfer the damage to the steering rack" question. The answer is yes, rather than simply snapping like a Ticonderoga #2, a stronger tie rod will indeed transmit the jolts it sees upstream to the steering rack. But it is my opinion (and that of many folks I know) that the strength deficiency of the tie rods compared to what it should be, is a much bigger gap than for the steering rack. Put another way, the steering rack, while not an absolute beast in robustness, is still a few levels higher than the tie rods. They're of course not invincible and there are plenty of examples of people breaking them, but they're not going to just grenade at the first sight of rocks the way the tie rods seem to. So strengthening the tie rods will give you quite a bit more operating cushion. But you'll still need to avoid driving the Bronco like a wrecking ball. Only use the front locker when it's absolutely necessary (this should be a general rule of thumb anyhow). Never give it the beans with the steering fully turned. Don't let the front end hop while under torque. Try not to turn too sharp when coming down steep obstacles against a rock. Drive smart, pick good lines, use patience, don't just hammer it all the time.
That's my $0.02 on tie rods.
