So, you think that you are smarter than a GM mechanical engineer?
Well I can tell you that I am not.
I took my '49 for a reliability test run at highway speed and noticed super sloppy steering and near death wobble over 55 MPH. Never had that problem before. I carefully drove it home. I finally crawled under it today today to see what was up.
The steering arm which connects the drag link to the tie rod is held to the steering knuckle by 4 nuts and bolts. The nuts look like castle nuts, but are actually lock nuts. The problem is, they lose their locking feature over time. GM apparently new this and drilled the ends of the bolts for cotter pins just in case they loosened up, so that you won't die in a fiery crash.
When I put these nuts and bolts on when I built this truck, I noticed that the nuts no longer had their locking feature any longer. So being "smarter" than a GM engineer, I put lock washers on and did not put cotter pins in the holes. What could go wrong with that idea?
Plenty. When I took the nuts off today, there was only one lock washer. How did that happen you ask? Lock washers are brittle and break into pieces when under too much stress, that's how.
Lucky me, (other than not dying in a fiery crash), I had two NOS lock nuts and I am back on the road, albeit humbled.
Carl

1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission