If your modern design tie rod ends have tapered shanks, have you reamed the holes in the steering arms to match the taper? Putting a tapered shank in a straight hole isn't going to work at all.

One old-timer I knew who had apprenticed as a blacksmith before becoming an auto mechanic used to convert those steering arms by getting the end of the arm red hot with a rosebud torch and driving a big tapered punch into the hole. No, I wouldn't recommend trying that approach!
Jerry


"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!