My two cents on rebuilding draglinks (tie rod hadsame connectors). I purchased rebuild kit from a vendor, was expensive, and did not work. The springs were way too long, and the cups were very poor quality. Ended up raiding a junk yard. But easy to rebuild.
You mentioned the balls. If yours are original, they are NOT threaded on, they are swedged on, and you probably do not have a press big enough to get them off. I took mine to a machine shop, they removed all four balls (drag link/tie rod) and swedged on new ones I brought along for about $50.
