After much thought I decided to change the tie rod ends with an upgrade for safety while my nephew wire's the 52 panel.
So, I read the tech tip and using the numbers from a post by another bolter who has done this I bought the two tie rod ends and the adjusting sleeve.
Note: the tech tip here is more about getting the ball stud out than the actual tie rod ENDS.
Today I took off the tie rod with the ends and steering arms all together and brought them home.
Took the tie rod ends apart, ground off the peened end of the ball stud and then drilled a 1/4" hole..enlarged to a 3/8" hole and drove the ball studs out.
For those wondering the holes are ROUND on my 52.
OK..the new tie rod ends are tapered. When I compared the left with the right there is some difference.
Does the two ends suppose to have different taper? The taper mic's the same next to the body of it but the actual taper at least looks different and one stem is longer and slender while the other is shorter. Strange thing is I have two set of numbers for the same thing. Obviously one set of numbers are for 5/8 and one set of 3/4" so that may be my problem. I'll double check as no one seems to specify which was which.
[color:#000000]So, I took the steering arm (the one the tie rod ends go into) to the machine shop to have them reamed. I took the ends with me so he could taper the left to the left and right to the right as I had them marked.
QUESTION: does the upgrade tie rod stems go UP through the steering arm OR on top and the stem sticks DOWN though the steering arm. Just wondering.
***I think I better call the shop in the morning and tell Buddy NOT to taper the steering arms yet...if he hasn't already done it.
Now, I come home and decide to clean the tie rod itself again and re-do it with Por15. Thats when I decided to just screw the adjusting sleeve up on the end of the tie rod....... NO GO. The tie rod is 3/4" and the adjusting sleeve is only 5/8". Something is WRONG with this picture.
Now I realize that, hey, the tie rod ends will not screw on my tie rod. YES, I know, why did I not check the stuff more through before hand!!! Well, I didn't.
Basically I now have a sleeve and two tie rod ends that will not fit on my tie rod.
I'm ticked. I'm going back and read that tech tip again and again to see what I missed. Something is definitely amiss here. (as well as a few links pertaining to the same thing)
Anyone had this problem? ..... and advice, any help, who's done this before?
Last edited by Achipmunk; 08/26/2011 6:29 AM.
