The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline upgraded tie rod ends on a 52 3600 frame

bought the frame this summer with newer style tie rod ends already on it..but they fit in the hole VERY sloppy..quite a bit of clearance between the angled tie rod end and the hole in the steering arm.

Do I have the wrong tie rod ends, or is a good size spacer needed in the 3/4 tons?

Got another front end if I have to go back to the old skool ones.

If I remember correctly If you remove the fixed ball ends from the original tie rod you end up with straight holes, not tapered.

Sounds like someone tried to make due with some off the shelf parts.

That is what I am wondering..if I have the wrong tie rod ends. Anyone got a measurement on the shaft of the correct replacement ones?

The 1/2 ton balls have a straight shank on them, the 3/4 ton
balls have a taper. The tapered shank balls for use with the
standard tie rod ends are available from the vendors.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/121613827

For the 3600 series there is no modern style replacement
tie rod end with a female thread offered by any of the
vendors nor does MOOG make one. Moog does make one
with the proper taper to fit the steering knuckle but
it's has a 3/4" male thread. You would have to make
a new tubular tie rod with a male left and right hand
thread in each end. The MOOG numbers for the modern
ends are ES150R and ES150L. A new tie rod to accommodate
these ends is made from 1" x .156" x 43.188" DOM tube.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Whoa..thanks Denny...so I have to make a new tie rod if I want to use the modern tie rod ends on the 3600?

Doable I guess..got some machinist buddies who may help. What are the thread specifics on the 3/4? The left hand die may be interesting to find.

or I could go back to the original ends...I have a a complete extra 52 3600 front end with the old skool ball/socket

Is it worth the trouble to swap?

The DOM tubing is available from any of the online metal suppliers,
bout forty or fifty bucks worth. A 3/4-16 RH tap most machine
shops will have and they might even have a left hand one on the
shelf, if not, McMaster Carr has them for about the same, forty
or fifty dollars.
Worth the trouble? Maintenance free compared to the original
ends, and you gain enough clearance to run many of the tubeless
rims that will not clear the original ends. Also the tubular
tie rod is much stiffer than the 3/4" solid rod originally used
on these trucks.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

thanks Denny..I'm sure I can pick up tap(s) from machinist buddies, I'll try local metal shops for tubing. If I can't find it here where is a good online source for the tubing in the US?

What year/make trucks did the newer tie rod ends fit? Just curious for cross referencing.

One thing that puzzles me, I'm sure I've seen the same tie rod end listed online for 1/2 and 3/4 ton from a few suppliers, maybe I was seeing thinks LOL.

Appreciate the response.

I've bought from Online Metals.com, cost with UPS shipping for
four feet was $43.14:
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchan...howunits=inches&id=283&top_cat=0

Tap drill for 3/4-16 is 11/16" (.6875"). The 1" .156" wall tube
gives you an ID of .688.

MOOG ends will cost you roughly thirty bucks each, get the house
brand and they will be about half that:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/154420792

Can't give you cross reference, they probably fit a
whole shoot load of applications. The ones that are
listed that fit 1/2 & 3/4 ton if you note, say
straight shank only. Probably looking at Chevs of the
40's???? Not sure but I would guess the earlier 3/4
ton trucks used the same ones that the 1/2 ton did.
There were lots of changes after the war when they
introduced the Advance Design.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks Denny I really appreciate the input.

Do you have nuts on the threaded tie rod ends that go in the tube to lock it down?

Oh yes, you would need nuts to lock them to the tie rod, other
wise it would just unscrew and would change TI/TO and in the
worst case, unscrew completely. A factory tie rod would have
been made from a higher alloy and split with a clamp.
The type of set up that I've been talking about is quite typical
of that seen on street rod and race applications using this
type of tie rod end or Heim joints.
So your beginning to see that it taint a cheap modification to
make to the 3600 trucks. But it is a very positive set up and
as I said earlier, almost maintenance free compared to the
stock ends. If they need replacement in the future it's a half
hour job at a cost of around thirty bucks. Another advantage is
that if you need to replace one on a trip, the ends are
available at any auto parts store in any part of the country,
if not across the counter, at least within a couple of hours.

If you can believe it, I'm runnin' out of things to say bout
this mod, so I hope you got it figured out by now.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

.

yup I'm good...thanks.

Let us know if you do this Randy, and maybe post a picture or
two. I'm one of those 95% purists so I haven't changed my '50
or my '54 to the newer style ends. I just made this tie rod as
an experiment on my part to see if I could come up with a clean
way of converting the tie rod. Rim clearance is another one of
the little problems that we run into when we're restoring a
3600 AD to make it safe to put on the road.
By the time I get to the '54 I may just relax my anal tendency's
and use this tie rod on it so I don't have to space out the
Ford 16" front wheels to clear the tie rod ends.
After all, GM already beat us to it half way on
the '54 by using a modern style drag link.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Will do Denny..your setup looks pretty neat. One last thought tho..did you look at trying a tri-five 3/4 ton tie rod end? Just wondering.

? Don't really know what the tri-five trucks used but
if they have a tubular tie rod this might very well
be the replacement. I don't have access to a cross
reference catalog.
dg

Aren't the tri-5 (55, 56, 57) 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton tie-rod ends the same as the earlier tie-rod ends (I do not know if the ball stud ends are the same in 1/2 and 3/4 ton - I think they are different)?

Thought they were also Tim, but I don't have access any square
fendered Chevy's so I wouldn't know.

DG

Thanks..that answers it I guess...

funny..this also has a upgraded drag link and it looks like it fits both the pitman arm and the steering arm very well (right taper and size)..must have been for a 3/4 ton

??? I thought you had a 3/4-ton??? 3600 series is a
3/4-ton you know.
Also posted back a bit, that the '54 did use the newer
style drag link.

DG

No Denny I have a 3/4 ton 3600, the drag link fits good, I was just wondering about the drag link differences between a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton...this one fits so I assume it is for the 3/4 ton.

I'm going to try your upgrade, probably order the materials this week.

Just added this to show the relationship of the 1" tie rod vs
the 3/4" tie rod, which would be the same diameter as the 3/4"
thread on the new ends:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/154464324
I don't think there is a difference in the drag link
for the 1/2 or 3/4 ton trucks.

DG