The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 1947-53 GMC 1 ton Tie Rod source?

I am replacing tie rod ends and getting ready to do an alignment. When I put the new ends in the old tie rod, it gets REALLY hard to thread at about 3/4" away from the length I need on each side. I don't want to ruin these new ends. Is there a source for a new 1 ton tie rod? I tried Classic Parts, LMC, Brothers and Jim Carter with no luck. Worst comes to worst, if someone can tell me the thread information I can have RuffStuff Offroad fabricate one.

I found that the threads are .812-18. If nothing else I found some fab shops online that may fabricate one.

When I needed to replace the tie rod on my 53 one ton I got them from NAPA, took a couple of days to get them in. Of course, that was 10 years ago, but you might check.

Tim

Napa can get the ends but not the rod. I did find a tap for the right hand thread if worst comes to worst, but nothing on the left hand thread.

Probably can order a LH tap from McMaster-Carr, etc.

Ed

Are the new ends the same length as the old ones? That may be the cause of them hanging up, needing to screw further into the rod socket.

Take your old tie rod ends and file a flute or two in them similar to what a tap looks like, and use them to chase the threads in the rod. It's probably just rust and gunk that's making the new ends hard to screw in. Use lots of WD40 or other lubricant. Also be sure the clamps are released if the rod sockets are split.

.812 - 18 would be 13/16-18 and I didn't see that size on the McMaster-Carr site.

If you have a Fastnal store near you the should be able to source a l.h. tap.

I suggested the "tap" made out of the old ends, because the McMaster-Carr left hand taps around the size required were $50-$80 each.
I know a guy can never have too many tools, but holy cow! And for likely a 1-time use.

My local O'Reilly store loans out a thread restorer kit, a bunch of special files to match most threads. I used it to clean up the threads on my drive shaft carrier. Worked great, and while they "sell" it to you when you pick it up, they return your money (or cancel the charge card) when you return it. Might be the easiest way to solve your problem.

Tim

Another way to chase the threads is to find a smaller diameter tap with the same thread pitch and use that. The files are likely for external threads (that's all I've seen). They would have the teeth that cut along the length of the file, not across it, but I may be wrong on that.

Thanks for all the replies. I used the old ends as taps but that wasn't the issue. What I determined was the Napa tie rod ends are .002" more diameter than the originals, measured them with a micrometer. Poor quality parts.

Male threads of that size have more than 0.002” tolerance on the OD of the threads.
Pitch diameter is difficult to measure without special tools.
Pitch diameter is a tighter tolerance and much better data point for determining correct size of male threads, or if it’ll fit a standard size tapped hole.

I wouldn’t assume the new parts are out of tolerance by measuring the OD and finding only a 0.002” discrepancy.
0.002” is half or less the thickness of a standard hair.