The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Tie rod end up-grade

Last night I changed the tie rod ends. This took me about an hour. All of the parts were detached, because I am in the build stage, so it would take a little longer if they were still on the truck.

Here are some pictures.

I read several accounts of this conversion and was looking for a fight in removing the old ball studs. What I was not sure of was if the original hole for the ball stud is tapered or straight. I figured it must be straight because the replacements have straight bolt configuration. The bolt diameter is just over 1/2 inch. Taking this into consideration, I drilled the stud out to 7/16 inch. I started by grinding the peened portion of the stud flush with the steering arm and using the center punch mark that remained to start the drilling process. I started at 1/8 inch and stepped up to 7/16 inch. I drilled the holes so that they were much deeper than the steering arm is thick. By doing this the peened end had some room to collapse when I drove the stud out with a hammer and punch. The stud moved easily and was out in 10 or 12 good hits with the hammer.

This was an easy conversion. Well worth the time and money. Especially if the old balls need replacing. If replacing with replacement type balls, still very easy. This would be very difficult if the conversion was tried without removing the steering arms from the truck.

I started the project Sunday and didn't have as good of luck as you did. The old tie rod ends were pretty frozen to the tie rod. I took the steering arms loose with the tie rod amd finally managed to get the old ends off. The instructions said to drill the backside to a depth of 1/16" using a 9/16" or a 5/8" drill bit. We used 5/8" which was still much smaller than the shaft of the ball stud. We used a drill press and drilled a little deeper than suggested and then pressed them out. After that, I learned that the pair of new style ends that I had on the shelf for a couple of years were both left side. I am about to get that squared away too.

kinda maybe late now but have you seen the stovebolt tech tip
an Adjustable Drag Link, & Tie Rod w/modern ends on all pieces & upgraded pitman linkage
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/draglink_adjustable.html
and (( [color:#333333]'''The tie rod end has the split 3/4’’ nut just up from the thread end.''' )) welding a 3/4'' nut on each end of the tie rod helps w/ any adjustment... no more vise-grips.[/color]

i used the newer ford style tapered rod ends.
had my steering arms tapered reamed to accept the tapered tie rod ends.
got the ends and new tie rod from speedway.
it is a hollow tie rod with the inside of each end threaded, one side LH nad the other side RH threads.
the original style ends seem dangerous.

leonard

There is definitely nothing wrong with upgrading tie rod ends. However, the old ones were greased with soap based grease that washed out every time it rained. And they were probably driven on a lot of dirt roads and still lasted 50 years. I prefer to buy NOS on ebay, either GM or after market. They fit making it a lot less work and will last forever with today's moly grease.

RRK,

There is nothing unsafe about the original style ends if they are in good shape. I was going to use the originals, but when I inspected the original balls; they were worn more than I felt comfortable with. The original sockets were in good shape though. So I will keep them for some other project.

CT,

I have read the tech tip many times and will be building my own Napa drag link soon. If you look at my last picture you will see the 3/4 inch nut. The nut is a great idea.

Lonnie