The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop tie rod and tie rod ends install

Bought new type tie rod and tie rod ends for my 51 3100,from classic performance products,the ones on the truck are the original type,anyone use this type before? any problems installing? old navy 51................

Let me know how it goes for I am getting ready to replace my entire front end assembly including tie rods and ends.

Yes, I installed them about 2 months ago in my 59 1/2 ton. Not as easy to install as they would like you to believe. I had no problem with the female half that goes on the drag link. The hard part was getting the ball section out of the steering arm. I ground away the bottom of the ball section as suggested by the instructions, but there was no way the ball could be pounded out. It was in there tight.

After a long afternoon of trying different aproaches with a torch, I finally got the ball section out by cutting the ball off the top of the steering arm, and then alternatly heating/quenching the remaining stub. I would beat on it with a 5 pound sledge and punch after heating. It finally came out.
new parts installed easily. Truck handles and steers about the same. Still glad I installed them, but what a pain!

There is a posting on this on OldChevyTrucks. The secret here is that there is a small chamfered area cut out of the body underneath the swaging. This results in a swaged area that is larger that the actual bore. If you bore that out, the ball will press out normally. If I remember correctly, it is about .045" or less. The article to which I am referring talked about using a 20 Ton press with no success, at first.

I made this upgrade to my '52 a few months ago and indeed, the challenge is removing the ball studs from the steering arms. I took them to the local machine shop ... 10 minutes later they were out. Well worth the $15. Good luck.

shoeless

I replaced the tierod ends on my 51 3600 a few months back with new style ends from LMC. The originals were shot plus I had a clearance issue with the 1996 3/4 tom Chevy wheels I am running. I thought the new ends would give me more clearance, but after the change I still need to use 1/4" spacers on the front. To remove the old used a $10 tie rod separator from Discount Auto parts, If I remember correctly, I had to slide a large open end wrench under the ball stud to close the gap so the tierod tool would work.

Good Luck

Did mine couple of months ago.
The new tie rod ends and a reinforced tie rod are a very worthwhile upgrade and safer than the originals.
Also time for a drag link repair kit or replace the entire drag link, if worn.

Don't worry about removing the old ball studs - just takes a few simple steps.
Grind off the end flush to the connecting arm, until you can see the slight outline of the stud. Then use a few drill bits from 1/4 up to maybe 3/8 and bore a hole into the end, so the stud can compress while you push it out with a 1/2 bolt and hammer.

A pleasant weekend project, compared to driving out old kingpins...

Thanks guys for all the great information,I will tackle the job this week, I give an update on how it went. old navy51........................

I have not tackled these yet, still cleaning things up and getting ready for the disc brakes. One thing I would say is to avoid use of heat on any suspension parts that will be reused. All of these parts are subject to softening with use of heat. Glad to have other bolter out in front of me on this. Makes the learning curve a little shorter!

I need to do the tie rod changeout now while doing the brakes. Is Classic Performance the only supplier of the 1" tie rod? Are the ends they sell the same as everyone else? It looks like the rod is actually turned down to the original diameter at the threaded ends. 53 and 54 trucks already have the modern ends on the drag link so it's just remove those balls on the steering. What is the bore for the replacement ends where they bolt to the arms? Do these need to be reamed or are they a tight press fit? There is no value in delaying the change, then having to go back and tear everything back apart. :p

Cleaned my knuckles, spindles, draq link and tie-rod today. I found a butt weld in the tie rod about six inches from the end. It sure does pay to clean and inspect. I had already decided to replace it with a heavy duty one inch rod with modern ends, but this discovery makes me even more vigilant. Removing the modern ends as found on the '54 drag link was a snap with a small air chisel equiped with a pickle fork end. A little kroil sloshing in the morning, and then hit it with the gun after lunch. It vibrated right off.

Somewhere I ran across some urethane seals available for the modern type tie rod ends. The rubber ones are usually short lived due to oil and grease exposure. Might be good to add these when you change the ends.
It's really funny how people will hot rod their trucks, yet leave the old suspension stuff untouched. When you clean it up, usually things show up that don't pass basic safety. My tie rod was butt-welded with cellulose 60XX rod. Would not be fun to have that break in two on the road. With disc brakes, radial tires, and grooved pavement the old tie rods with the ball ends are way too sloppy.

Somewhere I ran across some urethane seals available for the modern type tie rod ends. The rubber ones are usually short lived due to oil and grease exposure. Might be good to add these when you change the ends.
It's really funny how people will hot rod their trucks, yet leave the old suspension stuff untouched. When you clean it up, usually things show up that don't pass basic safety. My tie rod was butt-welded with cellulose 60XX rod. Would not be fun to have that break in two on the road. With disc brakes, radial tires, and grooved pavement the old tie rods with the ball ends are way too sloppy. Another project, missing castor shims, just a piece of inner tube in there!

While you have got it apart, time to check the king pins, perhaps install fresh zerks and lube them good if they are still tight.

Update for today.. Those ball studs are gone! Pulling the drag link loose from the Pitman arm ennables the whole tie rod and steering arms assembly to be dragged out from under the truck. Of course it helps that I pulled the brakes and backing plates since I'm putting caliper brackets in their place.
But once the arms are out, you can work on them a lot easier. I used an air chisel with a pickle fork attachment to separate the new style drag link from the steering and third arm. It works pretty good with a little kroil ahead of time. Put an old nut on the end of the stud so you can give it a friendly whack while vibrating the pickle fork between the steering arm and the drag link. Note, if you do have the new style drag link, you will end up trashing to old seals and need new ones. I can't remember who was selling them, I think in urethane.
The ball studs came out very easy knowing how everyone else had dealt with them. I put the arms in the vise, removed the tie rod, and ground on the bottom to make a flat surface so the center could be located. I center punched that, and then drilled a pilot about 1/2" in the center, followed that with a 3/8" cobalt drill about the same depth. Then I took a die grinder and rotary file and slightly enlarged the outer bottom of the hole. Be careful doing this it does not take too much. then pop the ball end into a piece of 1" pipe firmly supported, Use a 5/16" pin punch and give a few taps. They came right out. The stock bore looks to be about 1/2."
Gotta find those seals, urethane would be the way to go for grease resistance. Just take your time.
Another thing:
There are several different arms. They are clearly stamped in the forgings. #3667229 is '46-'50, right. #3694223 is '51-'54, right. #3685753 is '47-'50 steering and third arm (left.) #3694229 is '51-'52, left. #3699683 is '53-'54 left. I had grabbed some from the shop floor that already had the studs removed, but then checked the numbers using the '29-'54 Master Parts Catalog . It's available online and is really handy to use, and can save you a lot of questions and time. Thanks Keith! You can send him a little Paypal too.

Chevy Duty has the urethane boots for modern tie rod and drag link ends!

Having accomplished this entire task before reading this post, I must say the best thing I found here was the web page for the 1929-1954 Master Parts Catalog. I was unaware that the catalog was online. Thank you very much!!
Whether or not you can feel the difference after you change out your tie rod ends or not, it is one of the best things you can do to your truck!