The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk tie rod ends

I'm looking at rebuilding my tie rod ends and drag link on my 41 chevy 1/2 ton. On Jim Carter they show 2 different parts for them, I thought they would be the same. Does anyone know if the old style ends are the same, 41-the 50's.

The ones that came with the truck have a ball joint with two half discs that fit on each side of the ball. They are easy to clean and service. I believe the newer ones are factory sealed and can't be serviced. I found if I just cleaned them up they were perfectly good. You can get replacement parts if needed. If the ball needs replacement then its much more complicated.

I bought my '41 old stile ones from American classic. They were listed as 1/2 ton but fit my 3/4 just fine. I think if you look around you can get some ball studs that are very origional (not threaded) and have to be "upset". For me the threaded ones wotked OK. I ended up getting another set for the drag link but had to weld the front one to the steering arm as the longer threaded ball stud was too close to the axle.

Keep in mind that the origional ball studs are pressed in AND upsed on the back side. To push them out you need to drill or grind away the back side so you can push the studs out.

I guess my question was misunderstood. Are the ball joints on the drag link different from the ones on the tierod? Jim Carter shows different part #s for them. The balls om mine were easter eggs and I already have them out. Dave

Homer, ( Dave) the newer style with sealed ends are a replacement end. Both styles work equally well if they are in good shape. The older style with ball and cups wear easier due to the dirt and abrasion that gets in them. Check the ball studs for roundness, if they are not, replace them and the sockets. As you turn the wheel, the out of round balls require the the heavy springs to work against you. They will provide constant pressure with a round ball and heavy and light with out of round. Mine were worn really bad at the base of the ball stud where the housing rode all the time, the wear was about half way through the stud.

As mentioned above, the ball studs are a press fit with the ends peened over. You must drill them out before driving the old stud out with a punch. I believe a 1/2" drill will get you there, but work up to it and try driving them out when you get to 7/16". The inside of the hole of the steering arms will look like a hour glass, so the peened over end can not pull out when done right. I too had trouble with the bolt-in ball sockets on the drag link end right above the axle, the threaded end would drag across the axle. The other three worked just fine. I ended up cutting off some of the threaded portion and heating it red hot, then peened it just as the factory did. When I changed to the sealed ends, I install the nut then cut off any remaining thread. I also loosened the steering arm at the spindle and raised it up using all the slop in the holes. It was just enough for the drag link to clear the axle.

I replaced my new rebuilt ball and socket ends with sealed "new style" ends. I didn't notice any difference in driving, but then I was going from like new to new parts. I posted a tech tip years back about lapping the sockets to the ball ends, . It will help when going back together.

I changed ends so all four would match. I made a adjustable drag link using the modern replacement ends and wanted the tie-rods to match. The grease stays in the new style much longer so that was a plus.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/draglink.htm

Thanks, I just need to order parts now. Dave