So I had the original style tie rod ends on the truck. There was significant play in the steering.
Besides the wheel clearance issues, they were worn and not adjustable due to damage from rubbing the newer wheels when the PO put them on. The only reason they didn't rub the more modern style wheels now was because the wheels had already rubbed them enough to wear off the corners of the ends.
First step was to remove the old assembly.
I pulled the cotter pin and loosened the nut down to the end of the bolt. I sprayed it good with PB Blaster. Then I got a hammer and block of wood and beat up on it....Nothing. Then I decided I didn't have to worry about messing it up as I was going to replace it. So I beat directly on the nut....nothing. Then I got some pullers I had and tried those...no go. Then I got a crowbar and tried that for awhile. Nope. After about an hour I decided its time to buy a pickle fork. Then I figured I'd try one more thing and got my jack and put it under the tie rod. Jacked it up till I got good tension on the rod and commenced to smackin' the arm with the hammer. 4 or 5 good hits and it popped right out! Went to the other side - pin out, nut loose, jack tension on rod - 3 smacks with the hammer and out! Wow, I wasted an hour.
I searched for newer style replacement ends everywhere I could think to look.
The replacements from the vendors seemed to all be straight studs, like for the 1/2 tons, while my ball studs were a tapered fit in the arms.
I tried all the flaps in the area, but everybody wants to start with year and model, and I already knew what those searches would produce.
I tried Speedway with thier 1" tie rod upgrade, but when I called tech support he could't tell me if the ends were tapered or straight, or even the measurements of the assembly.
I did not want to go with original ends, so I looked till I found
this. My original tie rod ends are female thread, with a solid tie rod, so these looked right. I ordered them, paid for them(ouch!), and waited for them to come in.
When they arrived they were not as pictured, but instead I got
these. If I wanted originals I would have ordered them, though I was glad to get the refund.
More frustrating research followed,and it became clear that almost all tie rod ends were going to be male thread, not female that would fit my tie rod.
I found
this reference, so I figured it was time to take some measurements. I got a caliper and measured the taper, as I wanted to get as close as possible. Got those measurements and measured the tie rod. .750-16.
Matched it up on the chart and came out with ES150R and ES150L. Male thread. Got them ordered(special order of course) and waited some more. When they finally came in I went and picked them up. Then I went to the local metal company and bought some 1" steel tube. While comparing the ends to the tube, I discovered that both ends were right hand thread, even though the boxes were marked left and right. Back to the flaps to get the correct one ordered. :mad:
I took the tube to a machine shop and had it threaded.
While all of this was going on, I figured I better check the drag link too. Glad I did! It was very worn so I got a new one from Classic for only 71.00.
Finally got everything home. The new draglink is actually heavier than the original, and I got the tie rod and ends assembled and installed. Lubed the entire front end, set the toe-in and took it for a drive.
Greatly improved steering!!!
Well, thats my story. I hope this might help someone else with similar issues.
