Tie rods

[P-12 Tommy]

Yesterday I got my four tie rod ends from Andy Bernbaums. Today I installed them. Took about two hours. The ones I took out had leather boots on them and they were ripped up pretty good. Lots of old grease caked on them. They were a little sloppy, but not too bad. I went for a ride and it rode great. Let the steering wheel go and it stayed in the middle. Over the weekend I'm gonna do my oil pan and rear main seal. I've got a timing chain seal and gasket, but I'm gonna do the other first. If it leaks up front, then I'll pull the radiator and do them. Here's some pics of the new tie rods.

Tom

[1950 Special Deluxe]

Were you able to do the alignment yourself, or did you have to take it in? I have the parts but have not started that yet. I was told to measure before I started to dismantle anything and then try to reproduce that measurement after changing the ends. I have the shop manual and have been reading up on it.

[P-12 Tommy]

For now I did it the old way (my way) and unthread the old ones and thread in the new ones and make sure nothing moves and they slide right in and bolt them down. I just got back from doin' a little shoppin' (about 15 miles) and it tracked real good. I'll go have the alignment checked soon to see how far off I am. It can't be too bad. I can let go of the steering wheel and it doesn't pull either side.

[JoelOkie]

I just did mine also on my 46. I counted the exposed threads on each end and went back that much with the new ones. Supposed to actually have the same number of threads on each end, I would guess, for adjustment purposes. Mine seemed close enough as they were, although not strictly exact. Steers good for now, and I plan to have the front end aligned when I get some new tires, as I'm not going to be driving it until then except to work on it. Joel