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Tie Rod Ends and Drag Link Ends
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 6:36 am
by Viv James TraX Interconnect (Pty.) Ltd
Advice needed:-
I know this was debated in the past but I can't remember the
outcome. Last week at the MGCC of SA national Indaba at Port Alfred
in the Eastern Cape, I was embarrassed during the driving tests by
bursting the steering box end draglink ball joint while hanging my
black TC's rear end out round some pylons. The embarrassment was
worsened by being caught under the car full of grease and leaked
XPAG oil by the local TV crew! There was no other damage but I
suspect that the joint was either wrong or wrongly assembled when I
restored the car. Now when I look at the Moss catalogue, this ball joint
has a different part number to the other 3. The Octagon spares list
only shows one part number.
What is the difference between the various joints?
I think the situation was worsened by the amount of force that the
Datsun steering can exert on the ball joint during a full powered slow
tight turn but it could have happened on a mountain pass.
We repaired it with 3 x 2 cent coins, a hammer and a hose clamp.
Badger would have approved. After a 700 mile drive home it is still
holding but it's due for immediate replacement!
VIv
Re: Tie Rod Ends and Drag Link Ends
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 8:34 am
by candahill@worldnet.att.net
Viv, the steering box end of the drag link is a
different part from the other 3. The ball and spring
are in the joint backwards from them. The slot for the
ball is cut different because of this. Consult the TC
owner's manual for the correct assembly order of the
parts. When I rebuilt TC 7387's front end, it had the
wrong part installed. I couldn't find the correct
part. Both Moss and Abindon Spares insisted on sending
tie rod ends. The only way I could assemble it
correctly was that Terry Sanders (TATerry) kindly
provided the necessary used parts.
Regards
Charles Hill
> Advice needed:-
>
> I know this was debated in the past but I can't remember the
> outcome. Last week at the MGCC of SA national Indaba at Port Alfred
> in the Eastern Cape, I was embarrassed during the driving tests by
> bursting the steering box end draglink ball joint while hanging my
> black TC's rear end out round some pylons. The embarrassment was
> worsened by being caught under the car full of grease and leaked
> XPAG oil by the local TV crew! There was no other damage but I
> suspect that the joint was either wrong or wrongly assembled when I
> restored the car. Now when I look at the Moss catalogue, this ball joint
> has a different part number to the other 3. The Octagon spares list
> only shows one part number.
>
> What is the difference between the various joints?
>
> I think the situation was worsened by the amount of force that the
> Datsun steering can exert on the ball joint during a full powered slow
> tight turn but it could have happened on a mountain pass.
>
> We repaired it with 3 x 2 cent coins, a hammer and a hose clamp.
> Badger would have approved. After a 700 mile drive home it is still
> holding but it's due for immediate replacement!
>
> VIv
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
Re: Tie Rod Ends and Drag Link Ends
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:12 am
by i.thomson@talk21.com
This is an oft debated point. The Draglink end is different from the other three. Basically it is built in reverse. i.e the spring and movable seat are on the outside (if my memory serves me correctly - I am sure that someone will correct me if wrong) rather than the inside and the elongated hole is in a different place so you can't convert one to the other. Some specialists supply the wrong end; or at least have done so in the past. My own car has the wrong one fitted (courtesy of a "specialist") since I had to replace it to avoid what happened to you Viv, but it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference!
Ian Thomson
----
> Advice needed:-
>
>I know this was debated in the past but I can't remember the
>outcome. Last week at the MGCC of SA national Indaba at Port Alfred
>in the Eastern Cape, I was embarrassed during the driving tests by
>bursting the steering box end draglink ball joint while hanging my
>black TC's rear end out round some pylons. The embarrassment was
>worsened by being caught under the car full of grease and leaked
>XPAG oil by the local TV crew! There was no other damage but I
>suspect that the joint was either wrong or wrongly assembled when I
>restored the car. Now when I look at the Moss catalogue, this ball joint
>has a different part number to the other 3. The Octagon spares list
>only shows one part number.
>
>What is the difference between the various joints?
>
>I think the situation was worsened by the amount of force that the
>Datsun steering can exert on the ball joint during a full powered slow
>tight turn but it could have happened on a mountain pass.
>
>We repaired it with 3 x 2 cent coins, a hammer and a hose clamp.
>Badger would have approved. After a 700 mile drive home it is still
>holding but it's due for immediate replacement!
>
>VIv
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://www.talk21.com/redirect.html?http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/'>
[url=http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>
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Re: Tie Rod Ends and Drag Link Ends
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2002 2:35 am
by Dave & Diana Dwyer
Viv
I think this is how things should be.
The holes in the steering arms are parallel and the ballpins that fit into
them have parallel shanks and shoulders to stop them pulling right through
the holes. The slots on the rod tubes are keyhole shaped and if the joint
end nut is slackened sufficiently, it's possible to extract the ball end
through the large bit of the keyhole. This means that the balljoint can come
apart #without# disconnecting from the steering arm.
On the other hand, the TC steering box drop arm has a tapered hole, and the
matching rod-end has a tapered ballpin to suit. The rod tube has a slot (not
a keyhole), and the balljoint can only be dis-assembled by completely
removing the end nut, releasing the ballpin fron the drop arm and threading
the ballpin down through the rod tube and out of the end. I imagine that
this is a safety measure to prevent total loss of control caused by the
draglink coming off the box due to a worn/slack joint.
Regards
Dave Dwyer
J2, TA, TC