Tie Rod Ends and Drag Link Ends

[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

[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/ > >

[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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[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