Friend of mine had a new suspension put under his F1 truck. He had been driving it all over with the stock stuff up front. And that included keeping up with traffic on the interstate. I got the old front end (less the steering box). And that included the steering arm. Thought I'd clean it up and offer it up in the cl***ifieds. When I got the drag link off I found this. The steering arm ball was worn on two sides to the point where it was egg shaped. And, although you can not see it in the pictures, the wear was starting to undercut the ball itself. My point is simple. When you are building cars out of old stuff, or if you are driving a car built out of old stuff, you need to make sure all of the safety related parts are really serviceable.
Hell, That ain't nothin!! Look at this I found when taking a front end down. Sorry for reposting this but it is a keeper!
wow thats spooky! when I was 18 I dated this girl and drove her car all over then she called me and said it wouldnt back up. i went to check it and one tie rod end had fell off! in the process of trying to back up she had both outer tie rods off laying on the ground! scary, I had it on the road the day befor then i found out she had no insurance!!! you should always know the condition of stuff you or your family drive. oh ya, dont date chicks with junk cars and no insurance!
I'd trust that over a $13 ball joint from Pep Boys. Just 'cause it's new doesn't make it safe either.
A few years ago the lower ball joint broke on my hot rod pickup. It broke off at the end of the threads! Nut was still cotter keyed to the threads. Should have kept that one as a conversation piece, but tossed it out. Gene
timely post...I'm replacing the guts of the drag link in my newly acquired 57 chevy...my first order of business has been safety improvement...disc brakes all the way around, front end rebuild, steering, etc...got precious cargo in the way of two little girls!
Good call, my car looks like hell but I know the front end is good since thats where I spent most of my time and money! But these guys are right, jack up the car and shake it down every couple times you drive. Not only are our cars old, but most of the roads are too. Brad
Yep, take them apart and look. It's good that you took the time to share that. I was helping a friend a while back. He'd called me to help adjust brakes on a '31 chivvy he was working on. We got it up on jackstands and I was centralizing all of the linkage and noticed that when you moved the steering wheel back and forth it wanted to center itself. I had a hunch, knowing a little about these things. I told him we should check all of the balls. Hhe got all riled up, but I convinced him and we found three just like that, pitman arm and both tierod ends............
You know, that gets me to thinking about the front suspension on my '62... When I pulled the engine and bellhousing, the clutch fork pivot ball was worn to a sharp little cone, about half the height of the original ball. I bet the front suspension bits are about the same. Damn. -Brad
All you guys driving 60's Fords with power steering.. the ball that goes into the control valve can and will tear out of the valve. That results in a free spinning steering wheel. I don't think the ball goes bad, its the stuff that holds it in. It happened to me once at low speed, so no accident. Imagine it letting go on the freeway... Buy one of those kits and change those parts.
That's why Ford sold lots of new pitman arms and splindle steering arms back in the days of Model As. The 32-34 Ford used a bolt-in steering ball on the steering arms. They also serviced a weld or rivet in steering ball. Chevrolet also offered these repair parts on all the ball-style stuff they used for about 35 years or so, 57 I think was the last except perhaps on some trucks.
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