Radius rod question

I have 11/16 chevy tie rod ends that Im using to make radius rods for my t bucket. I was wondering what size pipe I should use. Has anyone done this before? Happy Easter by the way to all!!! Thanks

 

You want to ask what size " tubing ", as in mild steel DOM tubing. Pipe is for poop. Pipe is measured on the I.D. or inside diameter, and tubing is measured on the O.D. or outside diameter.

 

I take it you are asking about making "hairpin" radius rods. I usually use 7/8"x5/32' wall DOM tubing for front "hairpins" and 1"x7/32"
wall DOM tubing for rear "hairpins". I also use the same 1" tube for the tie rod bung on the front "hairpins". Both sizes of tube are roughly 9/16" I.D., run a 37/64" drill into either size tubing and you can tap it with 5/8-18 threads for the clevis ends, and run a 5/8' drill into the 1" tubing and you can tap it for 11/16-18 threads (if
that is the size of your Chev ends). If you don't have a lathe it takes
a good grip on a strong 1/2" drill to bore the tubes for tapping. Hope
this sizing info helps.
By the way, the only pipe that should be used on cars is exhaust pipe.

 

Are you building hairpins or splitting wish bones? Speedway Motors has the stuff to take all the h***le out of building that stuff from scratch. I was going to build my own hairpins, but after purchasing a set from Speedway, and modifying them to what I wanted, I am so glad that I went that route, it was money very well spent IMHO. Everything was already tapped and you cant beat 10 bucks for their ford style tie rod ends.

 

i built my own and made the mistake of ordering 7/8" dom w .125 side wall, .125 actually measures out to .120 and was too big ....you could tell after tapping that the threads were not right...didn't want to risk it ..so i ordered .166? wall and drilled it out to 5/8" and everything was cool. all that tapping is a great workout.