Model A ball and socket drag link question

I looked for this but couldnt really find a straight answer. How hard are you supposed to tighten the end caps on a model A drag link? I have em pretty tight, there are some coil springs in the sockets and it seems like they move a little when I go to turn the wheel. Should these be cranked hard? Thanks. - Paul

 

My draglink has the shell type end.
I greased it good with synthitic goop.
And cranked it down till I felt the spring bottom out.

In other words the spring is fully compressed.
Works for me.

 

Awesome, I wanted to floor em but I wasn't sure... thanks!

 

I was told to tighten them to coil bind, then back off half a turn. If you get them too tight, your just cause a heavy drag and quick wear.

 

That sounds good.
I think I did back it off to line up the cotter pin..

 

It all makes sense now Thanks!

 

I'm also having a hard time getting a straight answer to the drag link/tie rod tightening question. Bratton's catalog says to tighten the tie rod plug to the point that the spring is compressed 25% of its free length. The springs are about an inch long, which indicates you should screw in the the plug till it contacts the steering ball and then tighten for another 1/4 inch, leaving the spring compressed to a length of 3/4 inch. Les Andrews' book "Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook, Vol I" also says the springs should be compressed 25% of their free length, but follows that by stating this should be 1 to 1 1/2 turns past the point where the cup contacts the ball (page 1-10). This last statement doesn't make any sense since the tie rod plugs have 20 threads per inch. 1 1/2 turns would be only .075 inch. It seems to me that you should tighten the plugs 5 turns after contact to compress the springs properly.

Some of you tighten the springs till they are bottomed out, but that seems like it would increase both wear and steering effort.

Comments?
--Carl

 

25% of spring length is correct,From my 32-40 service bulletin Book.
A Little more cant hurt, but doing it up till it coil binds will destroy the balls pretty quick, Ive got quite a few here that are totally worn out, from being done up too hard against a broken spring. The springs seem to break a lot..I pulled a bunch apart last year to make 1 good set, 3 out of eight springs were cracked in two.

 

The tie rod ends were designed with the spring in them to ameliorate the road shock to the driver and required regular lubrication and adjustment. When overtightened/bottomed out, steering effort is increased, springs may break and ball wear is increased as well.
Anyone who has driven an original car with egg-shaped steering balls on the pitman arm and steering arms on the spindles knows how squirrelly that can be.

Nobody mentioned what steering gear was being used. However adjustment would not change. This style of tie rod end was used by GM, Ford and others on both cars and trucks into the 50s-60s.

 

Good stuff.

 

I'm using a model A drag link, F100 pitman with the ball end and a steering arm with a ball end. I just don't want it to pop off on me and...you know...cause death..

 

You might double check the balls for wear.
If they are perfectly spherical, the springs should not compress or extend when the ball rotates.
I would go just over .25" compression on the springs and check them fairly often.

 

Thanks for the responses to my question. Tom from Snyder's concurs that 25% compression of the tie rod/drag link springs is correct.
--Carl

 

Use the aftermarket teflon cups in place of the stock brass cups on your tie rod as well as the drag link.. Makes steering a bit easier and is a cheap modification.

 

I did a search on switching the ball and socket, for a tie rod conversion. Someone had a 38 chevy truck and stated that there is a conversion by taking the old ball out and not having to ream the end to a taper, because there are tie rod ends that just fit the original hole which is about a 1/2 inch.
Has anyone else heard of these tie rod ends?