Since I have been putting on a bunch of miles on my '63 this summer, I decided to replace the tie rod ends and center link. I ordered all 4 tie rod ends and they arrived mid week -- they shipped what I ordered. I marked and took off the pair on the right side, put it in my vise and pulled the outer tie rod out. I pulled one of the outers from the plastic and noticed that the new one was left hand thread while the old one was right hand thread. I put it back in the plastic and then pulled a new inner and sure enough it was right hand thread. So I pulled the other outer and it also was left hand thread. It looked like the length and angles were the same inner and outer. So by now I figured that at some point in the past mine was put in the car backward. Got everything measured up and put the pair back in the car, but I swapped it end for end so that the outer one was the left hand thread. Then I pulled the left side pair. This time the outer tie rod end was the left handed one, so it matched the packaging the new ones came in. I replaced it and then worked on the inner. Turned out when I pulled that one from the packaging, it also was left hand thread! So while all of the packaging was correct for what I ordered, I actually got 3 left hand thread ends and 1 right hand thread. So now I know 2 things: 1. My car had one of the 2 pairs reversed at some point in the past. 2. The company that I bought the new ends from has a quality control problem. So I can't trust my car and I can't trust the supplier. Like I said it really doesn't matter which way I put them in, I just don't want someone in the future to buy a single based on placement only to find its the wrong thread. So I was wondering if anyone could confirm which end should be the left hand thread -- the inner or the outer? '63 six cyl with manual steering. I think it should be the same '60-'65 and '65-'66 Mustang? Thanks
I ran a '63 Ranchero from '68 into the mid '70's. Local Ford dealer parts man always asked for the build date when I ordered suspension and underneath parts, seems there were some mid year changes. Also asked if it was an ex local utility rig, seems they had a batch of special order rigs that came with stuff that wasn't even listed in the standard parts books. Also an underneath mid year change very early with the '84 Tempos. Somehow I always wind up with the odd balls, have learned to try and take the old parts off first when I can and then take them with me when chasing replacements. Ed
Falcons can be frustrating.I restored a 1960 2 door 4 years ago.It was built in middle of 1959.I found out quick that early 1960 model had a couple suspension pieces from full size 1959 cars.Guess they were using leftovers.Post above is right.Join all the falcon clubs and forums you can find.Parts will come easy then.They know where to get everything.I used to know it by heart but after 4 years I can`t recall exact companies to deal with.Don`t give up.If one place tells you a part is not made anymore,do not believe it,just keep searching.They are all out there.A falcon makes a beautiful car when done.I put a 170 with 3 1bbl carbs in mine.Just cut holes in intake runner then welded on 2 more carb mounting points,fabed up linkage,and instant wow factor when hood is up.Cool car.Wish I had kept mine
So the place that I ordered the tie rod ends from agreed to send me another one, I had to pay for it, they said they would send a mailer with it so that I could ship the wrong one back. When they get the wrong one back they would refund me for one. Sounds good. After a long 13 hour day at work and a frustrating drive home last night -- road construction had me crawling at he rate of 1 mile per hour. I got home to open the new tie rod end. According to their packaging for the 4 that I got, I would have expected 3 to be labeld correctly and the one odd inner tie rod to be labeled incorrectly. I opened the box and the package said it was an outer tie rod end :-( But wait I see they poked a hole in the plastic to stick the threads out. Yes, it is the correct thread I truly am glad that I asked them to double check the threads before just shipping another "inner" So now the score for their labeling is: Original order: 2 outer with left hand thread 1 inner with right hand thread 1 inner with left hand thread Replacement order: 1 outer with right hand thread The replacement order on the packing slip was specifically for an inner, but to verify thread pitch -- but they shipped an outer (probably because now all of the inners that they pulled were left hand thread) So with almost 50% labeled one way and 50% the other way, this place really has a quality control issue. Like I say, for my Falcon having them all labeled backward wouldn't be a problem, since I was replacing all 4 and they look basically the same except for the thread. And they didn't send the return shipping label
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