Quick! What tierods do i need get

[oldblue1968chevy]

DOING A DISC BRAKE SWAP USING 71 CHEVY PARTS...GOING TO THE STORE TOM. AM AFTER CHURCH, WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY FOR TIEROD ENDS? DO I NEED TO BUY 71 TIEROD ENDS OR DO I NEED TO BUY 68 TIEROD ENDS OR WHAT?




sorry for the caps lock fellas lol i relized it was in capitol bout .5 way thru lol

thanks

[lolife99]

The 71-72 spindle takes a 11/16" threaded tie rod. The 67-70 spindle takes a 5/8" threaded tie rod. You need a conversion sleeve to connect the inner to the outer,... or you need all the same stuff from your 71. (cross link, inner, outers, idler arm, etc.)

[oldblue1968chevy]

gee that one makes me think lol thanks..okay tell me if im right here..

okay never mind thats too hard for me lol


can ya tell me exactly wat to say to the guy who will ask if i gotta 350ci motor which is completely irrelevant to the ? i will ask him.........


wat do i tell him i need lol im so sorry but if you answer that for me id be a very happy camper at autozone tomrowo...you cant explain nothing the moron...AHEM, *fella* with fishooks in his face lol

[lolife99]

OK. Let me get this straight. You are only replacing the spindle and whatever it takes to use this 71 spindle. Correct?
If you are rebuilding the entire front end,... my answer will be different. The 71-72 spindles will require you to change the upper and lower ball joints, unless you are using the 71-72 a-arms also. (I don't really know what parts you have and what you are trying to swap)

To connect the 71 spindles to your truck,... you need 71 outer tie rods. OK, heres the problem. The inner and outer tie rods are are threaded LH and RH so the can be adjusted in and out via the adjusting sleeve. The prblem is the outer 71 tie rod is the opposite thread than that of the outer 68 tie rod that's on your truck.
I bought some conversion tie rod adapters from POL (Performance OnLine)
These rquire you to use:
*71-72 outer tie rods
*conversion sleeve
*and outer 68 tie rods bolted on as inner tie rods (because of the inner /outer LH / RH threads).

This may be confusing. But if you used all the same parts off of the SAME year truck,... it would be so much simpler.
(tie rods, sleeves, cross/center link from say a 71)

The only other option would be to buy a aftermarket disc brake spindle that companies like ECE make,... that are correct for the 63-70 trucks.
This requires NO ball joint change or NO tie rod change.
Here's a pic of my "conversion tie rod sleeves on my 69 with 71-72 spindles.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have a complete front end or just a pair of spindles.

[oldblue1968chevy]

well i have the whole truck to rob parts from..

i used NEW balljoitns (top bottom) pads rotors...basically rebuilding the frontend and brakelines...


it looks like i can take the whole assembly (from idlerarm/pitmanarm to idlerarm/pitman arm)

everything from one side to the other, and then undo where it connects to the steering box thing (sorry i dont know the proper terms)


so can i unbolt the (3/4 nut it looks like) and unbolt the pitman arms/idler arms from both sides, and bolt it back into my 68 use balljoints and everything???


im bout to go try it lol if im wrong well then o well im back to square 1


hope that makes sense and thanks!!!!!!!!

[lolife99]

Yep,... swap everything. That will make your life easy. If you need new parts,... tell the guy behind the counter, that it's a 71.

Good luck.

[Tx Firefighter]

That thing on your steering box is called the Pitman arm.

[oldblue1968chevy]

okay lolife, im trying to do what you said its not working out


today i put all that stuff you said to put on from my 71 to my 68, well i got it all bolted on, and the tierod end on pass. side wont let the balljoint flex enough to bolt up to the spindle......thanks for the help maybe i'll figure it out tom. but it'd help if you could help me some too!

thanks guys im ready to drive again lol

[Tx Firefighter]

Brother, you are so hard to follow. Be descriptive of the problem.

I can't follow what you are running, so I will shotgun it.

You need 71 upper and lower balljoints in your control arms. Now, install the 71 spindles.

Then, you need all of the 71 steering linkage from spindle to spindle. That includes outer tie rod ends, adjuster sleeves, inner tie rod ends, and center link.

Believe me, Lolife isn't steering you wrong. This is a good swap and he has led you in the right direction. You just missed a detail somewhere along the way.

[lolife99]

old blue1968chevy,... can you take a picture of your problem?
Is your truck up on jackstands with the front wheels hanging down?

You may have to loosen the tie rod adjusting sleeves and swivel the tie rods a little, or put a jack under the a-arm to help you install that pass. side tie rod into the spindle.
I'm trying to understand your problem.

[my67chevytruck]

I agree, I have done this swap with no issues.... Pictures are worth a 1000 words......

[my67chevytruck]

I have attached some pics of the complete crossmember as it was when we removed from our parts truck, you can see the inner outer rods, and the center link /idler arm, on the driver side i just removed the center from the pitman arm and left the pitman arm on the PS pump. I also attached a couple of pics after we painted the '72 parts.... I have attached these as a visual reference for you.

[oldblue1968chevy]

i'll play with it some today, i cant post pics but i can emial them to somebody....it doesnt seem right i should be able to get it on my own..but if i cant i know where to come to lol....i posted last nite at like 1130 and ive got bunch of help that next am lol

thanks...

do i need EVERYTHING below the steering box and over...now, i took everything off my 71 (steering related everything) EXCEPT the arm RIGHT below the steering box/pump thing....is that correct? thanks!

[Tx Firefighter]

You do not need the pitman arm. The pitman can stay with the box.

You do need everything else but the pitman arm though, from spindle to spindle.

[oldblue1968chevy]

okay im still settin on here lol


the pitman arm is the piece thats on the steering box correct? and EVERYTHING else goes onto my 68? even the bracket thats held to the frame by 2 bolts?

[Tx Firefighter]

Pitman arm ?

You're not reading the answers here. This has been explained thoroughly if you will stop and re-read all the responses in this thread. Take a second to review it and clear your mind of the stress.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

okay im still settin on here lol


the pitman arm is the piece thats on the steering box correct? YES and EVERYTHING else goes onto my 68? even the bracket thats held to the frame by 2 bolts? YES This is the idler arm

The answer is yes.

[oldblue1968chevy]

THANK YOU!

okay got my spindles on my new baljoints awhile ago...got d side tierode and spindle togethere.....got some pix of the 4" gap between the p. side spindle and tierod....i cant post pix but somebody can emial me and i'll send them the pix to post.....

piggie_rancher@hotmail.com

dads got some setting where i can just about check emial get on this truck site..and SOEMTIMES craiglist for parts lol

anyhow i got pix if somebody is intereseted, ok nother ?

when i try to tighten my tierod end, the balljoint spins freely in there and i cant tighten my tierod end down, does this mean i need new tierod ends too? (ima get em anyways)

thanks!

[lolife99]

old blue,... email them to me at:
kterry@ktis.net. I'll post them up.

Also,... are the threads messed up on the tie rods causing them to spin? (as in flattened by a hammer?)

Sounds like you may need all new tie rods ends. But we need to figure out what's wrong before you go and buy more stuff.

[oldblue1968chevy]

ok i got to lookin today and i put my idler arm on backwards lol, an advance auto gave me wrong bearings..so tom. i get to work....today gf and i went swimmin and hung out.....came home tonite to work on the truck, and then lil sis and her friend went ridin atvs on the mtn where the werent supposed to, and got both wheelers stuck, walked 3 miles down the mtn.....to get me to go find the atvs in the dark....so thats where ive been all day, but i think i have my steering resolved, learned the diff. between pitman arm and idler arm lol, sorry for makin yall mad im sure i did lol i had to read it like 5x's thanks for tthe emails, to those of you that did i guess yall can post em for me anyways.....mine doenst look as good as you others (i shouldve took my time and repainted everything lol)

[my67chevytruck]

pics for oldblue.

[oldblue1968chevy]

gee i must've beenupside down on some of those lol

but ive got it straighened out now, all i need now is bearings (gave me wrong size dangit) and prolly replace tierod ends...

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Pitman arm ?

You're not reading the answers here. This has been explained thoroughly if you will stop and re-read all the responses in this thread. Take a second to review it and clear your mind of the stress.

Kevin ,,all i can say is duhhhh!! hang in there bud,,

Larry