Building tie rod adapters (disk conversion)

[jmlcolorado]

Has anyone ever tried to just build their own adapters for their disk brake swap?
I grabbed the whole tie rod assembly from each side when I got my junk yard spindles for my conversion.
Anyone who knows what their doing with a welder could make these by cutting the original in half, then welding the donor one in half, weld together, then add strips of 1/8" x 4" to the outside of the tube and fully weld those.

I know $14 to have a set made isn't breaking the bank at all but just curious is anyone has made their own.

Guess the other way would buy some thick wall DOM and tap them yourself but without a machine, that would take some effort, not to mention serious arm strength
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[lolife99]

Just remember,... when GM trucks went to disc brakes in the 1971 model year,... they also changed the "direction" of the threads.

63-70 drum brake outer tie rods are LH thread.
71-87 DISC brake outer tie rods are RH thread.

This makes things confusing when trying to connect the new disc brake outer,... to the original drum brake inner.
Both inner and outer tie rods have to be swapped out.

[jmlcolorado]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Just remember,... when GM trucks went to disc brakes in the 1971 model year,... they also changed the "direction" of the threads.

63-70 drum brake outer tie rods are LH thread.
71-87 DISC brake outer tie rods are RH thread.

This makes things confusing when trying to connect the new disc brake outer,... to the original drum brake inner.
Both inner and outer tie rods have to be swapped out.

I built the drivers side yesterday. Cut ans 1/2 of each coupler. Worked great.
Went to the passenger side and looked at them both. Found that if I did the same as the driver side, the adapter will loosen -1/2 and tighten the other 1/2. Effectively just moving the adapter and not changing the tie rod length at all.
This side I'll have to use the outer rod end of the 68 as the inner,NAND use the outter of the 73 as the outter.
Had me scratching my head for a bit
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