Rather difficult welding question

[Crusarius]

inverted T. short drag link that'll bind & roll the tie rod front to back every turn. meh.

yeah you're right, no travel in that orientation.

Oops, misread that. I do agree with the excessive roll that is why I am changing it the way I am. with the heim joints I will get alot less roll than the 1 ton TRE's. I am not expecting the tightest steering in the world but currently having 1/4 turn of dead play in the steering wheel. its not fun at 60.

I appreciate everyones help and feedback. it is all welcomed. thank you.

 

[Joe69]

I wasn't worried enough to look it up. I just wondered in passing whenever I heard it.

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[Griff93]

If you insist on doing a clamp on the tie rod, use a split collar and weld a ring on the tie rod on each side of it. See http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/OD-Tube-Clamp_p_1474.html Having built rigs with basically the same steering arrangement, there's much better ways to do it. Going to the passenger side knuckle is a much better idea. The steering will be much better as you aren't rolling the tie rod back and forth every time you turn. Rigs already steer bad enough because of the big tires and high CG.

 

[Crusarius]

That is what I have decided to do. I won't be able to go to the knuckle because of clearance and angle issues.

 

[Fcvapor05]

Agree with this:

Care to expand on this though?

I've seen it said before but it doesn't make much sense to me. Why isn't a rod end mounted in double shear or single shear with a safety washer OK on the street?

Because rod ends aren't shielded. It doesn't take very much debris getting into the ball to create a notch, which can cause the rod end to catastrophically fail.

Rod ends are designed for race cars and aircraft, where they live a mostly coddled life that's free of salt and grime and rocks and dirt, and they get checked and replaced very often. On a street car you're not checking and replacing the rod ends every few hours.

The counter argument to this would be that there's a zillion people using rod ends on street cars of all types- from HD off road rigs to track cars and everything in between- without a lot of failures. There's also a zillion manufacturers of aftermarket parts that use them for suspension and steering components of all types. That's the truth, but it doesn't change the fact that an unshielded rod end is highly susceptible to damage from dirt and other contaminants, and that minor rod end damage can lead to a major problem if they are used in safety critical areas, like steering.

cliff notes: use rod-ends on a street car at your own discretion. The guys who sell and make them usually will tell you not to.

I do think my material welding question was answered. Now I am just defending my out of the box ideas

I do have both LHT and RHT

Once you connect the drag link mount to the tie rod it limits the adjustability to a 180 degree turn of the heim joints on each end. I have to keep my drag link connection in a very small area to clear everything else that is there.

If the drag link and tie rod each have a RHT rod end on one end and a LHT rod end on the other, you don't have to do any flipping of rod ends. Loosen the jam nuts, turn the drag link (or tie rod) and it will get longer or shorter and toe will be adjusted accordingly. That's the whole point of using left hand thread on one end only.