I purchased the rebuild kit for the steering/drag link. After three days I got the caps off cleaned everything up and greased the new cups and springs. I checked the shop manual it said to tighten the caps until all end play is gone and then loosen 1 turn and put the cotter key in. That seemed loose. The spring is not compressed at all. Anybody done this? Papy
The 55-59 tie rod is pretty much the same. http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/gmc/5559mm/5559mm010.html says to tighten until "springs are compressed solid; then back off one or two cotter pin holes". One hole could be a half turn or less. Two would be between a half and a full turn.
Drag Link Tension I tighten the plug to zero play then one more turn , few people are still driving rutted Farm to Market back roads so it needn't be so tight it wears the ball oval . I hope you understand it needs regular greasing .
Thanks Bill and Nate. This setup looks bullet proof if it has plenty of grease. I'll get it back together and start on the breaks. Thanks for the help! Papy
LOTS Of Grease ! Not just one when you rebuilt it please . Grease until the old dirty grease is visible mooshing out then use old rags to wipe up the mess ~ this is for every single one of the multitude of Zerk fitting on your old truck , there's scads of them , mostly hidden underneath collected road grime and old un wiped off grease from 50 years ago . I hope your going to repair your brakes , not break them ? . Try to resist turning or machining the drums , your life depends on NOT doing this foolishness . Completely flushing the entire hydraulic system using ONLY brake fluid , brake cleaner or alcohol , is wise , do this before you take everything apart , flush until only clean cleaner comes out each bleeder valve & your brake job will last much longer and be safer to boot .
Brakes and breaks Nate I replaced all the parts on the drag link and steering arm packing grease in and then made a mess with the grease gun. The brakes led to a break in my knuckle as the new springs were quite a bit stiffer then the 60 year old springs that came off. Been a while since I had to do a drum brake job. I did have a spring tool. I chucked the old brake lines when I tore the truck down. I also installed an after market master cylinder so I will be starting on bending new brake lines bleeding and getting the ol girl to stop. I have promised to make the Ottawa, KS car show with the son-in-law in 2015. I may even make it. You were right not sure I would do a Body off again but it has been a great experience. It would have never gotten this close with out a lot of help from everyone on this forum. Thanks Papy
Same here, Papy! I'm wondering how you would know if you need to replace the tie rod ends in the first place? Mine seemed pretty tight, so I just greased the bahgeezers out of everything after removing the old zerks and installing pretty new ones.
Replacement Zig It was on the list of things to do and I couldn't get grease to pump in without a lot of heat so I tore them down. All four springs were broken and the "cups" were egged out at the bottom. Figured this was steering so I bought two kits from our host $40 bucks well spent I think. Kinda like the new brake spring that busted my knuckle...well worth it. Have you been to the Ottawa car show? Papy
Drag Link Springs FWIW ; The new ones are IMO , WAY too stiff so when it broke in my '49 , I asked here and someone had a good used sring and mailed it to me , I cleaned the various parts of 60 year old colected rock hard grease , dead insects , sand , road gravel and God alone knows what else before slathering everything with too much grease and re assembling , then I wiped it off and drove it hard for many years before selling it to that theiving A-Hole who prolly tossed out all my fine original parts .
Never thought about putting an old spring back in. Guess I thought all of the oldies would be in the same shape as the ones I took out. I followed your instructions and will keep and eye on them as the new springs and cups should "break in" maybe? Merry Christmas to all! Papy
Same to ya, Papy! Sorry I missed answering you about the Ottawa car show. No I haven't~ yet! When is it?
Zig It's in Septemeber I think. Usually hot and sunny and other than Good Guys in KC the best show around that I have found. Small town figured it out. Free parking and free admit brings the people into town. It is down in the local park with plenty of old trees. Seems like car count was over 1500 this year. Put it on the list of things to do next year! Merry Christmas everyone. Ours were here last night I enjoy all the kids and the grandkids all decked out...well grandkids make the day! It's something to have all the family together. Time to go do the Christmas day tradition. Gone fishin' Enjoy Papy
Pic's Zig It was way to cold to hold the phone still...but...the fish were biting. No wonder my truck isn't done. I'll see ya in Ottawa. Papy
