Ever repair a tie rod end?

Geo-TH,In · Jan 12, 2016

I was working in gravel pit moving dirt, removing brush to make elevated flower beds. Tractor
wouldn't back up, stuck. Looked at front wheels, each pointing in opposite directions. Broken right
tie rod end. Went to town, had to order a new one. Get it in the morning when temps are going to be
single digit. So I decided to hammer, beat, squeeze with vice and see if I could get the terramite
back to the barn and work on it inside, out of the wind and cold.

Well the repair lasted for 1/2 mile. Fell off as I was backing it into the place I keep it.

markct · Jan 12, 2016

In an emergency to get a machine home best thing to do is make a washer into a u shape with a zip wheel or hacksaw and tack weld it on so the ball stud can't pop out. And inspect them more often! Had you been roading the machine that could have been deadly

Ron-MO · Jan 12, 2016

Reminds me of a time in my younger years, I was trying to replace a tie rod end and similar happened trying to remove the old one on a pickup, came apart while trying to remove. At the time I was attending a vo-tech school, and decided to take it there and let a friend replace since he had better tools. I hammered the tie rod back on, and drove it approx. 25 miles to the school where they replaced. I still cannot believe I did that, and back then I drove them like I stole them. I was 16 at the time. 10 feet tall and bullet proof, or at least I thought I was. If that tie rod would have came loose while I was driving 60 mph (conservative at that time) it would have gotten interesting to say the least. I guess the answer is yes, I have repaired them, but I would never try that trick today. Well maybe, depending on how fast I was planning on driving. But not today in a vehicle on the highway.

johnlobb · Jan 12, 2016

I got a brand new outer tie rod end for Christmas!

danofarming · Jan 12, 2016

I repaired one one time. I used the stick welder to put a bead around the "cup" to make the stud stay in place. It was still on the tractor when we sold out several years later.

old · Jan 12, 2016

I have repaired a good many over the years. All I do is take a washer and cut it so it will just sip over he bolt part then weld the part of it that is left down. That way you have better then 3/4 of it covered with a nice piece that will hold up for decades. Or in your case where you have it off simply weld a washer on to hold the ball in place and put it back together

rrlund · Jan 12, 2016

I've done temporary repairs on them by dropping a flat washer over the ball and welding it to the socket from the top side. Works great.

Billy NY · Jan 12, 2016

Lasted just long enough then, I've never fooled with them like that, except to do the same, as sometimes well its working, you forget and you don't want to do that with something that is on road at speed. I'll bet you were glad to get it to some shelter though just the same.

JimB2 · Jan 12, 2016

Hi, you forgot the two or three loops of baling wire!!!
JimB

Geo-TH,In · Jan 12, 2016

Very glad to make it to barn. Terramites top speed is a fast walk. Did keep eye on right tire. All ended well.

rrlund · Jan 12, 2016

I remember the bread truck being stopped along the road one time when I was just a little guy. Dad and I stopped. He got a piece of wire out of the truck,crawled under the bread truck and wired the tie rod back socket back together so the driver could get it in to town.

markct · Jan 12, 2016

They don't have a road gear? Fast walk sounds like my mini excavator, a strong advantage of a loader backhoe is it's ease of transportation, both around large jobsite farm etc or driven on the road. I often admired those little machines but glad I never pursued finding one if they are that slow! Sure are cute tho!

Russ from MN · Jan 12, 2016

I fixed one on a lawn tractor last summer by going around it a few times with a center punch, if it comes apart again I will weld a washer on it.

Andy Martin · Jan 12, 2016

Not a tie rod, but the upper ball joint in my 72 Chevelle SS came apart last year on the way to get them changed and aligned. Jacked it up along side the road, popped the ball back in, and wired around the end of the A-arm to hold it together. Only made it about two miles.

1130Leo · Jan 12, 2016

I have used baler twine, wire, and even welded a large washer over the top, will hold up for quite a while doing that.

chuck from neb · Jan 12, 2016

I know someone who welded a washer on top like a few in here have said ....not a good idea ....finally gave out awhile later ....about threw him in the ditch

fixerupper · Jan 12, 2016

A few years ago I came up on a semi stopped half way around a gravel road corner with the passenger side front wheel pointing straight out from the tie rod falling off. I knew the closest farmer so I got the truck driver in the pickup with me and we went to the farmer's place to get a couple of jacks and blocks. Went back to the truck with the jacks and blocks and in about fifteen minutes I had the tie rod back on. Then I took some wire and farmer wired it up the best I could and away he went. Before I left I told him to drive real slow on the way home. A week later I walked past that truck at the local elevator and the tie rod was still wired up. If the tie rod would have dropped off going down the road loaded------well, use your imagination, but I could have been in trouble for fixing it so he could drive it.

Roy in UK · Jan 12, 2016

Weld a washer onto it. We did that when it happened to our IH 674.

brutus49DC · Jan 12, 2016

Someone should have had a nice long talk with the person that dot'd that truck! My neighbor calls such things "nature thinning the herd"!

Aaron Ford · Jan 15, 2016

Okay, I have to chime in. I got a call that a family members car was an hour south of me with no brake pressure. It had happened at a fuel stop so the pedal had not been moved since. I got there and looked at the car (Buick Rendezvous) and found a broken rear brake line on passenger side. I bought a small set of vice grips, a roll of electrical tape and a bottle of brake fluid from the truck stop across the street and proceeded to fold the line back on itself. After 3 or 4 bends, I left the vice grips on the line and taped the whole contraption to the suspension arm. I filled the reservoir and checked the pedal. Surprisingly I had good brakes. I simply figured that would make it easier to put on the trailer. After testing the brakes, it was decided, not by me, that the car would be driven 2 hours home. I called a few days later and the brakes had yet to cause a problem but they were planning to have it repaired.

Aaron.

Ever repair a tie rod end?

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