Bingo, found the worn out inner tie rod, an it does have a cup! I think only Guy did the complete joint.
There are also two pounded out shims, paper thin.
Photos not so good as there was little light.
Clive.
looks right to my damaged head- as i remember the tab was broken on lock tab.by me or previous. looks right to me now compared to diagram in my 140 factory parts manual opposite page 95 plate AC . may have more info from long ago west coast & uk clubs if you require? john
I managed to get my joint apart late yesterday after manufacturing a 11/16"-16 jam nut from a truck lug nut. It appears that what I found matches Cliveās photos.
In my case I had 5 shims between the cup and the cap - 2 thick ones (probably 0.010") and three thin ones (probably 0.004"). The spring sits in the hexagonal recess in the cap, and the shims and cup sit on the annulus around the hexagonal hole, so the spring is only in play to prevent things rattling around if there is any play. The flaw in the design to my eyes is that the locking tab washer goes between the face of the cap and the ānutā that holds the ball. As a result, the thickness of the tab washer determines the number of shims required to set up the joint. The washer on my joint appears to have had a hard life, and to have been made of fairly soft steel. The area where it contacts the nut and cap has been squeezed thin, presumably as it has been re-used and probably over-tightened. I can see that setting up this joint is going to be a challenge, as even with a new washer, which being a modern reproduction will probably me made of Chinese ābutter metalā, the number of shims will depend on how tightly you do up the nut. Iām inclined to think that it really isnāt intended to be tightened much at all, but relies on the tab washer doing itās job to keep it together. Iām going to have to think hard about the order I assemble this, as the cap also screws into the end of the rack with a second tab washerā¦
Congratulations David,
I agree with everything you say, including no need to tighten the nut too much given the tabbed washers - maybe it is designed that way to allow you to tighten the nut just up to the point there is no more play, once you have it shimmed near enough.
These tabbed washers do seem a very Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg approach!
Regards,
Clive.
I had the same thought. Just a note for others who might be looking for the cup that is not listed in the Parts List. It is 1" diameter, with a total height of 1/4". Maybe it is the same as the one used on the E-Type - I donāt have one to hand to check. It appears to be made of steel.
shim c11723 0.010inch - # as required
shim c7569 0.004 - # as required
above noted selective thickness
spring anti rattle c8472 behind shims
tab washer securing ball housing c7605 - for use with slotted type ball housing
tab washing securing ball housing c10027 - for use with hexagonal ball housing many chassis # and series fitment
I reassembled the inner tie rod yesterday with a new flat washer C.10027, a new dished washer C.8053, and more 4 thou shims C.7569.
I ended up adding 0.020" of shims to the 0.049" already in the sloppy joint, for a total of 0.069". The flat tab washer C.10027 is very thick (1/16"), so it takes a considerable amount of violence to bend the sides over against the nut to secure the cap. I ended up using a blunt axe head that I hit with a 4lb hammer. Of course, you really need to be sure youāve got the shimming right before you bend the tabs overā¦
The dished washer C.8053 has an internal tang that needs to be shaped to do itās job.
I found a great piece of advice from @Bob_K1 in this thread Xk140 tie rod ends
and shaped the washer accordingly:
The tang fits in one of the two slots in the end of the rack like so:
You have to take care to avoid the tang getting out of position as you tighten the tie rod into the end of the rack. To avoid damaging the tang you shouldnāt overtighten it.
To secure the inner tie rod to the rack you then need to stake the dished tab washer to the cap of the joint at the three notches in the cap. Easier said than done with the rack installed in the carā¦You can see two of the stake points here.
Then you just have to screw the outer tie rod end into the inner tie rod tube. If you havenāt removed the outer tie rod end this requires that you rotate the inner tie rod joint many (20+) full turns, which in my case proved to be a trial. As the inner tie rod ball joint is far from straight when the full weight of the car is not on the front suspension, my somewhat worn ball joint was very tight at a couple of points per revolution. The vice grips have left their impression on the inner tie rod tubeā¦ The good news is that the play in the joint has gone, so maybe my wheel shimmy will have gone with it. Time will tell. Thanks everyone for their help and advice.
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Knowing your attention to detail, the wheels are running true, yes?
True enough, I think. I measured about 1/16" runout on each front wheel, maybe a tad more. The reason Iām focussing on the steering as a cause of the wheel shimmy is that it seems to be triggered by taking a gentle curve at some speed (50-55 mph). On a dead straight road it doesnāt seem to happen. That said, Iāve only measured the run out with the wheels off the ground. If Iāve got some loose spokes, maybe the run out is a lot more with the weight of the car on the wheels. I should probably look at thatā¦
Time for a ātink tink TONKā test!
Yes indeedā¦
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Just bumping up this old thread as it covers info that i was struggling with on my 150 rack(current steering rack thread)ā¦the small cup that the inner end of the tie rod fits intoā¦any one found a source for themā¦i can get the new tie rod and nut but not the cupā¦is it the same as from an XKE(SNGB have them) C7599 tie rod end socketā¦ .Also does anyone know a source for just the large nut that holds the tie rod ball to the rackā¦thanksā¦Steve
Steve - you could try Kiley and Clinton Engineering in Birmingham. They rebuilt my rack which solved all sorts of steering related issues.
Ian
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Steve,
Try Guy Broad - he supplied me complete tie rod with nut and cup, etc.
Regards,
Clive.
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Just to add for info the larg nut and cup are the same as those used on the E type steering rack. ā¦Steve