My ’71 needed new rod ends, tie rod and drag link and I opted to switch to DOM tube and Chevy rod ends for significantly better availability of parts (the rod ends, mainly) and lower cost. Thought I'd post up a how-to for others who may be interested. I opted to go with rod ends over heims since they’ve got seals, are serviceable and are available at any auto parts store, but the instructions should translate pretty well. I’m writing this for people like me who aren't born fabricators, so apologies if it seems a little basic at times. Also, please note that I’m just some guy in your Bronco club, so if doing this kills you your next of kin should not sue me. You’re on your own and I accept no liability for poor decisions, questionable advice, lousy fabrication or anything else that goes wrong. Ever. Also note that there several vendors out there that market this setup both as a kit and as a set of complete links. I like buying locally and didn’t want to pay shipping so I went the fabrication route.

Parts list:
1. DOM tubing. You have 2 options here. You can buy 1.5” .250 wall tubing and use weld-in inserts for the threads. The other option is to use tubing with an ID of about .8130 and thread the inside of the tubing. This works out to 1.25” x .219 wall, 1.375” x .281 wall or 1.5” x .343 wall. When you’re picking a size, keep in mind that it may be better to have a tie rod fail than to have a knuckle or other more difficult-to-replace part break in the middle of nowhere. I originally wanted to thread smaller diameter tubing for better clearance and easier fabrication, but no one had it in stock in my area. I purchased a half stick (11’ 4” in this case) of 1.5”x.250 wall tubing for $6.75/foot from C&M in Denver. 6 feet should be enough if you can get someone to sell you a smaller piece.

2. Inserts if you’re using them. Remember to get 2 each of RH and LH thread. I got mine for $11 each from High Country 4x4 in Denver.

3. Tie rod ends and high misalignment joints for the drag link. These ends are used on everything from the K5 Blazer to 1 ton Chevy pickups and are about 1 ½ times the size of the stock ends. Tell the parts store you want ends for a 1985 K5 Blazer and you’ll get the right stuff. You've got two options for these. You can buy cheapie Chinese made joints that are probably fine for $20-25 each at nearly any parts store. Your other option is to use higher quality American made parts. You want to support American workers and their families, right? You’ll spend more ($40-45), but have fewer opportunities to curse at your truck. The parts numbers for the cheap ends at Autozone and Moog (better American) ends from O’Reily/Checker/Shuck’s are the same (I have no idea why):
ES2233L Passenger’s side tie rod
ES2234R Driver side tie rod
ES2027L High misalignment drag link end
ES2026R The other high misalignment drag link end

4. Jam nuts. One should come with each of the tie rod ends, so you’ll need one each of the LH and RH for the joints on the drag link. They’re supposed to be a pain to find as Chevy dealers have reportedly stopped carrying them. I also got these from High Country 4x4 in Denver and didn’t do any looking around since I was getting other parts from them.

While I failed miserably at taking pics during the fabrication and install, it isn’t too hard to figure out. Directions:
1. Check your alignment. Lobotomized chimpanzees can do this with a tape measure and it will get you close enough. Google it if you don’t know how. The interweb gurus say the toe should be anywhere from 0-1/4” in (front of the tire closer than the rear). Take this measurement into account when you’re fabbing up the tie rod.

2. Measure the distance between the tie rod ends. Take your measurements from the center of the tie rod stud.
Take off the stock tie rod and drag link. I used a pickle fork and an BFH, but you may have some other, better way. Hitting the knuckle or pitman arm really hard with the BFH may also work.

3. If you’re using them, thread the inserts onto the rod ends.

4. Lay out the tie rod ends on your workbench, garage floor, etc. and figure out how much DOM you need for both the tie rod. We tapped the rod end/insert combo into the tubing to get a more accurate measurement. In my case the tie rod tube was about 37".

5a. Weld the inserts on the tie rod if you’re using them. Skip to 5b if you’re tapping the tubing. I’m not going to tell you how to do this. Take it to a welding shop or super-welder buddy if you aren’t 100% certain that your welding skills are good enough. If this breaks, you might wind up as a horribly mangled corpse, making all this hard work moot. Zillacon was kind enough to do mine since I can’t weld and don’t want to die.

5b. Tap the DOM tubing for the rod ends. You’ll need a 7/8-18 tap. These are unlikely to be found locally and will probably cost you at least $100 (more likely $150+). You can get them from McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com, #2595A424 7/8x18 RH, 2595A999 7/8x18 LH) Your other option is to cut all your tubing and have a local machine shop tap them for you.

6. You’ve got another decision to make at this point: tie rod under (stock setup) or over the knuckle. If you want to mount the tie rod under it should mostly bolt right up. Moving the tie rod to the top of the knuckle will give you about 3” of extra clearance. The down side is that the tie rod will hit the lower track bar bracket. This is a good opportunity to install a track bar riser bracket, which you probably need anyway unless you've already got a track bar drop bracket, in which case you should go find hockeydad's thread about his. I went with a tie rod over swap without relocating the bracket and am only losing a few degrees of steering, so it isn’t a big deal. You may be able to install a slimmer nut on the track bar and cut down the mount a little. If you’re going to relocate the tie rod to the top of the knuckle you’ll need a 7 degree reamer ($50 at Goodson #TR-216-2 http://www.goodson.com/) to ream the knuckles from the top down. I cheated and borrowed one from Zoso. You only get one chance to do this right, so go slowly and check often. Use cutting oil or the person you borrowed the reamer from may hurt you.

7. Install the tie rod. Don’t forget to use anti-seize on all the threads and make sure you put the cotter pins in the tie rod studs.

8. Measure for the drag link. We rotated the passenger side knuckle to the end of its RH turn travel and turned the pitman arm all the way to the passenger’s side as well. Again, measure from the center of the center of the holes on the pitman arm and knuckle. Cut your tubing and fab in whatever method you’re using to keep the rod ends from falling out. The tubing for my drag link was about 24"

9. Install the drag link. You’ll probably need to ream the pitman arm and the hole where the drag link meets the tie rod with the 7 degree reamer. The drag link will install on the front side of the pitman arm. I don’t think it matters which end goes to the pitman arm and which goes to the drag link. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

10. Install zerks, cotter pins, etc. You probably also want to prime and paint the tubing to prevent rust. Mine aren't painted yet, but will be in the near future.

You should be done! Enjoy your new beefy, slop free links. Rocks are now at least 15% more scared of you. You’ll probably notice more bump steer if you’ve moved the tie rods over without changing the angle of your track bar, but it isn’t a huge deal. I’ll be installing a new lower track bar bracket at some point in the near future to deal with this and get rid of the clearance issues, but it doesn’t really affect the driveability of the truck. I’ve attached a pic of the finished product for reference and another pic showing where the drag link attaches to the tie rod. This one also does a good job of showing the clearance issue with the track bar. I need to give a big Thank You to Zillacon for doing the welding, turning wrenches with me and generally making sure I didn’t do anything that resulted in serious bodily injury. I also want to thank Zoso for the use of his reamer, which saved me $50, making my wife less likely to cause bodily injury. Please feel free to post up with questions and corrections. I’ll do my best to deal with both competently.

Justin,

That is increadibly good info, I wish the bronco fund were not so drained right now, we woudl be purchasing parts to do the same thing as long as we are working on the track bar.

Do take a look at my thread on the track bar mount though ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=854 ), I suggest you take care of that potential problem area sooner than later....

looks great. how does it drive now?

Hockey, no worries about my track bar bracket, both ends are stock with an adjustable bar. Zoso, drives great. A little more bump steer, but got rid of about half of my steering slop. My links were in pretty rough shape. Much less scary to drive. I can feel my really wide tires (35x13.5" MT Baja claws) wandering around as the grip changes in ruts which I couldn't before. I'm curious to see how getting a new track bar bracket in affects things whenever I get around to it. Shoot me a PM with when you're available and I'll get your reamer back to you. Thanks again for the loan!

I'll be around this weekend if you wanna meet up. Just give me a call. I'll be busy from 11-1 on saturday but otherwise im not doin a thing unless I get called in.

Something to ponder! you could always flip the drag link to the top of the pitman arm to help the angle. you may need to flip your pitman arm over if you reamed it. Until you do the trac bar riser bracket. May cut down the bump steer a tad.

I thought about that, but the bump steer isn't bad. I can feel it, but it doesn't affect the driveability of the truck at all.

Thanks for the tips...I need to do something with my rig. I was going to use the dom tubing with heim joints instead. Any thoughts out there?

Since I'm in the middle of doing this, figured I would post my questions here.

Trying to get the measurement for the drag link. I used the string method (this also showed me how much my axle was shifted to the drivers side due to the 2.5" lift) to get the front tires aligned with the rear just as a guide. I then took measurements with the steering wheel set for straight ahead, full right and full left (moving the tires accordingly). Here is what I got:

C: 37 3/8"
L: 37 1/2"
R: 35 3/4"

Justin, you mentioned that you lose a little of your right turn ability due to hitting the track bar bolt but that seems like a lot. Guess I'll have to be doing a track bar riser in the future. On a plus note, it will probably prevent me from rubbing on the radius arm when I turn right now.

Those are total length measurements, from center of hole on the pitman to center of hole on the tie rod. I'm thinking I should use 37 3/8" as my starting length, subtract the length of the rod ends and then cut my DOM. Sound like a good idea? I figure once I get the track bar riser in there, I should have full turning capability back at that point.

Thanks!

Adam

That seems like a reasonable length. I always just set the stock part on a table, then laid out everything next to it to line things up. Measure, then cut. The bump steer was more annoying than the loss of turn radius. I don't remember it being a big deal. Putting a track bar riser on the axle made a big difference in how the rig drove.

Thanks. Really just want to make sure I'm starting with a good number. My tie rod cut ended a little shorter than I wanted so I will use that piece for the drag link. Hoping to have it finished this week.

You'll have enough adjustment that if you get it close you'll be fine.