47 KB-2 steering

Hi all-

My recently acquired 1947 KB-2 has difficult and jerky steering. After shaking and moving the wheels around with the front axle jacked up, I found that the drag link ball joint on the spindle steering arm is worn and misshaped. I imagine that I also have similar wear on the tie rod ends.

So I am considering how to deal with this. Replace the spindle steering arms? I would think it would be difficult to find good ones. I would also have to rebuild the ball sockets on the drag link and center tie rod.

I have considered replacing the ball joints with early Ford truck tie rod and drag link ends. I would do this by cutting and drilling out the old ball fittings to accommodate the Ford ends.

Any comments or shared experience would be appreciated

Thanks,
John Seymour
So Cal

Kits used to be available for the rod ends, which contained the cups which go on either side of the ball, the spring and a new cotter pin. I don't know if the kits are still available. The ball stud itself is tapered in the arm. For another brand to fit, it would have to have the same ball diameter, stud diameter and stud taper. I don't know whether other brands share the same specs.

Dean

Kits used to be available for the rod ends, which contained the cups which go on either side of the ball, the spring and a new cotter pin. I don't know if the kits are still available. The ball stud itself is tapered in the arm. For another brand to fit, it would have to have the same ball diameter, stud diameter and stud taper. I don't know whether other brands share the same specs.

Dean

I was planning on removing the ball/stud and then drilling the hole the size of the stud on the Ford tie ends.

You will also need a reamer with the appropriate taper.

Dean

www.xkut-reamer.com
This company makes a variety of reamers.
I bought a set to true the taper in steering arms. Much of the damage is caused by dummies pounding on the joints to release the rod end by distorting the tapered connection.
These reamers can be used to reshape a taper. This increases the options for an upgrade to modern steering tierod ends.

Thanks for the input.

The link to the tapered reamers didn't work for me.

For the sake of discussion, why couldn't non tapered tie rod ends be used with the tapered holes in the steering arms drilled and sleeved?

https://xkut-reamers.com/
The tapered connection is stable .

A closely match taper is one of the strongest ways to connect two pieces, VW uses only a taper on their diesel to connect the cam "gear" to the shaft, no key in the cam which shows how strong the connection is.

http://www.xkut-reamer.com
This company makes a variety of reamers.
I bought a set to true the taper in steering arms. Much of the damage is caused by dummies pounding on the joints to release the rod end by distorting the tapered connection.
These reamers can be used to reshape a taper. This increases the options for an upgrade to modern steering tierod ends.

What modern steering tie rod ends have any of you used to upgrade/repair your steering?