Check those cotter pins!

[52-fan]

Last Saturday, Joe and I took his pickup to a BBQ hosted by one of our chapter members. We were very pleased with the performance of his newly installed T5 5 speed transmission and he sometimes caught himself going above 70MPH even though he usually drives the truck a bit slower. The round trip was around 150 miles and the truck ran fine until......A few hundred yards before the first exit for Searcy, we heard a funny scraping and vibrating from under the truck and Joe eased onto the shoulder of the road.....



looked underneath......



and saw this!



Obviously, at some time in the past he did not replace the cotter pin on the castellated nut that holds the tie rod in place. We were blessed to have this happen on a straight stretch of road where the truck stopped easily. After searching the area beside the road, Joe found a length of cord and tied the tie rod in place. We then drove sloooowly and carefully the rest of the way home. I am thankful that we did not have to try out the newly installed seat belts.

[showbizkid]

You are very lucky and blessed! I have a friend who had the exact same thing happen on his '62 Ford pickup, and found himself upside down in a ditch (and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life).

We should put undercarriage component checks on our service schedule just like oil changes and chassis lubes. It could save lives!

[LeoH]

wow that's scary looking. I can't imagine what that sounded like banging underneath at highway speeds

[starliner62]

I lost a tie rod on my Brand X 59 Ranchero one time. We drove it home without the tie rod attached. It funny how the unattached front tire followed the only steering tire all the way home, including turns.

[52-fan]

wow that's scary looking. I can't imagine what that sounded like banging underneath at highway speeds

Actually, it wasn't very loud. We at first thought that the throwout bearing or something else related to the new transmission install had failed. No loud banging.

[Swifster]

From my racing days, whenever I do suspension work, I has a checklist of all the nuts and bolts and retorque everything.

[LeoH]

Actually, it wasn't very loud. We at first thought that the throwout bearing or something else related to the new transmission install had failed. No loud banging.

Fascinating. Looking at it like that, it sure appears like it would bounce up and down under the car as you rolled along.

[PlainBrownR2]

We keep a bucket of those things whenever they need to be replaced. They have an obnoxious tendency to disintegrate after 50 years or a few times in and out of the cotter hole. I still recall losing all transmission function on the Lark, when the linkage at the cotter pin came apart, because the cotter pin rusted out and fell off. Luckily, I was in my own driveway at the time, so a couple minutes of locating the offending piece, and changing out the cotter pin for a new one, and it was good for another 40 years!

[doublepaddle]

Last summer I had the my front completely rebuilt (3E7 Transtar Deluxe). Drove it for a week . went 20 miles to have it alligned at a friends' shop, drove home , took another 10 mile round trip and had the same thing happen to mt 1/2 mile from my house. Same joint. No one had put in cotter pins anywhere on the front end. Used two hose clamps to keep it together and drove home to fix it. How stupid of them!!!!! I was only going 30 m/p/h and just pulled over. Had to lay in a fire ant's nest to get under it. Madder than hell.

[52-fan]

Fascinating. Looking at it like that, it sure appears like it would bounce up and down under the car as you rolled along.

We were on a relatively smooth part of the road and stopped as soon as we heard the noise. There was not much time to bounce and not much damage to the tie rod end.

[Don Jeffers]

Pretty truck!

[52-fan]

Pretty truck!

Joe thanks you. I can't take much credit because he did most of it while I was living somewhere else. He combined a 55 and 57 parts truck and added a 63 289 into the mix. It has been on the road several years, but we just got through changing to the T5 transmission.



It still needs new carpet and he would like to make up a shifter that looks more like a stock truck shifter. This time the carpet is going to be made in three pieces with the transmission cover piece held by heavy duty velcro.

[Pat Dilling]

How fortunate everyone and everything survived without mishap. I was taught to always replace cotter pins, never re-use them. They are cheap, you can buy a whole sorted box of them for less than $5. Pick some up next time you are at Harbor Freight, tool sale or swap meet.

[LeoH]

We were on a relatively smooth part of the road and stopped as soon as we heard the noise. There was not much time to bounce and not much damage to the tie rod end.

Good deal.

[studegary]

If your cotter pins are old and/or reused, replace them with new.