Drilling a 3/4" hole through a tie rod

[Shawn]

Replacing the tie rod this white 89 Jimmy with Dana 60 front. I have already purchased the new tie rod. Current hole is .5" and it needs to be .75" for the larger ram assist bolt. I was thinking of using these bits from Amazon and using my larger drill press which looks similar to the one below. Nothing too special but it does have a table and a vice that attaches to it. Will that do that the trick or should I go about this a different way?

The larger diameter tie-rod ORD sells along with a ram assist clamp sounds appealing and easy but didn't want to spend too much and I already purchased the stock tie rod below.

 

[Wes Harden]

You don't need a taper ? Those will work, the iron is not that hard. I have opened tapered holes with a hand ream on knuckles.

 

[Shawn]

You don't need a taper ? Those will work, the iron is not that hard. I have opened tapered holes with a hand ream on knuckles.

Its a straight through hole, no taper to it. Thats how it is now, so I'm just doing the same. A taper design would be better but this will work for now. Wasn't sure if those bits would drill through that iron but sounds like they will. I just need one pass. Hopefully the bit is good enough.

 

[Fastereddie]

If it is tapered and you want a straight hole, start drilling from the smaller side of the taper. If you start on the big side, your drill bit will just hang up, grab, and make you angry.

 

[Shawn]

The original hole might be tapered for the stock stabilizer. I need it to be straight, non-tapered. Good to know about starting at the smaller end.

 

[scouthead]

sometimes harbor freight unibits are your friend. If you can avoid loading them to the point the shank snaps, they can be handy and cheap alternatives to nice bits getting hung up and chipping

 

[Shawn]

I was thinking of a tapered bit with max dia of 3/4" but was worried about the 1/4" shank strength

 

[scouthead]

sometimes harbor freight unibits are your friend. If you can avoid loading them to the point the shank snaps, they can be handy and cheap alternatives to nice bits getting hung up and chipping

and I think their standard set of 2 has a skinny one that's 1/2 at its largest step, and a fatter one that is 3/4 at its widest? i think? havent seen mine in a while

 

[scouthead]

I would prob just hit it with a unibit by hand- should be fairly self centering, and if it wont cut deep enough, at least you will have a start on the correct size hole if you need to switch to a regular drill bit, and the majority of the material under it will already be removed so you aren't trying to hog it out through thick material with a fat bit

 

[ktmoutfront]

Thread cutting lube.

 

[scouthead]

I was thinking of a tapered bit with max dia of 3/4" but was worried about the 1/4" shank strength

I guess there is kind of a "feel" to it, but there is a difference between letting a bit cut, and forcing it through material. Ive used stepped bits on a lot of projects out of convenience, and sometimes they are maybe a better choice. sometimes not. I have gone through an inch of mild steel with a 3/16 stepped pilot, and a couple of harbor freight cheapos... really not that bad as long as you keep the bit cutting, and not forcing it. Have ony sheared a few of the 1/4 shanks, and it was when i was being tarded and didnt have the work piece secured well.

I would tend to dill something like this by hand rather than try to secure it in a drill press. If you are fairly steady handed, just clamp the tie rod to a table or in a vise and have at it. Forged steel on parts like that cuts and welds nicely. ??


-edit -
oh yeah, for the money... and still easily sourced at box stores like the depot or lowes? cobalt (i mean the material, not the brand name cobalt). almost all of my frequently used bits are cobalt now. dont really care about the titanium coatings and things like that anymore... the Cobalt bits seem to hold an edge MUCH longer and keep cutting cleanly sooo much longer than any of the others I've used. Of course I can hand a new bit to one of my installers and they will ruin it immediately to prove a point (pretty sure the point was that they did not want to drill holes, and it was too hard to fire people here), but with a little finesse I was keeping the same bits for a long time and using them on everything from wood and extruded aluminum and mild steel, to 303 and 304 stainless. I've never been one to resharpen -seems like the time invested wasn't worth it when you could roll the cost of new ones into the next good sized project. no Idea how cobalt bits would take a new edge, but I have a small box with some of the old bits just in case i need to find out some day.

Also, when in doubt, read the speed recommendations that come on the cutting bit, and then take a look at the side of your hand drill or your drill press?

 

[scouthead]

where did the photo of the bits come from? who/where?

 

[Shawn]

I guess there is kind of a "feel" to it, but there is a difference between letting a bit cut, and forcing it through material. Ive used stepped bits on a lot of projects out of convenience, and sometimes they are maybe a better choice. sometimes not. I have gone through an inch of mild steel with a 3/16 stepped pilot, and a couple of harbor freight cheapos... really not that bad as long as you keep the bit cutting, and not forcing it. Have ony sheared a few of the 1/4 shanks, and it was when i was being tarded and didnt have the work piece secured well.

I would tend to dill something like this by hand rather than try to secure it in a drill press. If you are fairly steady handed, just clamp the tie rod to a table or in a vise and have at it. Forged steel on parts like that cuts and welds nicely. ??


-edit -
oh yeah, for the money... and still easily sourced at box stores like the depot or lowes? cobalt (i mean the material, not the brand name cobalt). almost all of my frequently used bits are cobalt now. dont really care about the titanium coatings and things like that anymore... the Cobalt bits seem to hold an edge MUCH longer and keep cutting cleanly sooo much longer than any of the others I've used. Of course I can hand a new bit to one of my installers and they will ruin it immediately to prove a point (pretty sure the point was that they did not want to drill holes, and it was too hard to fire people here), but with a little finesse I was keeping the same bits for a long time and using them on everything from wood and extruded aluminum and mild steel, to 303 and 304 stainless. I've never been one to resharpen -seems like the time invested wasn't worth it when you could roll the cost of new ones into the next good sized project. no Idea how cobalt bits would take a new edge, but I have a small box with some of the old bits just in case i need to find out some day.

Also, when in doubt, read the speed recommendations that come on the cutting bit, and then take a look at the side of your hand drill or your drill press?

Wow! Great info. Last time I tried to drill a 1/2" hole in my frame, the Milwaukee drill nearly broke my arm. Seriously. I soon learned that drill had lots of torque on low speed! LOL I like drill press idea to avoid that. The cone shaped drill bit is tempting but I already ordered the set below. I will try it this weekend and update this thread. Thanks again for the info!

where did the photo of the bits come from? who/where?

View attachment 439027

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GYFPL4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I realize its not the best set, but it was only $35.

 

[eodcoduto]

Take it to a fabrication shop that already has the tools and the expertise to do it. It will run you $100 or so but then its done. Taper holes require math, and machinists get excited about that. Using it as an excuse to buy a drill press is also supported!

 

[mrk5]

I've drilled out steering arms to use heim joints on my tie rod and I used a regular 3/4" drill bit. It was a new bit and I clamped the arms down good on the drill press so they would walk around and wallow out the hole. Worked fine. Used cutting fluid like @ktmoutfront mentioned.

 

[Wes Harden]

The metal is not that hard. It will drill easily. I have used a hand taper ream to open up knuckles for bigger tie rod ends.
Do get a drill press, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

 

[Shawn]

Update-I tried the 3/4" drill bit on a smaller drill press since my big drill press was behind a car I could not move at the time. The bit just seemed to chatter and didn't want to dig much. I used lube too. I gave up until I get better access to my larger drill press.

But tonight I was looking the tie rod and said WTF and tried this Harbor Freight Drill Master step bit and used no lube. It cut through it pretty quick! Max diameter is 3/4" so just had to go all way through. There was a couple times where my high torque Milwaukee drill wanted to rip my arm off but overall it went well. Got the new tie rod on the Jimmy with the ram assist.