Steering arms- Rod end getting loose in the tapered hole????

[FWP]

At first, about 6 month ago, I thought it was just a fluke...

I was out wheeling, doing some donuts in the sand, and noticed the left front tire wobbling a bit. After inspecting it, found that the TRE where it bolts through the arm, was loose in the arm. The castle nut still had the original cotter pin that I put in when the arms were first installed. No biggie, I just pulled the cotter, and torqued her down again.

Now, 6 months later, I'm working on my hydro assist, and notice it's loose again /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif It looks like the metal in the arm is expanding, the TRE looks fine.

I wonder what's going on? Has anyone else had this problem?

BTW, D60, crossover hi-steer, moog TRE.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Not torquing the TRE to the proper spec could cause this or also if the nut happened to bottom out on the shank of the TRE before the TRE was properly torqued. Regardless of what the cause that steering arm is no longer any good and needs to be replaced.

 

[Stephen]

Hi Fred, I have the same thing going on my K5, I've tightened the nuts several times and they're still wobbly. Basically the holes are ruined. One solution is get a new arm. Another is to weld the hole shut and re-drill and taper it.
Only reason I can come up with is letting them get a little bit loose and then they wobble themselves looser.
Sometimes a double shear 3/4" hiem with a grade 8 or better bolt at about 150 ft-lbs starts to sound good. If the darn things just lasted a bit longer.

 

[FWP]

[ QUOTE ]
Not torquing the TRE to the proper spec could cause this or also if the nut happened to bottom out on the shank of the TRE before the TRE was properly torqued.

[/ QUOTE ]

That makes sense, unfortunately, neither was the case.

 

[FWP]

[ QUOTE ]
Only reason I can come up with is letting them get a little bit loose and then they wobble themselves looser.

[/ QUOTE ] That's possible. I guess even if it was tight to begin with, there is a possibility the hole in the arm could have opened up slightly- not noticeable enough to see, but over time...

Question: What's the hardness of the ORD arms compared to the hole in the factory knuckle where the TR originally went? /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[Stephen]

Are your arms machined all the way around or do they look flame cut on the sides? I don't remember what version you have. Not that it matters right now, I'm home and don't have material specs and don't have a hardness number for any stock stuff anyway. I'm sure the stock parts vary from one piece to another, like forged steel pitman arms vs cast knuckles, vs forged tierods, etc.
I have the same material and taper on the tierod "H" where my draglink ties into it and it's still fine, with more stress than the tie rod ends.
/forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif Me too.