I read the old thread on the subject but it was not very helpful. I have a 77 f150 4x4 and my track bar bolt broke off while traveling down I55. Where can I buy a new track bar to axle mounting bolt? I want the real one with the castle nut not just a lock nut on a grade 8 bolt. I almost died when it broke and I will not take any chances with the repair. I have found some online but the pictures all show threaded studs with nuts on both ends. That is not what is on my truck, there is only a nut on one side and the other end is part of the bolt. I assume the ones I have found online are the track bar to frame bolts not the track bar to axle bolt. If you know where to get one I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

ps. sorry if I have offended anyone who offered advice in the former thread on this topic. I do not mean to offend anyone, I'm still just a little on edge after losing steering in st louis traffic at 60 mph with my wife and baby on board.

 

I don't think there is anything special with the bolt itself. Just has a hole drilled through it for the castle nut.
Don't blame you for wanting to do it right when it comes to your families well being.

Jason

 

Right here. Drill it and put a cotter pin in the lock nut if you want to feel safer.


Ford Truck Strut Rod

 

Well I might have been part of that "previous thread," but since you didn't provide a link to it we don't know which one you are talking about.

Here is my experience though. I went through this a while back. Mine was so rusted the threads tore off when I tried to replace the bushings. Long story short, you can't get a new one. Your best bet is the junkyard.

I bought a stud from NAPA similar to the one at bronco graveyard:
Trac-Bar Stud
Which is what Ford recommends as a retrofit (it IS the axle to bar attachment). Problem is you need to have the hole in the axle reamed out with a 6deg carbide taper reamer.... which nobody sells for under $100, and should be done on a Mill (ie total dissasembly)

I dinked around for a few weeks making phone calls looking for the "right" bolt. Couldn't find it.

Broke down and did the Grade-8 bolt with a Nylock. If the Nylock freaks you out, you can buy a castlated nut and assemble... mark the location of where the cotter pin needs to be with a sharpie, then take the bolt to a machine shop to pop a hole through it. Don't bother trying to drill the hole yourself.

I still have the stud I bought from NAPA, I never used it and never bothered to take it back. Should have, cost me $80. I might could be talked out of it... just to get it out of my garage.

 

KD Tool part # 2044, that is a reamer that works fine for reaming the hole for said track bar bolt. 34 bucks at my local parts store.

 

Well I was going through Machinist supply houses when I was looking. Every time I tried to get one at a local parts store I just got the "idiot stare" followed shortly by the "stare at the computer screen and poke random buttons" quickly followed by a "blink blink" and possibly a "drool".

When did knowing the difference between an oil filter and a battery become the only requirement to work at a parts store?

 

It's finally fixed. I went with the NAPA bolt kit, 80 bucks and the kd 2044 tool I ordered off o'reilly's website and it was at my door in two days. The hard part was removing the old bolt. After the head broke off, (I broke my 1/2 extension in the process) I ended up drilling out the old bolt. After installation with new bushings the steering is the best it's ever been. After removing th old bolt I went straight to reaming, word to the wise, stop and check the fit of the new bolt often to prevent reaming too much. I slightly over reamed, but it still works great. It's just seated deeper than it has to be, and it could have saved me some wasted energy.

 

did you do the reaming with a hand drill? 1/2"? did you get all this done with the axle under the truck?

 

I'm not familiar with the part you guys are talking about. :/

But as a retired railroad signalape that maintained power switch machines and the switch points that go with them...

I learned a thing or two about bolts+nuts+vibration. :)

Split ring "lock" washers are crap! Throw them suckers away!
If you don't want the nut to fall completely off, use a cotter pin. :)
If you want the nut to stay tight (for the life of the switch points;) tho... double nut it! :)

Leave all the washers and cute spacers -it don't absolutely have the have- and other crap like that, off!
(they are just a source of future looseness, the same as those crappy-split ring "lock" washers)

So... did we learn anything from the dumb old railroader yet? ;)
Let's see...
What's the situation with your trailer ball?
Has it got... ?
washers/spacers
only one nut
a stinking split ring washer
relying on a cotter pin
(not to keep it tight but to insure it don't fall all the way off ;)

Or none of the above and it's double nutted like you mean business with a real wrench and not a springy Cresent wrench? ;)

What's it going to have before you tow something again?

[shrug]

It's your stuff, do whatever the heck you want with it but when a nut falls off... you can't pretend you didn't know how to have kept it from falling off.

Alvin in AZ
ps- my fellow signal maintainers weren't interested in the information either :/
pps- no overtime in bolts that don't loosen up! ;)

 

yes, I did it all with the axle under the truck. I had to remove the tie rod ends to get a strait shot at the hole. The tool (if you look up the tool on the web you can see it) has a bar that inserts in a hole in the end to use to twist the tool by hand. I found that bar to be a pain and used a box end wrench instead. The tool is very sharp and reamed the metal by hand without too much effort. I tried sticking it in my 3/8 drill but it didn't fit. If you have a 1/2 drill, then that might be an easier way to go.

 

was kd 2044 the pn? I can't find it on oreilly's site

 

i have the same problem and i cant find a ream anywhere

 

Your not trying hard enough. I bought mine from the local parts store and yes 2044 is the correct #. Google the part # and you'll find it all over.

 

It is on o'reilly's website. just type the magic words "tapered reamer" in the search window and two products will appear, the 1/8-1/2 reamer and the 7/16-1 in reamer. Just click on the latter of the two and it should be kd 2044. As I said before it was shipped very fast and on my doorstep in two days without the express shipping.