55 Special - Rag Joint & Tie Rod Ends

bluebetty

bluebetty

Member
TLDR; 55 special didn't have a rag joint? And inner/outer tie rod ends are the same part?

My 55 Special has a very loose steering wheel. The whole thing rocks back and forth under no pressure even when parked, and when going down the road you turn the steering wheel about 30 degrees before the tires begin to turn. I've been told I need to check the rag joint. I've tried, and I have not been able to actually find the rag joint. I also can't find a new part.

Can anyone confirm that rag joints were not in use yet in a 55?

Also - I'm planning to order and replace tie rod ends. The parts catalog from oldbuickparts lists one part number as all. Am I correct in thinking they are the same part for inner and outer?
 

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To find the problem, have a helper sit in the driver's seat and rock the steering wheel back and forth in the loose area. Then you follow the motion until you notice it not moving somewhere appropriately.

The rag joint may not have shown up until '57. Just looking at the pictures in the '55, I didn't notice one. I would hope to find the problem as steering box needing adjustment. It could need bushings. Maybe the joint on the pitman arm.
 
I have a 55 special and just put in power steering. Your pic shows a manual steering which does not have a rag joint. I agree with Bob to have second person move steering wheel while you are under car. Start at pitman arm and work your way till you find out whats loose.
 
Thank yall for responding. Keeping in mind that everything is covered in crud and I'm not 100% sure what is normal and what is not, and that I've never worked on anything this old before...

With wheels on the ground, I had my husband move the steering wheel. The part marked in red moves side to side (which I am 99% sure is the outer tie rod), and the part marked with blue (which I can't identify) both move. Can someone tell me what the blue part is? I know it normally connects to the spindle but there seems to be something between the spindle and the tie rod... or is it?

I can also rotate the tie rod on one side, but not the other, not sure if that's normal. 20240727_195745.jpg
 
Hi, bluebetty! I think what folks were suggesting was to start at the steering gear and work forwards from there. If you can turn the wheel "30 degrees before the tires begin to turn", that seems like it could be excessive, but the only way to be sure is to examine everything.

While you're looking at the pitman arm (the arm coming off of the steering box, you can see it in the lower-right of your picture), have your husband start rocking things *very* slightly, then increase the range of motion until you can see that arm start to just wiggle back and forth. If he shakes the wheel back and forth several inches without that arm wiggling, then the problem is probably upstream of that arm - like a misadjustment or worn bushings in the steering box. If that arm wiggles with very slight movements of the wheel, then the problem is downstream (or elsewhere).

Assuming the arm wiggles with slight movements of the wheel, then you inspect the rest of the linkages to see if there's something that's not playing well with others. GL03 pointed you at the chassis manual (main link to 1955 shop manual is here). There's a troubleshooting section on steering you can reference in the Steering Gear and Linkage section. You keep walking through the system until you see something that should move that doesn't, or something that doesn't move that should.

Besides worn-out tie rod ends (inner and outer), there's the pitman arm to the intermediate rod connection (the big greasy rod in the lower-right of your picture that the tie rods connect to), there's the idler arm on the other end of the intermediate rod (should be *zero* up-and-down play, *only* back-and-forth), there could be worn out kingpin or steering knuckle bushings, could be worn-out control arm bushings...etc. And if the problem isn't so much that the car doesn't *steer*, but that it wanders all over the place and has to be "herded" down the road - feels a little like driving on ice - that could even be contributed to by the *back* end of the car, like sloppy bushings on the radius rod that let the back end of the car move side-to-side.

But still, the troubleshooting starts the same way. Find something that doesn't move when it should, or that moves when it shouldn't...and that'll be a good place to start looking!
 
bittmann said:
Hi, bluebetty! I think what folks were suggesting was to start at the steering gear and work forwards from there. If you can turn the wheel "30 degrees before the tires begin to turn", that seems like it could be excessive, but the only way to be sure is to examine everything.

While you're looking at the pitman arm (the arm coming off of the steering box, you can see it in the lower-right of your picture), have your husband start rocking things *very* slightly, then increase the range of motion until you can see that arm start to just wiggle back and forth. If he shakes the wheel back and forth several inches without that arm wiggling, then the problem is probably upstream of that arm - like a misadjustment or worn bushings in the steering box. If that arm wiggles with very slight movements of the wheel, then the problem is downstream (or elsewhere).

Assuming the arm wiggles with slight movements of the wheel, then you inspect the rest of the linkages to see if there's something that's not playing well with others. GL03 pointed you at the chassis manual (main link to 1955 shop manual is here). There's a troubleshooting section on steering you can reference in the Steering Gear and Linkage section. You keep walking through the system until you see something that should move that doesn't, or something that doesn't move that should.

Besides worn-out tie rod ends (inner and outer), there's the pitman arm to the intermediate rod connection (the big greasy rod in the lower-right of your picture that the tie rods connect to), there's the idler arm on the other end of the intermediate rod (should be *zero* up-and-down play, *only* back-and-forth), there could be worn out kingpin or steering knuckle bushings, could be worn-out control arm bushings...etc. And if the problem isn't so much that the car doesn't *steer*, but that it wanders all over the place and has to be "herded" down the road - feels a little like driving on ice - that could even be contributed to by the *back* end of the car, like sloppy bushings on the radius rod that let the back end of the car move side-to-side.

But still, the troubleshooting starts the same way. Find something that doesn't move when it should, or that moves when it shouldn't...and that'll be a good place to start looking!
Click to expand...
Thank you for clarifying exactly what I'm looking at. That helps so much! After you explained it, I checked the pitman arm (husband was too busy to help so I took a video). The pitman arm wiggles when I move the steering wheel even the tiniest amount. I'm already planning on changing the outer tie rod ends. The inner (listed as just "tie rod") don't seem to be available, so that will have to wait.

Can you (or anyone) tell me what is marked blue in my last picture? Is it considered part of the knuckle? I checked the manual, and it isn't shown as part of the of the steering diagram or suspension diagram. It is pretty yucky, and I'm a little worried it will disintegrate when I pop out the tie rod. My fear is that I won't be able to find a new one at that point.
 
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The blue item could be called a steering arm, one for the right, and one for the left spindle assembly. The red is covering what is used to adjust the length of the tie rod. Each tie rod has one for steering adjustment. They are usually rusted up and a challenge to free.

The joint between the two is called a "tie rod end" and one of these is possibly your problem. When the steering wheel is turned and the steering rod from the steering box begins to move, so should the steering are it is attached to. If the tie rod end is worn, you will notice the steering rod begin to move before the steering arm.

While watching the pitman are on the steering box, when the steering wheel begins to move, the pitman arm may roll a bit before moving the steering linkage, this could indicate a bad bushing in the steering box.

If you do a YouTube search for inspect steering linkage, there are several videos showing some methods used for assessing the condition of steering linkage which may help you get a feel for what to look for.
 
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