Steering and front axle mods

Ok I need to start working on my front end I have a few ideas as to how I should do it but I need to have direct steer, weld the axle, and lower the tractor and as for the direct steer I just want to know what size of rods to run and where I can find them

5/8" Tie-rods or tubular steel, rod. It may still bend if not hardened tho.

Well what about 3/4 or 7/8 rod?

matt-man wrote:

Well what about 3/4 or 7/8 rod?

Go as thick as you can afford or have room for. Or just get a proper 5/8 tubing made for the purpose, tho I got some one Ebay, Bet there's loads of places you guys can buy it from.

The "proper" tubing can get expensive. Sch40 gas pipe can work well for applications like this, and is available at big-box hardware stores. 3/8" or even 1/2" black pipe is more than stout enough for all but the worst abuse. Most of us aren't big-budget guys, and I use what I can lay hands on cheaply.

I just use threaded rod or solid steel stock

I'm not keen on threaded rod or "allthread" as some call it. It's basically the crappiest excuse for "steel" that the manufacturer can come up with. It fatigues and breaks quite easily, even in greater thicknesses. If you can weld, pipe or tubing is your best bet. You can either weld a nut to the end of the tube to create a female thread, or cut the head off a bolt and weld that in there to create a male thread. Add your favourite rod end, and you're good to go.

Fwiw, I used to have access to an unlimited supply of threaded rod and have used it for a multitude of things. It's good for mild to moderate tensile loads, and that's about it, really.

I'm going to jump and and ditto what Doc said. We used all thread for a while, and it would bend way to easy.

Now we use 1/2 steel pipe, and weld 1/2-20 nuts to the ends for tie rods. Quick, easy, and tough when done, if you have a welder handy.

Would 1/2 inch conduit work?

EMT? Nah... too thin. IIRC, 1/2" EMT is somewhere between 16-18ga.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

EMT? Nah... too thin. IIRC, 1/2" EMT is somewhere between 16-18ga.

English please

Electrical Metal Tubing. Conduit. Too thin. I actually have a spec sheet here somewhere.

It depends what type of steel you use, not if its threaded or not. But I guess threaded rods are very soft usually.

Doc is talking about tubing called irc or intermediate rigid conduit. Its thicker than emt but thinner than rigid. Its also supposed to be as hard as rigid

I wasnt talking about electrical conduit how about plumbing pipe?

matt-man wrote:

Would 1/2 inch conduit work?

matt-man wrote:

I wasnt talking about electrical conduit how about plumbing pipe?

Well, it's like this- you said "conduit". I don't know if it's MAYBE a regional thing, but I have NEVER heard "Water pipe" called "conduit" in the 40 years I have walked the earth. Now, that said- I DID suggest Sch40 pipe. I probably said "gas pipe" but water pipe tends to be the same thing with a galvanized coating. I avoid it because it sometimes costs more with the coating, is more hazardous to weld, and harder to paint properly.

So what pipe do I need again I'm confused

matt-man wrote:

So what pipe do I need again I'm confused

Just go to Home Depot, and ask for 1/2" Schedule 40 black steel gas pipe. Or Lowes, or whatever huge hardware store chain you got.