9/16x18 Female Heim Joints

Dec 15, 2015
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using a mustang II steering rack on a project, and I can't seem to find 9/16x18 female heim joints anywhere. I've tried McMaster,qs components,grainger and multiple sites on the web. Does anyone have a link or resource for this ever illusive unicorn part?
 
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Thanks for the links, but I fear by adding those and the heims, I will end up with a track width that's too wide, even if I cut the the inner rods down. I may end up cutting the rods down and welding some 1/2x20 all thread on there, basically crafting my own inner tie rods. Thoughts?
 
Right you are sir, sorry I wasn't more clear. A 9/16x18 should be drilled with a 33/64" bit ideally. So you'd pretty much be removing the 1/2" threads with the drill and re-tapping. This assumes the material of the 1/2" piece will be thick enough to safely support the 9/16" bolt and the loads. This seems a little easier than the other options like crafting your own inner tie rods. If you were willing to do that, I have no doubt you can do this successfully. Ideally you could find the right sized female joint, but if not, it seems like a fairly easy-to-try option.
 
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I don't know why I didn't think of that-great suggestion jozsefsz!! Probably the route I would go as well. I guess it all depends on how you would go about re-drilling and tapping. Holding the joint for a good straight hole will be the challenge. I guess the other challenge would be if you have a LH thread somewhere. Sometimes finding an oddball tap like a 9/16-18 LH thread can be challenging and sometimes expensive. But, if you were to go that route, if it ever caused you grief you would have the know-how and the tools to replace it instead of hunting for oddball pieces like you are doing now. If you don't have access to a machine shop or have any friends that are machinists, I would suggest taking it to a machine shop and asking them to re-drill and tap the end. They should have the proper equipment to handle a simple task like that. You may have to buy the tap since it is kind of an off size, but they should be able to handle it easily.
 
This is great! My local nut and bolt supply warehouse has a 9/16x18 RH plug tap in stock, but they don't have a 33/64 drill bit available. Do you think I could get away with using a 1/2 bit? (I have a few 1/2 female heims i'm going to practice on to see if I can do it before heading to the machine shop).
 
1/2" drill will probably work well enough, but tapping it may be a little more difficult since the tap will be removing a little more material. Granted it is only about .007" per side. If I had my Machinery Handbook here instead of at work, I could snap a few pics to illustrate, but the tap drill size is for approximately 80% thread iirc. By tapping a hole that is only .500 instead of .5156, you will end up with a little more thread which will probably not be a problem. In this illustration, imagine a little more material at the crowns of the internal thread. By drilling the hole a little smaller, that is what you will end up with. Wikipedia seems to have a good description/explanation here: List of drill and tap sizes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

thread-geometry-jpg.108742.jpg
 
So it worked guys! Drill with 1/2" bit a re-tap. It is a bit tough with the 1/2 so I may fork out for the correct size bit just to make life easier. If anyone is on the Facebook, or Instagram, search for #tetanus544 and join in the Volvo-low-life fun.