Rod end popped right out, I could have died.

[toy_tek]

Prob goes without saying, but inspect the other links for condition and hardware nissing.

 

[Gippster]

Prob goes without saying, but inspect the other links for condition and hardware nissing.

I did! Found another that was just like this one on the other end. Already fixed it.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Probably worth doing a "pre-trip inspection" and verifying torque on all the big nuts & bolts below knee level. That's the stuff that can cause damage to life & limb while you're going down the road. I did that before SAS and need to do that today now that I'm back - who knows what happened after a week of beating the truck around on rocks & stuff.

 

[RevISK]

Probably worth doing a "pre-trip inspection" and verifying torque on all the big nuts & bolts below knee level. That's the stuff that can cause damage to life & limb while you're going down the road. I did that before SAS and need to do that today now that I'm back - who knows what happened after a week of beating the truck around on rocks & stuff.

To echo Jimbo here, prior to SAS I was crawling around under the truck doing some unrelated maintenance and discovered several loose nuts and bolts that easily could’ve spelled disaster.

I like to think I run a pretty tight ship on my vehicles, but it was a sobering reminder to do monthly checks on different sections of these old beasts.

 

[MUDZLLA]

pulled in reverse, and the whole thing came undone.

Maybe the toe-in was keeping it together. Going backwards pulled the linkage apart and towards the loosened side, then it let go?

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Jim, I didn’t stop looking ever since I saw yours, I’m like a hound dog. I had to have it.

If you had some s***ty aftermarket steering wheel then it was not a bad way to spend your money.

I would think that a loose castle nut could allow a cotter pin to eventually be sheared off. Or the pin failed due to rust?

 

[CruiserTrash]

If you had some s***ty aftermarket steering wheel then it was not a bad way to spend your money.

I would think that a loose castle nut could allow a cotter pin to eventually be sheared off. Or the pin failed due to rust?

Manual steering BJ60 OEM steering wheel. Like a 1980s 40 Series, but brown.

 

[Gippster]

Replaced the steering wheel nut with OE that’s still available.

I had the OE steering but love the aesthetics of the non-US version, and I wrapped it last night.

 

[AussieHJ6X]

Probably worth doing a "pre-trip inspection" and verifying torque on all the big nuts & bolts below knee level. That's the stuff that can cause damage to life & limb while you're going down the road. I did that before SAS and need to do that today now that I'm back - who knows what happened after a week of beating the truck around on rocks & stuff.

Is there a handy reference list somewhere with the important nuts & bolts to check and their respective torque values?

 

[Lead Head]

Jim gave me the clue. I just chased it. No, not 555 rod ends; they're OEs, so never replaced.

I ordered the kit from Man-a-fre back in March of 2025; they're 555. Two things could have happened:
1. Man-a-fre never fully fulfilled the delivery, and I lost track.
2. Man-a-fre shipped the kit, and the shop never installed it.

Either scenario: $150 down the drain. I ordered it again from SOR today; it definitely shows 555. I guess I'm doing the install myself soon. Something something, do it yourself.

For what it's worth, those ends are not OE. They look practically brand new, and they're unpainted iron/steel. Even a slight whisper of rain would make them get rusty.

I really don't understand how that cotter pin even would be missing. The aftermarket joints come with that pin installed. It's possible it was a factory defect and they forgot to install it, and whoever replaced the joint didn't notice either. I'm not so sure I would notice that cotter pin not being there, if I weren't explicitly looking for it. ...which I will absolutely be doing now...

 

[RevISK]

Is there a handy reference list somewhere with the important nuts & bolts to check and their respective torque values?

In the FAQ’s in fact.

 

[Gippster]

For what it's worth, those ends are not OE. They look practically brand new, and they're unpainted iron/steel. Even a slight whisper of rain would make them get rusty.

I really don't understand how that cotter pin even would be missing. The aftermarket joints with that pin installed. It's possible it was a factory defect and they forgot to install it, and whoever replaced the joint didn't notice either. I'm not so sure I would notice that cotter pin not being there, if I weren't explicitly looking for it. ...which I will absolutely be doing now...

Yeah, you'd be right, easy to miss. I've been under the rig several times, never once thought about it, but I don't claim to be a mechanic or an expert; that's also why I hired a shop. I hinted at this without throwing them under the bus, but I had my rig in a shop for the mechanical swap-out of my motor, transmission, and suspension early last year. I know I bought the kit, so they might have installed the new ones when they installed the steering damper, since both ends were missing pins.

I'll redo them for my own safety and sanity, and then hit them with the paint. I had a build thread in another forum (took it down), but the gist is that in 2024, I sandblasted the entire undercarriage and Eastwood Rust Encapsulated the living light out of it. These would not have been painted because they were installed after the fact, but they're also not 555, so far as I'm concerned, they need to be replaced at this point.

 

[madvr6]

This thread has me thinking. When I bought my LC, the PO said the toe rod ends had been done, but I have found that he was not very honest about a lot of things. I look at them periodically to make sure everything looks OK. Is this amount of play correct? might need volume.

 

[Lead Head]

This thread has me thinking. When I bought my LC, the PO said the toe rod ends had been done, but I have found that he was not very honest about a lot of things. I look at them periodically to make sure everything looks OK. Is this amount of play correct? might need volume.

No play is acceptable in tie-rod ends (the ones directly connecting to the knuckle). They should only swivel, with no knocking or up/down/in/out play.

The drag-link (the rod from the steering box to the tie-rod) rod ends (the T-shaped thing) often have a very, very small amount of play, due to the design and adjustable nature of it. But the tie-rod ends are traditional swiveling ball joints and have should have no play.

 

[Godwin]

When I do a knuckle job I usually also replace the tie and relay rods. Relatively inexpensive cost for peace of mind.

 

[CruiserTrash]

When I do a knuckle job I usually also replace the tie and relay rods. Relatively inexpensive cost for peace of mind.

You're replacing the rods every time? Or do you mean the rod ends?

Honestly, the way you use your truck for its intended purpose, I could see you bending a lot of rods.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

This thread has me thinking. When I bought my LC, the PO said the toe rod ends had been done, but I have found that he was not very honest about a lot of things. I look at them periodically to make sure everything looks OK. Is this amount of play correct? might need volume.

As I recall some movement in that joint is normal, provided it's in the direction shown in your video. If it had play side to side that would be a bad sign.

 

[Godwin]

You're replacing the rods every time? Or do you mean the rod ends?

Honestly, the way you use your truck for its intended purpose, I could see you bending a lot of rods.

Just the rod ends. I've only replaced rods when the ends were badly rusted on. I've not bent any rods using the 60.....yet.

 

[AussieHJ6X]

In the FAQ’s in fact.

I actually had that very thread with the torque specs bookmarked already