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dose any one reproduce tie rod ends for 29 packards also can the worm and sector gears be tighted closer together? or any other ideas?

Assuming the tie rod ends have not been badly abused, they are adjustable for a certain amount of wear. Diassemble one it should be rather obvious how to do it. If the ball studs are badly worn, check here:

packardclub.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1428

I've only made adjustments to the later worm and roller steering gear boxes and that procedure is covered in the factory Service Letters, so I'd guess yours is as well - have you read thru the Service Letters?

Play between the worm and sector gear can be adjusted via the nut on the outside face of the gear box. Shimmy can be caused by:

-Worn king pins
-Worn tie rod balls or other parts that can lead to a loose connection between the spindles.
-Worn out bearings
-Out of round tires
-Unbalanced tires
-Bent or warped rims
-Poor alignment
-etc....

But, probably not the steering gear. Loose steering (or no steering) can be caused by the steering gear and pitman arm.

I would recommend starting from the outside and working in. Check both front tires for roundness, balance, etc. Also check the rims. Then check the bearings. Then the spindle, then .....until all is checked and brought to factory specs if necessary.

These are very simple, and very reliable steering systems that were over-engineered for the roads of the day.

There are some photos of a 1930 system available atpackardpaddock.com/page2/page15/page15.html

The 29 system is very similar.

Cheers,

Tom

Thanks for the replys the strange thing is the car did not do this last year but the tie rod ends are loose I will check a few other things that where mentioned thanks for the help

Just an off course comment on this subject. The "over-engineered for the roads of the day" are rapidly becoming the 'roads of the the day', especially here in the California A.K.A "World of the reincarnation of Governor Moon Beam and era of Post Governor Terminator".

Now that I'm off my soap box,good luck with the Shimmie, which is much better on a young size 4 female than an Old but Beautiful Lady in her 80's.

This may sound simple, but check the spring leaf u-bolts. Mine where loose and caused a shimmy.

29Tons, if your tie rod ball joints are shot as mine were they can now be bought from Rare Parts out in California. I gave my drawings to those guys and they machined a whole new set for my car for both the tie rods and drag link.

That being said, this wasn't a cheap proposition. If you're on a tight budget the tie rods can be "adjusted" to get a few more years out of them. The ball stud itself is surrounded by an upper and lower locating cup. These grab the ball from top and bottom and when they were new they probably had a gap between them to take up any future wear on the ball. Once that gap closes to nothing and the two cups bottom out with each other then all future wear makes the joint sloppier. In order to get the two cups to actually grab the ball again you have to remove the top cup and grind about .020 of an inch off the surface that was rubbing the bottom cup. This will allow the two cups to grab the ball again and all this work can be done without even removing the tie rods from the car. Just remove the tie rod cap, then pull out the spring and then remove the upper cup for modification.

Sounds easy right? What I've just described would not be considered a propper fix in my book but it will tighten up your steering for a brief amount of time. The problem is that if your joints are that bad then its likely that all the holes for the Bijur oiler are clogged with crud and your tie rod is now packed with dirt. Dirt isn't a very good lubricant I'm told so if your tie rods are toast plan on fixing them correctly as soon as you can.

Good luck
Todd

Todd - I read your post to indicate the the Bijur lubricates the tie rod and drag link ends, which surprises me a bit as in the last 3 or 4 years of Bijur equipment they did not. Can you clarify?

Owen, the Bijur system on my car (1930 733) lubricates all these joints. There is a line that runs to the front brake actutators (the arm that turns the brake cam) from the frame mounting point to the brake cam mounting block on the backing plate and from there it travels down a copper tube to the steering arm which is drilled out for the oil all the way to the ball studs. The ball studs themselves are all drilled out for the oil to flow to the actual ball and cups. This is also true for the drag link joints.

Like I mentioned earlier though, my joints all seemed to be lubricated with dirt. I think it's probably a good idea to pull that Bijur handle more than once daily. I understand the oiling system went automatic in later years, probably because owners couldn't be bothered to pull that oiler handle.

If in later years the Bijur oiler neglects to travel all the way to the ball joints are the tie rods then fitted with grease fittings? This would certainly be an improvement over the lighter oil. I fixed mine up all original just the same because I think its one of the more interesting aspects of the cars frame.

On a side note, you can order the ball studs with or without the oil holes in case you wanted to swap to a grease fitting. The balls without holes are a lot cheaper.

Todd

Hi Todd. Just took a look at the 7th versus 11th series Bijur plan, I had never had occasion to study the earlier plan and I'm glad this discussion came up. The earlier yesrs have more comprehensive coverage than on later cars. From 34 thru 36 (last year for Bijur) the drag link ends, tie rod ends and king pins are fitted with Alemite fittings with the instruction to lubricate them with heavy oil. The only brake parts lubricated by Bijur are the pedal and cross shaft under the front seat.

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