Track rod end (or Tie Rod end as we say down under)

[oliver-morrisminor]

I have been looking on thwe ESM site and they list two:

Track Rod End (Up To 1959) With Grease Nipple £6.95
MMCBATH PART NO('S):STR135 (9/16" BSF Thread)
[STR135]

and

Track Rod End (1959 Onwards) With Grease Nipple
MMCBATH PART NO('S):STR136 (5/8" UNF Thread)
[STR136] £5.45


I have emailed them a couple of times wioth no reply.

I imagine the second one is not correct for my 1950 Series MM,
But I had a doubt that the first one was the correct one as well.

Can anybody advise please.

[MarkyB]

What is your doubt?
ESM know their stuff.

[oliver-morrisminor]

Well they have not got back to me to confirm and I thought from 1948 to 1959 seems a long
run then to change seems a little strange.
Either, why not stick with what you had, or purhaps there was another one for earlier cars?

[mike.perry]

There are two diameter track rods, Moss parts book lists the change at about 566000, 9/16 dia to 5/8 dia. The Series MM parts book does not list any change for Series MM so there was no thread change although there were different designs.

[T100SS]

Just a follow up comment really.
I decided that the rack on my mog was too hard to work on - I could not split the inner ball joint on one side, which is the only part showing wear (they are apparently peened). By the time I'd paid someone to split it so I could buy new parts, it seemed it would have made more sense to get a recon, which I did. I ordered the 59 - 71 part, for my vehicle which is 71; logical, nes't ce pas?

The track rod ends on the item supplied by a well known firm have a smaller diameter than the ones on the rack I removed, so I assumed they'd sent the wrong one. They assured me I needed new ends to go with it. The ones they sent are too big, yet the doc accompanying them says they are also 59 - 71.

OK so my existing rack could have been supplied wrongly from a breakers (tell tale paint splodges) and was probably fitted (complete) thus luckily missing the track rod hassle. But as I am about to phone this allegedly reputable firm to ask which parts fit which car and to ascertain why they tell me two different stories, for the record, I'm researching mog specs. Not easy when all you get are ebay vendors - but luckily some do tell you a bit about the product.

Minimania say pre 59s are 1/2" (half an inch) diameter while later ones (62 - 71) are 5/8" (five eighths). According to the ruler on my desk, 5/8" is a greater diameter.

Doctor Car Parts state 62 - 71 parts are 5/8" and Bull Motif enforce this stating sizes in both rack descriptions in their online catalogue. Thus we can confirm a small diameter for early parts, a large diameter for later parts. This conflicts with the information given in this thread.

I don't care which I end up with, I just want a recon rack and track rods to match. Armed with this much knowledge, I shall now phone the dealer and see what they have to say. Depending on their tack hopefully the matter will be closed. Except that the BMC manual says replacing the rack is easy by following removal instruction in reverse. Tell that to my morris, will you?

[mike.perry]

BSF was standard thread before UNF took over so logically 9/16 BSF was fitted before 5/8 UNF. My Series 2 / 948 Service Parts List gives the changeover as 566384 plus 561656 to 566384 intermittently, ie whever rack was at the top of the pile.
My 52 MM is fitted with the small rack and 68 Traveller with the large rack

[Ratbag]

Just a follow up comment really.
I decided that the rack on my mog was too hard to work on - I could not split the inner ball joint on one side, which is the only part showing wear (they are apparently peened). By the time I'd paid someone to split it so I could buy new parts, it seemed it would have made more sense to get a recon, which I did. I ordered the 59 - 71 part, for my vehicle which is 71; logical, nes't ce pas?

The track rod ends on the item supplied by a well known firm have a smaller diameter than the ones on the rack I removed, so I assumed they'd sent the wrong one. They assured me I needed new ends to go with it. The ones they sent are too big, yet the doc accompanying them says they are also 59 - 71.

OK so my existing rack could have been supplied wrongly from a breakers (tell tale paint splodges) and was probably fitted (complete) thus luckily missing the track rod hassle. But as I am about to phone this allegedly reputable firm to ask which parts fit which car and to ascertain why they tell me two different stories, for the record, I'm researching mog specs. Not easy when all you get are ebay vendors - but luckily some do tell you a bit about the product.

Minimania say pre 59s are 1/2" (half an inch) diameter while later ones (62 - 71) are 5/8" (five eighths). According to the ruler on my desk, 5/8" is a greater diameter.

Doctor Car Parts state 62 - 71 parts are 5/8" and Bull Motif enforce this stating sizes in both rack descriptions in their online catalogue. Thus we can confirm a small diameter for early parts, a large diameter for later parts. This conflicts with the information given in this thread.

I don't care which I end up with, I just want a recon rack and track rods to match. Armed with this much knowledge, I shall now phone the dealer and see what they have to say. Depending on their tack hopefully the matter will be closed. Except that the BMC manual says replacing the rack is easy by following removal instruction in reverse. Tell that to my morris, will you?

Your SIZE confusion is due to BSF vs. UNF threads - the later one is definitely the larger one.

Phi.