DYI: 1/2” Upgraded Heim Joint Tie Rods and Tie Rod Bar with instructions and pictures

[CPS]

Ok, so I’m done with my steering upgrade on my 2003 TXT lifted cart with OEM EZGO drop spindles. This is an upgrade from the stock 7/16” tie rods to 1/2” tie rods (heavy duty and longer lasting). I decided to do this upgrade with parts that can be bought online (in my case, SPEEDWAY MOTORS).

If you were wondering about cost, the upgrade SPEEDWAY tie rod assembly I built was cheaper than a OEM EZGO tie rod assembly:

Speedway Motors: $58
Genuine EZGO: $80

Story:
Since I did my lift, the stock EZGO tie rods and tie rod bar hit the front leaf spring bolts under the weldment. So the first thing I did was to put shorter grade 8 bolts/nuts at all 6 leaf spring holes. After that, my temporary fix was 7/16 coupling nuts and a couple of 7/16 short bolts (see picture for image). Well that worked for a while, but since it dropped down angle was so low it was wearing the tie rods in there ball seat (these are 5 month old EZGO tie rods too).

Parts Description and (Part Number):
-22” long steel swedged 1/2” tube (910-34212-22)
-1/2” Heim Joint Male Left Hand Thread (175-0305)
-1/2” Heim Joint Male Right Hand Thread (175-0105)
-6 pack 1/2” steel cone spacers (546-4107)
-6 pack Heim dust seals (910-01503)
-6 pack Left Hand Thread steel 1/2” Jam Nuts (175-6045-LH)
-6 pack Right Hand Thread steel 1/2” Jam Nuts (175-6045-RH)
-2 grade 8 bolts (1/2” hex bolt 3” long) HomeDepot
-2 grade 8 serrated hex flange nuts (1/2”) HomeDepot
-2 spacers 1/2” tall with 1/2” ID total (I used 4 thick washers on each side, 8 total)(HomeDepot) I ordered 1” wide , 1/2” tall, 1/2” ID stainless steels spacers which will replace these 8 washers when they arrive.

****FYI, you will have a few extra parts left over at the end****

***I take no responsibility for your actions, so this is for information purposes that worked for me, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this, take it to a mechanic***

Directions:
1) remove stock tie rod assembly from cart (IMPORTANT NOTE: try not to move the wheels at this point since it is pretty much in alignment from the start)
2) use a 1/2” drill bit and drill out the 7/16” tie hole in both spindles
3) assemble Heim joint tie rods/jam nuts to swedged 22” bar (remember there are LEFT hand and RIGHT hand threads on these parts)
4) thread jam nuts all the way to the base of the Heim joints, thread Heim joints all the way into the swedged tube
5) test fit this assembly and back OUT each Heim joint in equal amounts of turns until approximate distance is set (for my cart, the EXACT measurement from the center of the drivers side spindle hole to passenger side spindle hole was 25”) *YOURS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT* Make sure both Heim joints stay INLINE with each other along an imaginary line from left to right.
6) assemble connecting 1/2” grade 8 bolts in this order from bottom of Heim joint to the top of spindle:
Bolt/cone washer/Heim seal/Heim joint/Heim seal/cone washer/(1/2”) spacer or 4 thick washers=(1/2”)/cone washer/spindle/serrated flanged nut
7) bolt up tie rod assembly and tighten down flange nuts, leave jam nuts loose
align front wheels with the rear wheels by either turning the swedged bar by hand either left or right to push wheels out or to pull wheels in. This will get you a close alignment. If you chose, you can take cart to professional to do do your alignment.
9) tighten up jam nuts on each side against the swedge tube
10) if steering wheel is not centered at this time, you can correct it were the steering shaft attaches to the rack and pinion, or remove the steering wheel retaining bolt and recenter steering wheel on the splines, re tighten steering wheel bolt or steering shaft bolts.

***you can use some LocTite on the 1/2” bolts threads if you want***

I hope you enjoyed this heavy duty steering modification, and I will post a lot of pictures in the following posts. Please give me a few minutes to upload all the pictures before responding or commenting.

Thanks,
CPS

[CPS]

Pictures:
67AAF99A-32A4-450B-96B7-7C9BA86A115E.jpg

The top tie rod assembly in the picture with the red dust boots is my OEM EZGO tie rod assembly with the coupling nuts on the end of the tie rod threads
51B48655-FDD9-41AD-B02D-66E0120B6793.jpg

31145AA4-013E-4916-87CD-926C7449F8B5.jpg

577C68CA-7C30-4790-95C5-F3E48D8D6F72.jpg

13D622E8-0117-4F37-A0C6-031B198C9F23.jpg

[CPS]

More Pictures:
5D0D660D-2D96-4B22-843D-7BC12D2735F6.jpg

65F22C76-0B8C-4598-A463-9A84C197C003.jpg

73BE5BF3-D918-4C17-8353-323168F9D1A3.jpg

487DC8D3-DD66-4AD1-B9BC-3C55B458DAC0.jpg

2B0D0A09-14BC-49FA-BE2F-B25B31BDA84E.jpg

[CPS]

Couple More Picture:
F22EF3B3-4511-49EA-9997-E901D951A8EB.jpg

These are the stainless steel spacers I ordered to replace the 8 thick washers:
4504C230-5E17-4848-B901-E31012C6BD9D.jpg

The End!

Please feel free to respond or comment!

Thanks,
CPS

[CPS]

Got the stainless steel 1/2” ID X 1” OD X 1/2” thick spacers in today. Got them installed, torqued the 1/2” bolts down to 80 ft lbs. Worked out great!

68AE90B9-49B8-4029-8ED8-12EA978013E4.jpg

Thanks again,
CPS

[MILLERTIME]

Looks good.

[CPS]

Originally Posted by MILLERTIME

Looks good.

Thanks!
I took it out for a test drive, and the steering is nice and tight like a brand new car. Plus these are an upgrade from the stock 7/16” tie rods ends to 1/2” Heim joint ends. These are stronger, have tighter tolerances, and should last many years to come!

CPS

[StoveBolt]

Originally Posted by CPS

Ok, so I’m done with my steering upgrade on my 2003 TXT lifted cart with OEM EZGO drop spindles.

Didn't know ezgo made oem drop spindles.

nice job.

[CPS]

Originally Posted by StoveBolt

Didn't know ezgo made oem drop spindles.

nice job.

Nice catch! You are correct, EZGO doesn’t make drop spindles!
I meant to say “EZGO factory lift spindles”
The carts that have a factory lift use a different spindle that has a “higher” tie rod ear/tab to make up for the lifted weldment!

Thanks,
CPS

[StoveBolt]

Originally Posted by CPS

Nice catch! You are correct, EZGO doesn’t make drop spindles!
I meant to say “EZGO factory lift spindles”
The carts that have a factory lift use a different spindle that has a “higher” tie rod ear/tab to make up for the lifted weldment!

Thanks,
CPS

ST spindles, I have a set on my txt... not cheap.