Tie Rod Failure

[Jenkins003]

My Century 3040 broke a tie rod end last week. I ordered the upgrade kit and it was a little harder replacing than I thought it would be. Can anyone please tell me what the torque should be on the castle nuts at the tie rod ends (where the cotter pin goes) ? Thanks.

 

[Texasmark]

No but you are swageing the mating surfaces and you want the joint in good tension. On something like that I use my 700# impact wrench at 100 psig air and run the nut up till it stops turning then leave the air on for half a dozen more whacks. Then manually align for the key.

 

[Branson Bob]

My Century 3040 broke a tie rod end last week. I ordered the upgrade kit and it was a little harder replacing than I thought it would be. Can anyone please tell me what the torque should be on the castle nuts at the tie rod ends (where the cotter pin goes) ? Thanks.

Good luck on the repair.

Out of curiosity what year is the tractor and how many hours do you have on it?

Also, how did the tie rod end break?

Thanks!

 

[Texasmark]

My Century 3040 broke a tie rod end last week. I ordered the upgrade kit and it was a little harder replacing than I thought it would be. Can anyone please tell me what the torque should be on the castle nuts at the tie rod ends (where the cotter pin goes) ? Thanks.

OT......Mr. Jenkins, you any kin to Buster in Plainview?

 

[Jenkins003]

Hi Branson Bob, My tractor is a 2004 Century 3040 (same as a Branson 4220 I believe) with 310 hours on it. I was turning in very soft ground when it broke and I wasn't really putting any stress on it. It's just a weak design. That's why the upgrade kit has larger tie rod bolts. I'm glad I wasn't coming down a steep hill or I could have been in bad trouble because the tractor quickly didn't steer in the direction I was aiming. I have the upgrade kit installed now, except for the torque specs on the castle nuts. I am going to email Branson and see if they will give me the correct answer. In my personal opinion I don't believe you should torque the nuts all the way down because on the side that didn't break I checked with a torque wrench before I removed the castle nut and I could move it at around 75 to 85 pounds but since the new bolts are larger I want to make sure I have it set correctly. At over $300 including shipping I don't want to do this again. One thing I did notice is that it looks like to me you could just drill out the top plates to fit the larger size tie rod bolts and save hours of time and a lot of money but I'm no master mechanic so I could be wrong about that.

To Texasmark: No I live in Kentucky and am no kin anyone in Plainview.

 

[Texasmark]

Hi Branson Bob, My tractor is a 2004 Century 3040 (same as a Branson 4220 I believe) with 310 hours on it. I was turning in very soft ground when it broke and I wasn't really putting any stress on it. It's just a weak design. That's why the upgrade kit has larger tie rod bolts. I'm glad I wasn't coming down a steep hill or I could have been in bad trouble because the tractor quickly didn't steer in the direction I was aiming. I have the upgrade kit installed now, except for the torque specs on the castle nuts. I am going to email Branson and see if they will give me the correct answer. In my personal opinion I don't believe you should torque the nuts all the way down because on the side that didn't break I checked with a torque wrench before I removed the castle nut and I could move it at around 75 to 85 pounds but since the new bolts are larger I want to make sure I have it set correctly. At over $300 including shipping I don't want to do this again. One thing I did notice is that it looks like to me you could just drill out the top plates to fit the larger size tie rod bolts and save hours of time and a lot of money but I'm no master mechanic so I could be wrong about that.

To Texasmark: No I live in Kentucky and am no kin anyone in Plainview.

Ok. Thanks

 

[Branson Bob]

Hi Branson Bob, My tractor is a 2004 Century 3040 (same as a Branson 4220 I believe) with 310 hours on it. I was turning in very soft ground when it broke and I wasn't really putting any stress on it. It's just a weak design. That's why the upgrade kit has larger tie rod bolts. I'm glad I wasn't coming down a steep hill or I could have been in bad trouble because the tractor quickly didn't steer in the direction I was aiming. I have the upgrade kit installed now, except for the torque specs on the castle nuts. I am going to email Branson and see if they will give me the correct answer. In my personal opinion I don't believe you should torque the nuts all the way down because on the side that didn't break I checked with a torque wrench before I removed the castle nut and I could move it at around 75 to 85 pounds but since the new bolts are larger I want to make sure I have it set correctly. At over $300 including shipping I don't want to do this again. One thing I did notice is that it looks like to me you could just drill out the top plates to fit the larger size tie rod bolts and save hours of time and a lot of money but I'm no master mechanic so I could be wrong about that.

Glad to hear they upgraded the design and real glad you weren't injured.

When I bought mine I got the service manual with it so I plan to do my own mechanical work for the most part. Gonna have to buy some bigger wrenches and brush up on my welding skills!

Good luck with the repair. If I run across any torque values for my tie rods bolts I'll shoot those over to you.

 

[Jenkins003]

I just received the torque specs straight from Branson. "The tie-rod end for the slotted nut should be torqued to 100.8 lbf.ft. The hex bolt should be torqued to 82.8 +- 7.2 lbf.ft. ". Thanks everyone.

 

[Branson Bob]

:thumbsup:

 

[Reg]

There are standard torque tables for all nuts and bolts according to size, material and thread profile.
Search the web, much faster than waiting for Branson support to reply.

Ignore anyone/everyone who says "as tight as you can get it", or replies of type "stand on the end of your longest wrench".
Over tightening deforms and weakens the threads too much.