Jay,
What you are describing is the steering cross link, used on cars that do
not have rack and pinion steering but rather recirculating ball or worm and
sector steering boxes. Each end has a metalic spherical ball end with a
tapered stud and thread for retaining nut. The last one I saw like that
was on a Morgan, but I think the MG T-Series cars may use similar parts,
and many other cars as well, including my 1981 Pontiac, Ford ranger truck.
....
For the grease seal/dust boot, start by measuring the diameter of the stud
just above the threaded shoulder. Then drop by your nearest auto parts
store and tell them you want a ball joint seal for that size stud, and you
should have the parts for less than $1 each. I used to buy these at NAPA
by the fistfull.
The generic type have no retaining rings but are just squeezed in between
the mated parts to affect the seal. They actually do a fairly good job of
keeping the grease in and the dirt out, until you shoot too much grease in
and it oozes out around the seal. Just press the seal down with your
fingers and wipe off any excess grease, and it's good to go again. These
should probably be replaced about every 10 years or so, as the rubber does
eventually deteriorate, similar to suspension bushings.
Regards,
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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At 08:07 AM 11/2/2000 -0800, Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com wrote:
>
>.... trying to identify what car a part came off of so I can see if I can
get a replacement piece for it. This is a steering cross tube. It's about
2 feet long and at each end there is a perpendicular threaded part that
swivels. One end goes into the lever coming out of the steering box, the
other end goes into the steering mechanism on the other side of the car. On
the top of each swivel end there is a grease gun fitting.
>
>This fits, and I am going to use it for, my Sunbeam Alpine. But, it is
not a Sunbeam part. I believe it came from another marque.
>
>The part that I need to replace are the little rubber dust covers that
slide over the threaded rod and seat up against the bottom of the ends of
the crosstube where the threaded rod sticks out. ....
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