Stuck toplink

[Jim.UT]

I acquired an original Ford toplink that was stuck. I tried to loosen it up on Saturday and was only partially successful.

I started out by mounting the toplink on my tractor with a boom pole attached to the other end. I then used a very large crescent wrench to turn the center section slowly back and forth. I was making progress for awhile and got it extended about 3" beyond where I started when it seemed to bind up tight. I took the boom pole off and used a steel rod through the toplink eye to unscrew that end an additional 1" or so before it locked up, too.

So then I got out the torch and heated both ends of the center tube. It did not loosen up at all. In fact it's worse than before. Not only can I not unscrew the ends any farther, I can't even screw them back in where they were.

I have two other original toplinks so I decided to check them out to see if I could get any hints what to do next.

I was able to take both of them apart by hand with no problem. One of them has a square rod in the middle and the other one does not. I can't see what function the square rod has other than to prevent the toplink from being shortened beyond a certain point.

If anyone has any hints about what may be causing the stuck toplink to bind up, I'd be grateful. I'd like to not break anything. I figure it has to come apart, but if heating it up until it's glowing orange doesn't do it, I don't know what will.

 

[Royse]

Hang it from one end and douse it good down the threads with penetrating oil. Let it soak in good and give it another try on that end.
Do the same for the other end of course.
You could also try heating it and then dousing it with penetrating oil.
I like PB Blaster or Kroil.
Your mileage may vary.
Good luck!

 

[Billy NY]

I did that to my practically NOS one, forget what the heck I was doing too, I brought it and another, not ford, generic to a machine shop, they did it for coffee money. I did not have those dies, was not the thread that got deformed either, was cleaning them and low and behold, stuck, that was 7 or 8 years ago. I love that style top link, got another beat up one to use, the other is a wall hanger right now, was in the parts dept of our old ford tractor dealership, one of the few odds and ends I still have from then.

I've always wondered, given the popularity of the ford tractor, why they were never reproduced, I like the design.

 

[WayneIA]

You have apparently gotten it hot enough to 'gald' ,metal transfering from one peace to another.Kinda think you have a "permantly fixed" top link. If you DO get it appart the threads will be dammage to the point of not being functional
The square rod is in there to keep both ends in time with each other. The center tube should be turned with the top link in working position. If you notice both ends have rings, groves, in them to be able to adjust the top link to a standerd length 25" for the 6/800 and 23" for the row crops 7/900.

 

[old]

I have a number of links sort of like those that I played with the summer. I freed them all up and what I did was heat them up and fill them with ATF and let them sit a day or 2. Then heat them again and try to move them. Took over a week to free you the worse one but they are now all freed up and working. I would clamp them in a vise so that I could let the ATF sit in them for as long as it took. Had the old smoke rolling out the shop a few times as I would heat them with the ATF still in them to the point the ATF would start burning

 

[Billy NY]

Meant to add, on the nice original one I never used heat, neither did the machine shop, I somehow bound it up with lint from cleaning, it was about new, not much use, they freed it up.

I can recall soaking these things in solvent, and once you get movement, I recall moving it in both directions, back and forth like you did, each time eventually gaining more in the direction you want to go in, kinda like running a tap and it usually works.

Glowing orange, after it was moving, then stopped moving, might have been better immersed in solvent for a week, mine bound up in a similar fashion too, just like you describe, was moving, then jammed but good.

 

[BruceR TN]

You might also try JB-80 (Justice Bros product) but it's primarily for rust. As Wayne said, they may be galled together.

 

[Larry NCKS]

throw it in the stock tanks for a couple days. Let it soak up with water. Afterall, that's what stuck it to begin with.