Steady Rod Bolts

[CA Victoria]

I need to fab a tool to fit the square head in the steady rod bolt. It looks like .320......
Some deterioration from moisture so I thought it would be a good idea to check in & see if anyone knows the original size.

Thank you.

[19Fordy]

Grind down the square head of a 3/8 in. ratchet wrench drive and you will be
"good to go".

[35fordtn]

The originals were around .325" When I had them made, I had them made to .315" so that a 5/16" square drive socket would fit better.

[marko39]

I used a piece of key stock 5/16. You can buy different sizes at a good hardware store.

[FrankWest]

One of my original steady rod bolts came out and I had to rework it.
I used the smallest dremel grinding tip and reformed the square socket. Then is used the driskel tool to tighten the bolt in.

[CA Victoria]

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Thanks y’all

[deuce_roadster]

I had an old 3/8" extension that the ball no longer held the socket on and ground that end down to fit the 5/16" hole.

[FrankWest]

I started out trying to make my own socket but then figured, "What the hell? you only live once. so I purchased this fine tool from Driskel.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1933-40...0AAOSwxH1UAQqw

[CA Victoria]

Craftsman comes thru again, the shaft was .315.
Always a different view after the first cup of coffee......

[FrankWest]

Another reason I decided to purchase the proper tool was that the awkwardness of working with a kludge tool on a frozen bolt! You may want to clean up that socket with a dremel tool to gain a better footing or you can just cut that off and buy a replacement bolt from driskel.

[JM 35 Sedan]

I used a short length of 3/8" square tool stock, then tapered the four sides on one end to fit nicely into the square drive of a steady rod bolt. Found a 3/8" drive socket that fit on the untapered end of the tool stock. Hooked all that onto the end of an impact driver set to turn ccw when impacted, and this usually makes easy work of removing those sometimes stubborn steady rod bolts.

[DavidG]

The challenge is somewhat different after the '33-'34s as those are not threaded into the rods themselves like those starting with the '35s, but rather are retained with hex nuts (and lock washers).

[34FordFabricator]

Here is a photo of a original set of 1933 1934 Ford Engine Steady Rod Bolts one with its original lock washer and bolt. As DavidG stated much easier to remove with the nut on the underside.
Bill Monzo