Call, request a quote, or check an order

Talk to the shop

Orders
View order status

It’s on your order confirmation, like #1234. We’ll email the order’s status link to the address on the order.

Menu

Tie rods

Tie rod assembly instructions

How to put a Timberplates tie rod system together: the names of the parts, which threads are left-hand, how far a rod must be threaded in, the order to work in, how to tighten with and without a turnbuckle, and the order for a system with a center plate. Read it through before you start.

A walls & columns tie rod between two posts: a 1" rod with a turnbuckle midway, pinned at each end with a clevis to a square bracket lagged to the post.

01 Terms

The parts

These are the names this page uses, and the names on your packing slip. The rod, clevis, clevis pin, cotter pin, and turnbuckle are drawn at one scale.

  1. A rod: round steel bar with thread at each end, drawn as its two ends with a break between them, because rods are long.

    Rod

    Round steel bar, threaded at each end. A rod's thread may be right-hand at one end and left-hand at the other.

  2. A clevis: a steel fork with a threaded nut at one end and two jaws, with a hole through them, at the other.

    Clevis

    The fork at the end of a rod. One end is a threaded nut that the rod turns into. The other is two jaws that fit over a bracket's grip plate or the center plate, with a hole through both for the clevis pin.

  3. A clevis pin: a short, straight steel pin with no head and a small cross hole near each end.

    Clevis pin

    The straight pin that goes through the clevis's jaws and the grip plate or center plate between them. It has a small cross hole near each end.

  4. A cotter pin, small beside the other parts: two straight legs a sliver apart, with an eye at one end.

    Cotter pin

    The small split pin that goes through each cross hole of a clevis pin. Its legs are spread once it is in, which keeps the clevis pin from sliding out.

  5. A turnbuckle: an open steel frame with a threaded nut at each end.

    Turnbuckle

    An open frame with a threaded nut at each end, one right-hand and one left-hand. It joins two rods, and turning it draws both in or lets both out.

  6. Six steel brackets in three rows of two, all seen from one angle, each a mounting plate with a grip plate, the tab that has a hole for the clevis pin. On the left: brackets with a round plate, a square plate, and a long rectangular plate. On the right: a long narrow strap, a saddle with one bolt hole in each side plate, and a saddle with three bolt holes in each.

    Bracket

    The steel part fastened to the structure. The flat tab that stands out from it, with a hole for the clevis pin, is called the grip plate. Brackets come in several shapes. You may have any combination of these. Not to scale with the other parts.

02 Assemblies

Rod assemblies

A rod assembly is one tie rod made up and ready to lift into place: its rod or rods, a clevis threaded onto each end, and a turnbuckle if it has one. Every tie rod in a system is one of the two below. A rod that passes through a timber has a washer and a nut at that end in place of a clevis.

Putting a rod assembly together does not include its pins. Each clevis has its own clevis pin and two cotter pins, and they stay out until the assembly is lifted into place. A clevis is pinned when it is connected to its bracket or to the center plate, and the cotter pins are spread only after that.

A rod assembly: one rod with a clevis threaded onto each end. Under each clevis lie its clevis pin and two cotter pins, not yet in.
A rod assembly: one rod and two clevises. The clevis pins and cotter pins stay out until it is connected to its brackets.
A rod assembly with a turnbuckle: two rods joined end to end by a turnbuckle, with a clevis threaded onto each outer end. Under each clevis lie its clevis pin and two cotter pins, not yet in.
A rod assembly with a turnbuckle: two rods, a turnbuckle between them, and two clevises. Its pins stay out too.

03 Before you start

Before you start

  • Check the parts against the packing slip. Rods, clevises, clevis pins, cotter pins, turnbuckles, brackets, and center plates are listed with their quantities. The fasteners that mount the brackets are not included.
  • Find the left-hand threads. Every rod end and every component with a left-hand thread is marked with white chalk in our shop. Leave the chalk on until the assembly is together. It comes off with a damp towel.
  • Start every thread by hand. A thread started the right way turns freely. If it won't start within a turn or two, stop: you are turning it the wrong way, or it belongs on the other end.
  • Keep toothed tools off the rods. The teeth of a pipe wrench or locking pliers scar the steel and any finish on it. A strap wrench is the only tool the rods need.

04 Threads

Right-hand and left-hand threads

Do not force threads. Tie rods and tie rod components have ends with both left-hand and right-hand threads. Component and rod ends with left-hand threads are marked with white chalk. Left-hand threads are threaded by slowly turning counter-clockwise.

Each arrow shows the way the rod turns to go in. Clockwise and counter-clockwise are as you look along the rod toward the part it is going into.

  1. A rod's threaded end started into a clevis, with an arrow wound around the rod: up the near side and over the top, clockwise as you look along the rod toward the clevis.

    Right-hand thread into a clevis

    Turn the rod clockwise. Right-hand ends are not marked.

  2. The same rod and clevis with a left-hand thread: the arrow goes over the top and down the near side, counter-clockwise as you look along the rod toward the clevis.

    Left-hand thread into a clevis

    Turn the rod counter-clockwise. The rod end and its clevis are both marked with white chalk.

  3. A rod's threaded end started into one end of a turnbuckle, with an arrow wound around the rod: clockwise as you look along the rod toward the turnbuckle.

    Right-hand thread into a turnbuckle

    Turn the rod clockwise.

  4. The same rod and turnbuckle with a left-hand thread: the arrow goes counter-clockwise as you look along the rod toward the turnbuckle.

    Left-hand thread into a turnbuckle

    Turn the rod counter-clockwise. The rod end and that end of the turnbuckle are both marked with white chalk.

05 Left-hand threads

Which threads are left-hand

A rod assembly has one left-hand thread at most. It is there so that a single turn draws both ends in.

  • With a turnbuckle: one of the two rods is left-hand where it goes into the turnbuckle, and that end of the turnbuckle is left-hand to match. Every clevis and every nut is right-hand.
  • Clevis to clevis: with no turnbuckle, the rod is right-hand at one end and left-hand at the other, with a left-hand clevis to match.
  • With a nut end: with no turnbuckle, every thread is right-hand. The nut does the tightening.

06 Engagement

Minimum thread engagement

Minimum thread engagement is set by the nuts: the threaded end of each clevis, and the threaded end at each side of a turnbuckle. Every nut must be fully threaded. Turn the rod in until its end is flush with the inside face of the nut, as drawn.

This is the minimum, not the target. A rod may be threaded in further than this, and normally is: the thread past the minimum is what you adjust with.

A clevis and a turnbuckle on their rods, seen a little from the clevis's end, with a circle around the clevis's nut and around each of the turnbuckle's two nuts. The end of the rod shows in the clevis's opening and in the turnbuckle's window, flush with the inside face of its nut.
Minimum thread engagement: each rod's end is flush with the inside face of its nut. This is the least a rod may be threaded in, not where it is left.

07 Adjustment

Adjustability

We size every rod so that, at the length on your order, it stands 3/4" past minimum thread engagement in each clevis and 1-1/2" past it at each side of a turnbuckle. That leaves room to adjust both ways.

  • At a clevis: about 3/4" of let out and 3/4" of take up.
  • At a turnbuckle: about 1-1/2" of let out and 1-1/2" of take up at each side of it.

Letting out makes the assembly longer, as far as minimum thread engagement and no further. Taking up makes it shorter. The drawing shows the same clevis, rods, and turnbuckle let out to the minimum, as sized, and taken up.

Three rows of the same clevis, rods, and turnbuckle. In the top row each rod's end is flush with the inside face of its nut. In the middle row the rod stands 3/4" into the clevis's opening and each rod 1-1/2" into the turnbuckle's window. In the bottom row the rod is 1-1/2" into the clevis's opening and the two rods all but meet in the turnbuckle. The assembly is shorter in each row.
The same clevis, rods, and turnbuckle three times. Let out: every rod end flush with its nut, the minimum. As sized: 3/4" past the clevis nut and 1-1/2" past each turnbuckle nut. Taken up: another 3/4" into the clevis and another 1-1/2" into each side of the turnbuckle.

08 Order

Assembly order

  1. Mount the brackets. Fasten every bracket to the structure.
  2. Put each rod assembly together on the ground. Thread the clevises onto the rods by hand, and the turnbuckle if there is one, the same number of turns at each end, until every nut is past minimum thread engagement. Leave the assembly a little long, and leave the clevis pins and cotter pins out.
  3. Pin one end. Lift the assembly, slide the clevis over the bracket's tab, push the clevis pin through, and fit its cotter pins.
  4. Bring the other end to its hole. Turn the turnbuckle, or the rod, until the second clevis lines up with its tab, then pin it the same way.
  5. Spread the cotter pins. Bend the legs of every cotter pin apart so the clevis pin can't back out.
  6. Tighten last, once every rod in the system is pinned.
A clevis pinned to the tab of a bracket lagged to a timber beam: the clevis pin through both jaws and the tab, a cotter pin through each end of the pin, and the rod threaded into the clevis.

09 Turnbuckle

Tightening with a turnbuckle

Turn the turnbuckle's body, not the rods. One of its ends is right-hand and the other left-hand, so turning it one way draws both rods in, and turning it the other way lets both out. Seen from the left-hand end, the one marked with white chalk, clockwise tightens.

If a rod starts to turn with the body, hold it by hand or with a strap wrench. A bar through the open body gives more leverage. If you let a turnbuckle out, check that both rods are still at or past minimum thread engagement.

A tie rod assembly with a clevis at each end and a turnbuckle between its two rods. An arrow around the turnbuckle goes up its near side and over the top. The rod on the left is right-hand in the turnbuckle, the rod on the right left-hand.
Turn the turnbuckle's body. Seen from its left-hand end, clockwise draws both rods in.

10 Strap wrenches

Tightening without a turnbuckle: strap wrenches

A rod assembly with no turnbuckle is tightened by turning the rod itself. Its two ends have opposite threads, so with both clevises pinned, turning the rod one way draws both clevises in, as a turnbuckle would. Seen from the left-hand end, the one marked with white chalk, clockwise tightens.

Use a strap wrench. The rod is round bar with no flats, and a strap wrench grips it with a band of rubber or webbing that leaves no mark.

  • Wrap the strap around the rod near its middle, so that pulling the handle tightens the strap's grip in the direction you want to turn.
  • On a long rod, or one that is hard to turn, use two strap wrenches a hand's width apart and pull them together.
  • Work a part of a turn at a time: pull, slip the wrench back, and take another bite.
  • If the rod won't turn, don't add a longer handle. Check that both clevises are free on their pins and that neither thread has run out.

A rod with a nut at one end is tightened at the nut. Hold the rod with a strap wrench so it doesn't turn in its clevis.

A tie rod assembly with a clevis at each end and one rod, no turnbuckle. An arrow around the middle of the rod goes up its near side and over the top. The rod's left end is right-hand, its right end left-hand.
No turnbuckle: turn the rod itself with a strap wrench. Seen from its left-hand end, clockwise draws both clevises in.

11 Center plate

Systems with a center plate

In a vaulted ceiling system with three or more points, the rods meet at a center plate that hangs in the middle of the room, held only by the rods. These drawings follow a five-point system: two horizontal rods with turnbuckles, two diagonals, and a vertical. A system with fewer rods goes up the same way, without the steps for the rods it doesn't have.

  1. Two rafters meeting at a ridge beam, seen from the end, with five brackets mounted and no rods: one at the foot of each rafter, one part way up each rafter, and one under the ridge beam.

    1. Mount the brackets

    Fasten every bracket to the structure: one at the foot of each rafter for the horizontal rods, one on each rafter for the diagonals, and one under the ridge beam for the vertical.

  2. The same rafters and brackets, with five rod assemblies and the round center plate laid out level below: two long assemblies with turnbuckles either side of the plate, and three shorter ones without.

    2. Put the rod assemblies together

    On the ground, thread the clevises and turnbuckles onto the rods until every nut is past minimum thread engagement. Leave the clevis pins and cotter pins out, and lay each assembly out under where it goes.

  3. The vertical rod pinned to the bracket under the ridge beam, with the center plate pinned to its lower end and hanging in the middle. The other four rod assemblies are still laid out below.

    3. Hang the center plate

    Pin the vertical rod to the bracket under the ridge, then pin the plate to its lower end. With no vertical rod, hang the plate from the two diagonals.

  4. The two horizontal rods, each with a turnbuckle, now pinned between the center plate and the brackets at the feet of the rafters. The two diagonal rod assemblies are still laid out below.

    4. Pin the horizontal rods

    Pin each one to the plate and to its bracket. Leave them slack: let the turnbuckles out until the pins go in freely.

  5. All five rods pinned: two horizontals, two diagonals up to the rafters, and the vertical up to the ridge, meeting at the center plate. A red arrow marks the turnbuckle on each horizontal rod.

    5. Pin the diagonals, then tighten the horizontals

    With every rod pinned, tighten the two horizontals first, a little on one and then the same on the other. Measure from the plate to each bracket as you go and keep the two equal.

  6. The finished five-point system: two horizontal rods with turnbuckles, two diagonals, and a vertical, all pinned to the center plate under the ridge.

    6. Take up the vertical and the diagonals

    Turn the vertical rod until the horizontals run straight through the plate without sag, then take up the diagonals evenly. Check that the plate hangs plumb and centered and that every cotter pin is spread.

12 Tension

How tight

How tight the rods should be is determined by your project's engineer of record. Ask before the final tightening, and follow what they specify.

If a thread won't start, a part is missing, or a measurement doesn't match your order, stop and contact us with your order number before forcing anything.

Design a tie rod system Call (325) 400-1274