In order to solve the problems of backward production technology, long processing cycle and low material utilization rate in traditional U-shaped steel tie rods, an integrated steel tie rod forming process was proposed. Taking the preform forming of 35 steel tie rod U-shaped head as the research object, a three-pass heating upsetting method was designed. The DEFORM-3D finite element software was used to analyze the simulation results of the temperature field and stress field after upsetting under different process conditions. The hot forming process parameters with better forming effect were discussed, and the feasibility of forming was verified through experiments. The results show that the optimum hot forming process parameters of each pass are as follows: the initial forging temperature of the first pass is 1 150 ℃, while the punch speed is 20 mm/s; the initial forging temperature of the second pass is 1 150 ℃, while the punch speed is 30 mm /s; the initial forging temperature of the third pass is 1 100 ℃, while the punch speed is 20 mm/s. Under the hot forming process parameters, the forming forces of each pass are 1 520, 2 090, 5 290 kN, and the expansion forces of each pass are 5 870, 6 710, 8 830 kN, respectively. After upsetting, the metal streamline distribution is reasonable, there is no crossover and folding phenomenon, and the forming effect is good. The equivalent stress distribution inside the part is relatively uniform while preparing the preform in the three-pass hot upsetting method, which can form a good quality part. It provides a certain reference for the upsetting aggregate process design and equipment selection of the U-shaped head perform of 35 steel tie rod.