Hopefully someone can help me. I got tie rod ends from advanced. I put the driver side on, and the wheel lines up nice. Put the driver side on and the damn thing is pointing like I am making a right hand turn. Basically its too short, but the p/n is the same for both sides. So what gives? Are both my tie rod ends too short? THe one that I took off the passenger side was longer than the driver side but I dont think thats the way it should have been. So I am guessing I need to back the driver side off some to make up the slack for the passenger side. I need advice, I also have a few questions. How long is a factory tie rod end? How far do you thread it on to the tie rod. The messed up thing is, is that I did not move the jam nuts or anything, so it looks like who ever had the car before me rigged something up. I am going for an alignment tomorrow so I would appreciate any help so I can work on this tonight. Thanks.

-Carson

 

*Assuming* this is what your wheels look like

Front of car
-----------
/ ............|

So the passenger side is turning right... you need to make the driver side turn right too... so you need to screw the drivers side tie-rod end further onto the driver side inner... that will make the drivers side will turn right.. the when both are turned to the right, you can turn the steering wheel to straighten them. The wheel will be WAY off center, but get an alignment ASAP and they'll fix it.

 

yeah you to it. THats what they look like. Should I measure the angle on the passenger side then try to match that angle on the driver side? I am hoping I have enough thread on the driver side to do this. This sucks. Does anyone know how far onto the tie rod the tie rod end is suposed to be screwed on? If I mess up a little bit will an alignment fix that? I am not quite sure what all they adjust when doing an alignment to get the correct angles.

*edit* now that I think about it, I don't think what you are saying will work. I think by screwing the driver side further in it will just make that wheel point to the outside as well.

 

Adjusting those tie rods is ALL they they do on a regular alignment on our cars... that's called toe-in/out.

Just get the car driveable and take it in for an alignment and they'll fix the problem you are seeing. It's nothing but toe-in.

 

yea i did bothmy inner and outer tie rods today... just get an alignment and it shoudl be fine.. i had the problem with my steering wheel....its now turned way to the right lol

 

ok, well I got it done last night. What I ended up doing was jacking up the front end of the car and making notes of where each jam nut was on the tie rod end then I started adjusting. The passenger side jam nut was 1.25"s in from the end of the tie rod. The driver side was only .5" from the tie rod. Basically what I found is that four full turns on the tie rod ends will set your wheels straight. So I did this tightened everything up and everything was pointing straight ahead.....except my steering wheel. My steering wheel is compleately up side down, so I only have about half of my turning radius when I turn to the right Its at the alignment shop right now. I am happy with what I came up with but I am tired of finding more and more things rigged on this car. The passenger side tie rod end was more than an inch longer than the driver side Oh well, maybe this thread will help people in the future that may have the same question.

 

i just measured the threads it worked pretty well