Driver's Side Inner Ball Joint / Torsion Bar interference...

[elevenssc]

Want to post this to get your input...

I've finished my front suspension / disk brake upgrade.  I upgraded to 1.00" diameter torsion bars and replaced all the tie-rod ends with Moog components.  All the suspension stuff is replaced and the torsion bars are "loaded".

The front end is still on jack stands and when I turn the steering wheel for a right turn, the inner tie rod end on the drivers side moves outward and bumps off the torsion bar.  The OEM stuff didn't interfere.  The inner ball joint is nut down (grease zerk up) just like the stuff I took out.  The pass side does not interfere.

Questions...
1) Has this happened to anyone else???  If so, what was the cause???
2) Will the geometry change once I get the car off jack stands, thus removing the tie-rod / torsion bar interference?
3)Torsion bar adjustment...I have not tuned the adjustment in yet, but I dont think this will change the interference...will it???

Thanks everyone...

Tom

[Moparal]

Are the tie rods adjusted properly for the center to center steering wheel turns?  Did you reinstall the center link (drag link) back the way it came out?  The top question may resolve the problem.  You may have the tie rods adjusted too far to one side. The stuff should be installed with the steering wheel straight and the tires straight

[elevenssc]

The center link never came out of the car. I left it attached to the pitman arm.

I adjusted each tie rod assembly to match the ones I took out.  they shoyuld be very close to the same length as the stuff I took out.

[Chryco Psycho]

different grease zerk maybe , can you get a shorter one ?
 i know they are close on some vehicles , the bar will be bigger too , did you replace the pitman arm ?

[elevenssc]

I did not replace the pitman arm...it is still the original, stock "power steering, 318, 3 spd,  manual drum" pitman arm. 

Do I need to change the pitman arm for power disks vs manual drums???

[Chryco Psycho]

no it should be fine , so if you have the same pitman arm either the tie rod end is different or the larger  T bar is causing interference that was not there before

[HP2]

Sometimes while hammering on all these old parts to get them apart, things move or break. In your case it could specifically relate to the steering box or idler arm. You said you have the same pitman arm. Did you replace the idler? If not, you may have broken the bushing inside it. To check this grab the idler and pull up and push down. Any movement here is your problem. If new, parts can be built to high end of the specs, or if you changed to fast ratio parts that are longer, they will all line up differently.

To check this you need to measure the distance from the floor to the drag link on both ends next to where the pitman and idler hook up. These two measurements should be the same. If not, you need to adjust one of them up or down to align them. The steering box side is easy as you just loosen the bolts and shim the upper bolts to lower or shim the lower bolts to raise. The idler side is more difficult as you need to remove the idler, grind the mounting hole oblong, then weld a washer to the mount to relocate the new position.

Or, you simply grease the rod end, take out the zerk, and plug the hole until the next scheduled greasing.

[elevenssc]

I kept the steering box and pitman arm, and replaced everything else in the steering linkage, accept the drag link.

I did replace the idler arm.  A quick comparison didn't reveal any obvious geometry differences...they should be the same.  I'll look into this though to ensure it is not the cause.

I will measure the drag link to floor dim on each end and shim the steering box if needed...Thanks for that bit of info!

Here are some photos I took last night of the drivers side and pass side...just incase there is anything else to consider.  ( a picture is worth a thousand words right... )

[Chryco Psycho]

have you tried loosening the steering box & see if ti will move slightly ?

[elevenssc]

Just a quick note to pass along that I found out what the problem was and I solved the interference problem.

The culprit was the MOOG inner tie rod end.  The stamped steel piece that the zerk screws into was different than the one I took off.  the MOOG piece was raised in the middle...the one I took off was completely flat.  This raised the zerk about 1/16 ", and add a 1/8" larger torsion bar and wa-la, interference.  The larger t-bar would have probably created interference, but the MOOG tie rod end exagerated the problem.

Solution, shimmed the gearbox to lower the pitman arm to clear the torsion bar.

Thanks again everyone for all the insight.  It's now on to replace the rear suspension bushings.  Not looking forward to taking things apart after 39 years...

[Moparal]

Thats great news to hear another success story.  Glad it worked out for you.  The shackle bushings wont be hard, but the front eyes may be a little tough. Heat them up or press out