tie rod adjustment running out of adjustment for alignment

[CUDA JAS]

All fast ratio, yes am running FR idler as well.

cool.

I am running the fast ratio pitman and idler from PST.  I am also using their solid tie rod adjusters and beefier tie rods.

I had no issue with the tie rods, in fact I just looked at them and the tie rods are visually the same and have adjustment in and out.

Jason

[loco440]

I to am having the same problem on changing the pitman and idler arm,I checked the wheel is correct on the can the can is keyed on the shaft,the uni joint is keyed on the shaft and the P/S box,on taking the old pitman arm off measured the new with the old and came to the conclusion the new arm is half a spline out,I tried the arm both ways on the steering splines and same problem of the adjustment sleeves were wound right up on one side or the other,we wheel aligned it and found the total alignment is out due to the arms are now now swinging on the wrong ark,the fix well I emailed FF and they said they would look into it and get back with an answer,still waiting,has any one tried the one Summit is selling to see if it fits right?

[crash340]

that makes three of us now, Ive sent heaps of photo's over to the guys at FF, just waiting on their response now, they will sort it out just not sure of the time line, its right now pretty much the last thing that is holding me up.

[CUDA JAS]

that makes three of us now, Ive sent heaps of photo's over to the guys at FF, just waiting on their response now, they will sort it out just not sure of the time line, its right now pretty much the last thing that is holding me up.

Can you post some of the photos here??

I would like to see what the tie rods look like.

Thanks,

Jason

[crash340]

Will do in a day or so

[CUDA JAS]

Will do in a day or so

Thanks.

So just to add to this...I have a question and some additional info.

Question - is it really that big of a deal to have the tie rods different lengths for a street driven car?

Info - As I said above, I have the fast ratio pitman from PST. It also does not have the master splines.  With the standard steering box, the steering wheel was centered, and once aligned, the tie roods were very very close to equal length.

I just finished converting to power steering and used the same pitman arm.  Now, I have the same problem you do...the steering wheel is clocked correctly, but with the wheels straight the steering wheel is off center by a little less then a quarter turn.  In order to center the wheel, I would need to lengthen one tie rod and shorten the other.

I am guessing that the splines are machined differently on the manual and power steering boxes.

so that leads me back to my question above.

Jason

[crash340]

My understanding is your better off correcting the steering wheel, differering length tie rod ends will give very wierd bump steer.

right now, im considering heating and bending the FR pitman arm to correct the issue but I dont have any experience with such a task.

here is a pic with the original pitman arm fitted, not the centre link is centered between the torsion bars and the amoutn of thread showing at the tie rod end is equal


here is a pic with the FR arm fitted, note I have not moved the centre link, notice the ball joint misalignment


here are three pics showing the original arm then the location of the FR arms either side of perfect.

[Cudaragtop]

 

[CUDA JAS]

My understanding is your better off correcting the steering wheel, differering length tie rod ends will give very wierd bump steer.

right now, im considering heating and bending the FR pitman arm to correct the issue but I dont have any experience with such a task.

here is a pic with the original pitman arm fitted, not the centre link is centered between the torsion bars and the amoutn of thread showing at the tie rod end is equal

So how do you fix the steering wheel without having different length tie rods???

I think I would take different length tie rods over heating up the Pitman arm.  That sounds like a very bad idea to me.

Jason

[dutch]

I`m not sure if these pitman arms are forged or cast parts.  If forged, I think you will be fine ( as long as you understand what heated metal needs to make the bend you need) but if it`s a cast part, you will probably kill yourself in the near future   

[CUDA JAS]

I`m not sure if these pitman arms are forged or cast parts.  If forged, I think you will be fine ( as long as you understand what heated metal needs to make the bend you need) but if it`s a cast part, you will probably kill yourself in the near future   

I am going to say they are cast.   

I always equate a forged part to have that smooth shiny surface and a cast part to have the bumpy dull surface.

My fast ration pitman arm has the bumpy dull surface.

Jason

[crash340]

Another option suggested to me was to shim the steering box mount, the factory did this to correct vertical alignment, I might be able to correct our problem pending room to do so by the same way.
Greg

[roadman5312]

We had some steering linkage issues and shimmed the steering box. Believe this picture came from factory or dealer info.

[crash340]

That is correct Roadman, only in this case rather than install top or bottom only, it will be left or right only, Im going to try the right side first I think but the steering box is fairly close to the inner fender already, if I cant get it that way, I will do the left and see how I go

Greg

[crash340]

Ok, tried shimming, no good, not enough room in the column tube for the shaft, shim was near 2mm and not enough. So, right now looks like I'll re master spline the box input shaft once I centre the centre link and tie rods so the steering wheel is at TDC, with offset UCA bushes I should get around 4-5 deg caster which will help hold the car tracking straight rather than teh factory tight spot at TDC in the steering box.

Sucks but thats about what I'm left with.