Tie rod extensions?????
Tie rod extensions?????
Okay, any of you guys who have ever done a 4x4 lift properly will know what Im talking about, if not you probably are very confused lol. Im wondering if there are any extensions available to go between the outer tie rod and the steering knuckle. I noticed that if I lower my car 2 inches or more then it puts my tie rods in a bind and I get an excessive amount of bumpsteer and it also binds up before it reaches the steering lock. Id really like to find something to fix this problem bacause my car drives so terrible when I put it that low that it is hard to handle. I actually raised my car up a little because I looked like a drunk driver driving down the road lol. I seriously doubt that I will find anything useful but I thought I would look cuz I really like the way my car looks when I slam it that low..........
no I know there are planty of options for inner tie rods and as well for outer tie rods I am looking for a special spacer that goes between the steering knuckle and the outer tie rod to keep the tie rod angle straight when you lower the car a lot. They make these items for 4x4 trucks when you raise them a lot to keep your tie rod angle ok so that you can actually steer them. If you have ever seen the tie rods on a 240 after lowering it about 3 inches or so they are bending u at a pretty steep angle and this causes a LOT of bumpsteer andit also causes them to bind when you get close to the steering stops.
As far as I know they don't make them...yet. i never realized this was a problem. I have seen so many slammed drift cars and none of them have the problem you mentioned. Why not take your stuff to a machine shop with some measurements and have them make you something. make a few and sell them. Not hard to do if you have an imagination and some cash.
well bupmsteer probably isnt a big problem on a drift car since they have unreasonably high spring rates and are not really driven on a street in a "normal" environment so to speak. however if you have a daily driver like mine with a set of rather soft springs on it it does pose a more serious problem. but I might try to get some of these made if I can get a local machine shop to give it a shot but around here most of the folks I have dealt with are rather narrow minded and unwilling to experiment......
Re: (andrave)
I agree with andrave. If it's binding that bad it's dropping too low for the type of setup you have.andrave wrote:cars don't need to be that low with springs that soft... its pointless.get some stiffer springs, raise it up, or have something made.
Otherwise you will have to go with some custom made spacers.
There is a point where a car is too low especially on the streets.
well, not to be offensive but the belief that you need astronomical spring rates to make a car handle well is a little on the ignorant side the only need for a higher spring rate than what I have is for track only use or drifting, besides the only binding I have has nothing to do with the spring rate it is the fact that the car was not designed to have a ride heighth that low. the only reason I want it that low is not for handling but it looks nice so it is not pointless to be that low especially since it is not having a bottoming problem at that heighth and the handling is great on the car at any heighth despite the fact that it could use some upgraded dampeners and it has too much bumpsteer when it is too low , and if you look at my post I did raise it up for the time being. oh and p.s. I never mentioned my spring rates to begin with Im runing 175 lbs in the front and 150 in the rear which is about the same as some entry level coilover setups
thats a really really soft spring for the 240 though... especiall if you are going that low. The 240 doesn't have much travel to start with, so extreme lowering with spring rates like that is going to mean you eat the bumpstops- a lot- on any public road. You don't need super stiff springs to get good handling, but you said it yourself- you want your car the way it is for how it looks, not how it performs.
well, actually it isnt a stiff spring for a 240 thats about 5o% stiffer than stock and like I said it actually has no problems with bottoming out at all, I have had it this low for quite some time and surprisingly it hasnt bottomed out once ( the strut mounts I have give it about an inch more travel in the front and about 1 1/2-2 inches more travel in the rear). my main concern is that with it at that heighth it is very "twitchy" due to excess bumpsteer. and BTW with the twitchiness aside the handling is quite impressive to me at any heighth I put it at
well, the tie rods are in good shape, the tension rods have whiteline bushings installed but part of me thinks that they are loose, and the alignment is ok I just had it on the machine a couple weeks ago, I made sure that the toe is set at factory,and I believe the camber was at about 1 1/4 degrees but I cant remember now for sure. I part of me wants to think that it is not all the tie rod angle and that the tension rods are suspect, as soon as I get a chance I am going to go with pillowball tension rods because after raising it up I noticed that it didnt help much if any, but still if you were to get under one of these when they are lowered more than 2 inches (I noticed it when I pulled it on my drive-on lift at workto change my oil) that the tie rod angle is a bit excessive. the next time I can remember to bring my digital camera I will pull it on the lift and take a shot of it from underneath so you can see what I am talking about