cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

Hello. I have an sa with gslse suspension. My driver side tie rod end (inner, outer, adjustment sleeve) is much longer than the passenger side... by about 1.5". The steering knuckle is closer to the wheel on the left side. The car is a 79 sa with gsl-se suspension and 15x9 wheels. No flares. Issue became apparent installing wheels, driver side hits tie rod end, passenger side doesn't and that's when i noticed the difference in length between the tie rods. When I bought the car it had stock suspension and fb + wheels. Everything is GSL-SE except the front lower control arms and the steering knuckles (stock sa). All the bushings, shocks, wear part have been replaced. The car drove fine in stock form (with the different length tie rods) and i've yet to drive it after modifications.

cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

From looking the LCA appears to be not bent. I even had them both off the car side by side after cleaning and painting, new ball joints, and bushings; they looked fine. I'm assuming this issue isn't normal and I think it's the knuckles. Should the tie rod end setups be roughly the same on both sides?

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

I have an SA that has the RB adjustable LCA with about -1 deg camber dialed in and all new
MOOG steering components except for the arm off the steering box. The drivers side is just
slightly long than the passenger by maybe 1/4-1/2 in. I went through something like this after
I had the car professionally aligned. Not sure how they #$%ked it up but mine was similar to
what your are describing.

First center the steering arm off the box and then manually align both sides for straight ahead
as best as possible. Don't worry about your steering wheel, that may need to be popped off
and remounted straight once you are done.

Then do an alignment using the string method to get uniform toe. For camber use your strut
tops or if you are like me adjust the LCA. Its important to drop the car from the stands and
roll it back and forth a bit between adjustments when doing this yourself. It will help settle
the suspension and see how your alignment sits. Lather and repeat until happy with your
alignment. If your steering wheel is not straight, the pop it off and rotate until it is and put
back on.

The arms don't have to identical but they should be close. My car was in a front end
collision before I ever had it so that may be why mine are off a bit. Each car is unique in this
respect I think.

cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

How close are your outer tie rod ends to the wheel itself? I know my wheels are wide and really close, but one side hits the outer tie rod end and one side doesn't. 1/4-1/2" is a lot better than what i have right now. Also, when it was a stock car (the tie rods were like this when i bought it) it drove and turned fine. lock to lock both sides were the same amount and the wheel is perfectly straight going down the road.

I thought too that possibly the wheel was turned too far or something when they aligned it but then though that couldn't be it since the one knuckle is closer to the wheel than the other one.

Thank you for your reply

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

My knuckles have the same clearance with the wheel and I'm running 205/50x15 Dunlops on
7x15 Konig Rewinds. If your wheel hits at all it must hit all the time right? Maybe some pics
would make it clearer but I think you may be right, that the steering knuckle may be bent.

Are you sure its bolted to the strut correctly and tight?

cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

"My knuckles have the same clearance with the wheel" This is what i've been waiting to hear all day!! thank you!!

I'm going to pull it all back apart when i get home but it seems correct, this is the 6th rx7 I've replaced steering components on. if yours are the same distance from the wheel mine have to be bent. it was like that with the sa spindles and the gsl-se spindles, but wasn't noticed until i replaced the tie rod ends and installed the wide tires. Yes, the driver side hits all the time and the passenger side inst' even that close.

mhr650

It is likely the steering knuckle that is bent but it could possibly be the stub axle on the strut. If you look at the picture you can see that I have the same problem going on and my steering knuckle is good but the strut is bent.



In my case I know exactly why my strut is bent…


It didn't hurt performance much since we set fast lap of the race next time out even with with the out of whack adjustment. I am building some new struts to replace the bent one and have a spare for the next time we get dive bombed…

cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

I just got done pulling them off, both sides. Sat them down together and it was apparent, the left side is bent down. My best guess is someone tried beating the tie rod out with a sledge and bent it. Luckily this was on the car when it was stock, and the rest of the parts other than the LCA were replaced with parts form a can i know for certain was never wrecked. I found the part i need an hour away and will be picking it up later tonight. The brake pads come tomorrow and they're the last piece of the puzzle! Also, the tie rod ends i just adjusted them so they were even.

Thanks for the helps!