Tie Rod Lenths

[Gus350]

Redoing the front end on my 68 Ordered all new Moog tie rods. The truck has had a newer mid 80's crossmember put in by PO. So ordered all tie rods and ball joints for a 80 truck.

I have new CPP Modular drop spindals PB tubular 1 inch forwar A Arms and 2 1/2 drop springs. Since the spindals narrow the drive tract will this effect the lenths of my tie rods.

I allready have tie rod sleevs kit 5252 and with the rods screwed all the way in on both sides the pasenger side wheel is still toed out hard where the drivers side seems straight.

Any suggestions??

Kevin

[Pro Performance]

Kevin,

We are in the middle of having our own tie-rods sleeves machined in a standard length, and also a 1" narrowed length. We have them ordered and expect them in stock in the next few weeks.

I think the 1" narrowed we will have, will work great for your particular application.

- Travis

[Pro Performance]

Our narrowed tie rod sleeve will be 3.7" in overall length.

[Gus350]

Thanks Travis

[Gus350]

Tie rod sleeves didn't really help bring toe in enough. Looks like i need to cut off about 1/2 inch off the longer tie rods is this safe to do as long as they still thread into the sleeve good enough..

Kevin

[lolife99]

Do you have any pics of what you are working on?

[Pro Performance]

As long as it threads into the sleeve enough, and enough threads on the tie rod to do so, I don't see why this won't work.

[Gus350]

I'll get some pics this weekend when I put it back together. Had to paint the center link so I took it all off.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Gus350

Redoing the front end on my 68 Ordered all new Moog tie rods. The truck has had a newer mid 80's crossmember put in by PO. So ordered all tie rods and ball joints for a 80 truck.

I have new CPP Modular drop spindals PB tubular 1 inch forwar A Arms and 2 1/2 drop springs. Since the spindals narrow the drive tract will this effect the lenths of my tie rods.

I allready have tie rod sleevs kit 5252 and with the rods screwed all the way in on both sides the pasenger side wheel is still toed out hard where the drivers side seems straight.

Any suggestions??

Kevin

Kevin-
I have this exact same issue on my '64, but my driver's side is the culprit. I used a '79 front crossmember/suspension, and have all new Moog parts. I haven't gotten to the point of adjusting and torquing the front suspension, but I was planning to shorten the outer tie rods to keep them from bottoming out in the adjuster sleeve. By shorten, I mean to trim the threaded end and re-dress the threads.

I have Bell Tech drop spindles, 1 coil cut from a 1/2 ton coil spring, the lower control arms moved forward 3/4", and the chassis has been Z'd 2". I think that my culprit is the power steering box adapter bracket, which spaces the steering box 1/4" away from the frame for clearance. My '64 was originally a manual steering truck, and I used the donor '79 power box. Because of this, the pitman arm is now 1/4" over to the driver's side as well, and the length of the Moog tie-rod won't compensate for the additional 1/4". You won't have an issue on the passenger side because you'll adjust the tie rod outboard to compensate for the 1/4", and you'll actually gain distance within the adjuster.

The Moog outer tie rods might be slightly longer than the stock and aftermarket parts, but I'm not sure on that. I prefer Moog parts over all of the others, and if I have to do a slight alteration to make them work, I'm OK with that.

[Gus350]

Finally got tie rods back on and got some pics.

[Gus350]

Other side.

[Gus350]

Do you think I just need to replace the longer inner rod with a shorter one. Or just cut some off the rods them self.

Thanks Kevin.

[lolife99]

EDIT:
Just re-read

[Gus350]

They are supposed to be the one inch forward only. These are the only set I have ever had so i would have to get measurement to check if they where the shorter version

[Gus350]

[Gus350]

Yes on everything except the center link im just guessing that its right I measured it and its 31 1/4 inches long

[Gus350]

Okay centerlink has to be right cause a 68 idler arm wouldn't fit it correct.

[lolife99]

Let me start over.
1) you have a 80's crossmember
2) 73-87 CPP modular spindles?
3) 73-87 centerlink?
4) 73-87 outer tie rods?

[lolife99]

The Part #5252 tie rod sleeve is your only choice (11/16" diameter) unless you go to www.performanceonline.com or another vendor.
They are only 3.5" long.
http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/d...d-sleeves.html

I wonder if they are not threaded all the way thru.
Maybe a stock set of tie rod sleeves would work?
I have used the Edelbrock (now QA1) tie rod sleeves with great success,... but not with CPP Modular spindles,... but that shouldn't be an issue.
I'm not sure what is going on?
Have you had it on the ground with wheels and weight on the chassis?

Take some pics from the front side please.

[Gus350]

No its hasn't had any weight on it yet . Ill get a set of stock ones and try them ILL also check the QA1s and see if they are threaded all the way thru.

thanks

[lolife99]

Here's a picture of another member's PB arms with stock tie rod sleeves.

[Gus350]

[Gus350]

[Gus350]

didn't think about it till now I still have the old tie rods intack ill try to put them on this wekend and see if that lines up better or is the same.

[chevyrestoguy]

I re-read your initial post, and when you say that the tie rod is threaded all the way in, do you mean that the outer tie rod is threaded into the sleeve and it's bottoming out on the inner tie rod inside the sleeve? If so, a shortened sleeve isn't going to help you. You're fighting a tie rod length issue.

If so, then trim the outer tie rod length down 1", re-dress the threads and you'll be fine. Do yourself a favor and before you cut the length, spin the appropriate thead die on to the tie rod a couple of inches. That way, when you turn out the die to de-dress the threads, it'll establish your initial thread groove on the way out. This will make is much, much easier to thread the die back on. After that, spin the die back on and off a couple of times and test it in the sleeve to make sure it'll engage.