No toe in/out adjustability after suspension rebuild

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ESP47

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I'm in the process of rebuilding the suspension on a 67 Valiant and in the process I also converted from power to manual steering. I got most everything back together and I'm in the middle of adjusting the toe in and out to get it decent enough to drive down to alignment shop.

I have the steering wheel straight and now I have the wheels straight. My problem is there is no more adjustability for the pass side tie rod. Meaning the tie rod ends are threaded all the way in to the sleeve. The drivers side tie rod is about 3/8" away from being maxed out as well. I should have marked them when I took them off but I forgot to. I know I had at least 3/4" of thread showing on all the original tie rod ends. Now I'm basically down to zero and I'm afraid the car won't be able to get aligned. Is there something stupid I'm doing wrong here?
 
How are the turns lock to lock from steering wheel center?
 
I just went out there and checked it. Takes exactly 3 turns to the right to max out and about 2 and 7/8ths to the left to max out.
 
Make it drivable, and take it to the alignment shop.
If they are good,they will figure it out for you.
Don't sweat the small stuff......:)
 
I just went out there and checked it. Takes exactly 3 turns to the right to max out and about 2 and 7/8ths to the left to max out.

It sounds like you have lock to lock pretty close. I would drop the pitman arm back down and see if the splines in the sector shaft are twisted.
 
It sounds like you have lock to lock pretty close. I would drop the pitman arm back down and see if the splines in the sector shaft are twisted.

or the pitman arm is off... think it only goes on 90* at a time though...
 
or the pitman arm is off... think it only goes on 90* at a time though...

If the pitman arm is off 90* the lock to lock wouldn't even be close unless there's a problem elsewhere..........
 
If the pitman arm is off 90* the lock to lock wouldn't even be close unless there's a problem elsewhere..........

well the column can be in right and go lock to lock in the box... but we have no idea where the actual wheels are... mops dont lock out on the LCA like fords do...
 
Just an add'l thought :-k

If the splines on the sector shaft appear straight, just take it to the alignment shop like Johnny Dart mentions above. Caster and camber settings can have an effect on where the toe in/out ends up.
 
Could just get the alignment right where it needs to be, then pull the steering wheel and put it back on where it needs to be. There could be a chance that the car was aligned prior by a not so good shop and they did that to the previous owner.
 
Steering wheel goes on only one way there is a flat spot machined in,also so does the shaft were the pit man arm slides on.Surprised no one caught this.
 
I'm no expert LOL, actually asked about alignments here a few weeks ago :)

Are you making these adjustments with the car on the ground (all the weight on the wheels)? If so, make sure you first set the ride height (torsion bars) then the caster, then camber and finally toe-in. You should be able to get it very close to perfect unless something is off somewhere.
 
Remember also, adjusting your camber bolts in the upper control arms also affects the toe in/toe out. I found this out the hard way, when I did my disc brake/upper control swap.
 
Thanks guys, I adjusted the camber/caster as close as I could get it and it didn't really affect the toe too much. I'm going to take it to a reputable shop for the alignment instead of going to Les Schwab or some place like that. Only problem is the fuel pump decided to die while I was doing the suspension rebuild. Why does that always seem to happen? Oh well, gotta wait until tomorrow for Napa to get one in and I'll be back at it.
 
If you're in Sacramento, there's actually a Les Schwab you can go to and get a good alignment to more modern specs. The alignment guy is a circle track racer and understands that the factory specs for these cars are horribly outdated. Shoot me a PM and I'll send you more info...
 
Here is what I do, remove pitman arm count turns lock to lock divide by 2 set steering wheel in center. Don't worry if the steering wheel is not right you will remove and center later. Reinstall pitman arm then adjust tie rods so they have the same amount of adjustment on both, then set toe adjusting each tie rod as necessary. If the steering wheel was not right, remove and set to correct position.
 
Here is what I do, remove pitman arm count turns lock to lock divide by 2 set steering wheel in center. Don't worry if the steering wheel is not right you will remove and center later. Reinstall pitman arm then adjust tie rods so they have the same amount of adjustment on both, then set toe adjusting each tie rod as necessary. If the steering wheel was not right, remove and set to correct position.

What good is removing the steering wheel? The wheel only fits in exactly ONE spot on a chrysler. Unless someone has modified the column splines or the steering wheels splines there is a double (master) spline that only fits in one corresponding double spline.
 
What good is removing the steering wheel? The wheel only fits in exactly ONE spot on a chrysler. Unless someone has modified the column splines or the steering wheels splines there is a double (master) spline that only fits in one corresponding double spline.

What I said,same as the pit-man arm only one way it will go.
 
What I said,same as the pit-man arm only one way it will go.

its not hard to file the master spline out of column... also i think the pit can go on 4 ways, a master spline @ every 90*, granted only one would work...


something else is what do you have the wheels on that is allowing them to turn on the ground?? if nothing you need to roll it back and forth at least 6ft, and jounce it... then measure...
 
its not hard to file the master spline out of column... also i think the pit can go on 4 ways, a master spline @ every 90*, granted only one would work...


Why the heck would you file the spline out of the column ?

There is 2 ways of doing things. The right way or the (half ***)wrong way.

Why not do it the right way ?

Chrysler took all the guessing out of it with the key ways. They are on both ends of the steering shaft,and pitman arm. Really,it can only go back together one way. Easy Peasy stuff here folks.
 

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I did some more adjusting yesterday and now I have about 1/4" of thread left on each side but it's still not like it used to be. Oh well I'm going to try and drop it off at the shop today to get an alignment.

Thanks 72blunblu but I refuse to go to Les Schwab after they tried screwing me over a few years ago. I rebuilt my Duster's suspension and they told me they couldn't adjust the tie rods on the vehicle and that they had to take each tie rod end off and adjust it some way or another. They said it would be $20 per tie rod end, so an extra $80 on top of the alignment. I told the guy all they had to do was adjust the sleeve to change the toe and he told me it wasn't up for debate. So I took my car back and had it aligned elsewhere without problems. I vowed to never go to Les Schwab again.
 
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