Crazy camber after tie-rod end replacement?

-
Corrupt_Reverend

Corrupt_Reverend

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
279
Reaction score
14
Location
California
While I was replacing my oil pump, I noticed my tie-rod ends were toast so I replaced them.

I installed the new ones as close as I could to the old ones and the tires seem parallel to eachother as best as I can see. There's an alignment shop down the road from my house so I figured it would be good enough to putter over and get an alignment.

After I got the motor running, I took it around the block. While driving, I noticed something was waaayy funky.

Going straight, the car tried like hell to veer left and right. When turning, it tried to bury the wheel in the direction of the turn and when I drove with the driver's side tires on the yellow line, I could the front tire was screeching.

I turned around and figured the tie rods were out of adjustment, but when I got back, the camber was insane. The front wheels looked like they belonged on a slammed mini truck.

Just guestimating, I'd say the tops of the tires were a goon inch inboard of the bottom.

I tried shaking both front wheels side to side at the tops. The pass felt solid, but it seemed like the driver's side wheel had a tiny bit of wiggle.

It was getting dark so I didn't have a chance to get a look under the car, though I don't know much about suspension so I'm not sure I'd even know what to look for.

So, do y'all know of anything that could cause excessive camber after replacing all four tie-rod ends?

I'm going to swing by the alignment shop tomorrow and ask them what they think, but until then... any ideas?
 
Got off work early today. Gonna poke around and see what I can spot under the car. Definitely gonna check the lower control arm mounts.

Thanks for the input so far. :)
 
The dodging left and right can be toe adjustment, so can the squeeling tires....

as for camber,, thats something else
 
Toe-in is adjusted by the tie-rods, right? I know I didn't get the dialed in perfectly, but the plan was to get an alignment right down the road.

That plan is on hold because I don't even feel safe driving the few blocks over to the shop with the camber the way it is.

I've got three friends in the tricycle club, I don't wanna join.
 
The toe can have an effect on camber since caster and SAI are both not at zero. Were caster and SAI both at zero, all you would be changing when adjusting toe is toe. There's no way you can tell where toe is set without the proper measuring devices. You can even do it with a tape measure, but trying to just "eyeball" it will result in adjustment being way off just about every time. It needs to go to the alignment shop. The toe can make one do strange things if it is way out of adjustment.
 
It sounds like you're toe is so positive that the tires are folded in causing crazy camber problems. If you want to get it "goof enough" to make it to a shop scrib a line down the center of both tires and get the same measurement on the back side from tire to tire as you do on the front side tire to tire. that will give you zero toe and drive good. altrhough, your steering wheel will not be straight. good luck
 
Okay, but you'll have to bear with my lack of proper terms.

So, ya know the little squiggly arm that goes from the steering box to the long bar that has the tie rods on each end? (I warned you)

Okay, the matching squiggly arm on the passenger side was my problem.

Apparently I bolted it under the bracket rather than in the bracket. So the passenger side squiggly arm and half of the long connecty bar were a good 3 inches too low and not very secure.

As soon as I got the car jacked up I thought, "No... That can't be how that should look..." Then I had a good belly laugh while lying on my back in my driveway before grabbing my wrenches and fixing it.
 
Corrupt_Reverend said:
little squiggly arm that goes from the steering box to the long bar that has the tie rods on each end?.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are talking about the pitman arm

Now, is all this stuff correct and in the car, or have you replaced some of it? There are 3 things, regardless of the year of the car, that must "match"

The splines size on the steering box determines which pitman arm must be used

So the pitman arm, the center link, and the idler arm, all must be "early" (68-72) or "late" (73 and later)

Here:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=236925
 
It's all original to the car. Only thing I've changed so far is all four tie-rod ends.

I'm going to be going through all the suspension/steering bits and bobs and replacing all the joints and bushings and such over the next few months. Everything is pretty haggard but those tie rod ends were toast so they went to the front of the line.

In related news, I actually stay in my lane when I hit a bump now! :)
 
Corrupt_Reverend said:
Okay, but you'll have to bear with my lack of proper terms.

So, ya know the little squiggly arm that goes from the steering box to the long bar that has the tie rods on each end? (I warned you)

Okay, the matching squiggly arm on the passenger side was my problem.

Apparently I bolted it under the bracket rather than in the bracket. So the passenger side squiggly arm and half of the long connecty bar were a good 3 inches too low and not very secure.

As soon as I got the car jacked up I thought, "No... That can't be how that should look..." Then I had a good belly laugh while lying on my back in my driveway before grabbing my wrenches and fixing it.
Click to expand...

LOL,.. Pitman arm on the steering box, and the other squiggly is the Idler arm,, lol good for you.. glad you got it figured.. I thought you'd left the wheel nuts undone,.. lol
 
If you have too much toe-in and some tires with grip you WILL draw the front end DOWN while moving forward. I didn't believe it until I saw it on my son's Barracuda.
 
Jim Lusk said:
If you have too much toe-in and some tires with grip you WILL draw the front end DOWN while moving forward. I didn't believe it until I saw it on my son's Barracuda.
Click to expand...

Some Mercedes Benz cars have over 10* of caster. On those cars, just a small adjustment of toe will throw the camber out several degrees, because the caster is at such a steep angle. If you've ever seen a Mercedes parked with the wheels cut, you know what I'm talking about. The wheel looks like it's going to fall off. Toe adjustment will affect camber on anything whose spindle is not at zero with caster and SAI. That's just how front end geometry works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top