There was I, so happy with the joys of free steering with my new tie rod ends...... until I noticed it rubbing on the wheel! I'm guessing the wheel is just not the right one for my 40, but wondered if you guys could suggest anything other than changing the wheels....
Looking at the manual, the knuckle arm appears to be non-adjustable.
The old one didn't have much of a boot left! I was wondering if it would be possible to heat up the knuckle arm and bend it in a little - just to give the required clearance?
The old one didn't have much of a boot left! I was wondering if it would be possible to heat up the knuckle arm and bend it in a little - just to give the required clearance?
Some people frown at such an idea on the basis that the heat may alter the characteristics of the metal (ie. make it turn brittle).
But I did that very thing to my pitman arm many years ago to tweak it away from my RH wheel because it had been just-touching my tyre occasionally while at full-lock when traversing uneven ground. (BTW - I have zero-lift, am RH-drive, and run 235/85 R16 tyres.)
"Cherry red with oxy-acetylene at just the right place" and then "a good knock with a heavy soft-headed hammer at the end".
The big thing is to have some way of measuring accurately how much you're bending it so you don't go too far. And then you must redo front-end alignment afterwards of course.
Edit: So what I'm saying is ... It CAN be done but I'm not sure I'd recommend doing it.
3.5 " works with some brands It depends on the profile of the rim . My 3.5 "Rock Crawler" rims didn't rub
until cornering at freeway speed. They flexed just enough to "zing" on the high spots of the rim. 1/4" spacers fixed that. I'm unaware of any 3 1/4" backspace rims so I now buy 2 3/4 and never have problem
Thanks for all the response guys. I am tempted to go with the bending of the arm, but shall try the spacers first. Just called the shop and they have some in, so we'll soon find out how it goes!
I am doomed! Bought the spacers, came back, took off the wheel - DOH!! Already has one 5mm spacer - not enough room for another! Time to change the wheels!! AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I went to the shop today and had a look at different options. This black set looked inviting and totally different to the ally set I had on before - and they clear the tie-rod ends!
