bent up arms... (1 Viewer)

[lowtideride]

i got my arms back today from w and put them on and it looks like i have to take about a 1/2 inch on both side of my tie rod....the ferg is the only other person i know of that did this and ran into the same problem... (how much did you have to cut off?) secondly it seems the arms are super close to the tires now is there any problems will i run into with them being closer to the tires?
i hope they dont turn out to be big problems, im super stoked it so close to being done. it should be rolling tomorrow if all goes welll...

thanks agian -al

p.s. rolling no stoping it tho no brkae lines yet.....well the e-brake

 

[theferg]

Damn. I forgot. I had to run 1/4 inch spacers to clear TREs from the tires. My rims had 3.75 inch backspacing though. So if you had less backspacing on your rims, you wouldn't need 'em. But you can find 1/4 spacers pretty cheap. Only drawback there is that you loose 1/4 inch of thread on your wheel studs... But I ran the 1/4 spacers since I first got my cruiser in April 2001 and never had any problems with them.

As to the tie rod, I did have to cut it on each end. I actually cut 3/4 inch off each end. I do have a little extra room left so I could've probably got by with a little less, but I'm not sure if 1/2 inch off each end would have done it for my rig... But I do know this, I would hate to have to cut the ends twice each!

-Ferg-

 

[lowtideride]

for now im running the stock rims and it looks like they just barly fit will i need the spacers right away? i dont have the green for new tires and rims yet so ill just look like a jackass for the next month til i have the money...
-al


thanks ferg

 

[theferg]

I couldn't say if you'd need them right off. I think you'll have to just do a test fit...

-Ferg-

Oh ya and where are some more pics of how it's goin'?

 

[CruisinGA]

Just try them and see, make sure to spin the rims and check for rubbing before you put them on the ground. If there is no rubbing, no problem. Might want to turn the wheel side to side which spinning the tire just to be sure...

 

[lowtideride]

ill get on those pics tomorrow... the plan is to get the back springs on and the steering and have it rolling around and just using the e-brake to stop. i at least want to get it out of the garage to see what it looks like sprung over on 31s. it looks bad ass from the front im sure it looks funny from the side tho.. this guy that lives below me started laughing because there was a sprung over jeep that was sitting about the same hight and my sprung over fj60 on 31s.. he thought i should steal the 38s that it has on it for mine since its sitting 50 ft from my garage...

welll im stoked to get it done...brake lines come in later this week.

 

[CruisinGA]

Can't wait too see it....
Every day I begin to wish more and more I'd held off and waited until I knew enough to do an SOA.....

 

[lowtideride]

sh*t son get on it. im only 19 so i only got 2 years on you. secondly ive never ripped apart a suspenion before in my life and i just moved to florida so i had no help but you guys..your on here all the time so im sure youve read everything you could about it.. it took me 6 months of planing and saving and i went for it.... so get on it you only live once.....

-al

thanks agian everyone....

 

[Straylight]

Just got my mini arms back from W and am running into the same problem. Looks like I have extreme toe out with my tie rod cranked down as short as it will go. Got a question, it sounds like when you cut your tie rod you still had enough thread left inside to screw the Tie Rod Arms in enough to get the alignment back to where it should be, right? What did you use to cut the tie rod with. How did you protect the thread in the tie rod so you could screw the ends back in. Greatful for any info, was happy to see your solution since I was sort of stumped.

 

[woody]

how close is "super close" to the tire? My concern would be under low air pressure and a hard side-load deflection...too close and the arm has the potential to contact the arm as it shifts.

I have this problem now with my tires and my shocks...the compressed tire rotates enuf on it's axis to contact the shock...it's 7-8" away when level!

got pics??

 

[theferg]

[quote author=Straylight link=board=1;threadid=8582;start=msg73246#msg73246 date=1070976666]
Just got my mini arms back from W and am running into the same problem. Looks like I have extreme toe out with my tie rod cranked down as short as it will go. Got a question, it sounds like when you cut your tie rod you still had enough thread left inside to screw the Tie Rod Arms in enough to get the alignment back to where it should be, right? What did you use to cut the tie rod with. How did you protect the thread in the tie rod so you could screw the ends back in. Greatful for any info, was happy to see your solution since I was sort of stumped.[/quote]

We cut mine with a chop saw. It actually kind of sucked. It left burrs and crap and we had to file it all off. I really don't know what could have worked better, but that's all we had really. And after we filed it, they went right on the TREs no problem.

-Ferg-

 

[lowtideride]

well it doesnt look like its going to happen today. i could not get the drives side tre off so im gonna try to take to a garage and see if they will take it off for me for like 5 bucks. i just used a hack saw to cut the one end off it took a lil bit but the cut was clean and it went right in, but i think i ran into another problem the tie rod is old and it seems that there should have been more threads to screw it in further, i think that where it use to be screwed in the threads were fine but right after that the threads got rusty and i cant get to screw it in any further ;( so ill see what i can do later on tonight about it.

anyone know how much a new tie rod is? can you get it from napa? dude this is taking forever

thanks agian -al

 

[theferg]

Dude, we had to pipe wrench mine on tight... I didn't think everyone's woulda been so hard but I guess so considerin' they're all gonna be 15-20 years old or so...

I'm not sure how much new tie rods are, but if you're gonna buy a new one, you may as spend a couple more bucks and get a beefier one. I can't think of where to get them off-hand, but somebody will I'm sure.

-Ferg-

 

[lowtideride]

i know i should prob post this in another post but napa called tonight and said my brake lines were in, i never took the frame to axle hoses off before, do i have to bleed the brakes and every wheel now?

p.s. im gonna cry if its not on the road tomorrow... its been almost a month now without driving it.. this one man job took way longer than i thought....

thanks agian everyone
-al

 

[lowtideride]

oh yeah the ferg how did you get it perfectly aligned?
a shop?

 

[lowtideride]

or the eye ball method?

 

[CruisinGA]

Yes you will have to bleed. I hate bleeding. It sucks. That said good luck.

I would buy one of those power bleeders. Do you have air tools? If you don't use one you will need a helper with a strong leg.
When you go to Napa to pick up your brake lines get a 10, 14, and 17 mm line wrench and a quart of brake fluid.
Go to a hardware store and get a 2 feet of clear aquarium hose to put on the bleeder valves.
Get a coke bottle and punch a hole in the top for the tube, stick tube in to bottom of can, and put in enough brake fluid to submerge the end of the tube. Go to town.
Might want to go ahead and soak the bleeders and anything else with PB tonight. Also be careful, brake fluid will pull the paint off ANYTHING it comes in contact with. It also burns eyes. That hurts. A lot.
There ya go-all you need to know to bleed your brakes.

 

[CruisinGA]

[quote author=lowtideride link=board=1;threadid=8582;start=msg73562#msg73562 date=1071023890]
oh yeah the ferg how did you get it perfectly aligned?
a shop?
[/quote]
I got a perfect alignment (at least it feels that way ) on my 40 my first time replacing TRE's and TR's with a tape measure and a sharpie.
Install tie rod, eyeball to the best of your ability.
Using a straight edge or something mark a point at opposite front and rear of the rotor on both wheels. (I about said backing plate, but you have discs up front).
Now measure between the rear marks and the front marks.
Now adjust tie rod until there is 1/8th" difference front to rear (shorter in front). 1/8th is not a magic number of perfection, but a good starting point. Only after a test drive can you confirm correct settings. That said, 1/8th was perfect for me.

 

[lowtideride]

thanks man...

 

[CruisinGA]

[quote author=lowtideride link=board=1;threadid=8582;start=msg73586#msg73586 date=1071025202]
thanks man...
[/quote]
Sho thang
NOW GET OFF YOUR BUTKISS AND FINISH