Tie rod question

A-Jay

A-Jay

Senior Member
I am in the process of replacing steering arms (2) shortened Pittman arm and also Teflon bushings on the 30 coupe. The tie rod ends are supposed to have the bolts facing the rear with the grease fittings in front correct ? Also I removed the tie rod ends so I could get them to move later for a alignment after all is installed. after removing the ends I noticed the tie rod is not straight as a arrow, it is kind of bowed in the middle maybe 1/4" to 3/8". If all is snug and aligned will the bend cause the passenger side wheel to not steer as true or cause other problems, this may sound dumb, but I had to ask. Thanks A-Jay
 
On my 30 coupe I shortened the pitman arm ,used teflon ball seats,needle brgs on sector shaft & had sector hsg machined for modern seal & needle thrust brg to replace brass washer. After 12,000 miles it does not leak & steers as easy as using an F-150 steering box
 
If the tie rod is not straight when you try to set your toe its gonna be a pain. Every half a turn its gonna pull the wheels in then the other half push them out.
 
There seems to be a bit of confusion here. As mentioned there is no reason not to simply straighten it or at least improve it. With that said, it's just a connecting link between the two spindle arm balls as far as the geometry goes. That link can be shaped as a half circle, an "S" curve, or any shape that excites you and the distance between the two spindle arm balls will still remain whatever you adjust them to be via the tie rod ends with no change in procedure. However as Jim noted a straight rod is optimal.
 
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