Tie Rod Adjusting Sleeves
04-13-2015, 10:16 AM
#1
Tie Rod Adjusting Sleeves We had a fun time last weekend playing with the car...
We discovered a front main seal leak the hard way, and spent most of Saturday "down" fixing the issue. Root cause appears to be a cheap "knock off" ARP-ish balancer bolt which galled in the crank about 3/8 before fully seating. Thankfully, a Ford Racing sponsored team was pitted next to us, and we could use their wicked-powerful impact wrench to take it off. Equally good luck is that Lane Performance is location about 20 miles from Gingerman Raceway, and has a massive showroom with all sorts of go fast goodies.
They had 53 ARP LS crank bolts in stock. Menards had a nice electric conduit brush set we could put on a drill. Between the two, we were able to clean the crank bolt hole and get the balancer snugged down properly.
So, after all the fun and frivolity, we were loading the car on the trailer. It was a little slippery, and the car went about an inch too far to the passenger side, and rode up on the trailer fender. This caused the passenger side outer tie rod end to pull completely free from the adjusting sleeve, which is one of those billet steel jobs with the lock nuts at both ends. We didn't hit that hard--maybe 5 MPH. I'd hate to see something like this replicated on the track.
The tie rod end (Moog) looked like it was in perfect condition. The sleeve looked like it still had threads, but the edges are now shiny. I managed to get it buttoned back together and on the trailer, but it got me thinking.
I'm not crazy enough to use this set up again, any where, as I don't trust it.
Obviously, the performance sleeve has to have some level of tolerance built into to the threaded bore in order for it to go onto the tie rod ends. Is there any difference in this tolerance between one brand's solid sleeve and another? Why not just go back to the stock style split-sleeve? In my eyes, the clamping action of the split sleeve locks complete remove ANY space between the rod and sleeve threads and creates a much stronger connection.
Had the incident happened with the stock split sleeve, I think the car would have rode up a bit, and then simply rolled back.
Thoughts on this?
We discovered a front main seal leak the hard way, and spent most of Saturday "down" fixing the issue. Root cause appears to be a cheap "knock off" ARP-ish balancer bolt which galled in the crank about 3/8 before fully seating. Thankfully, a Ford Racing sponsored team was pitted next to us, and we could use their wicked-powerful impact wrench to take it off. Equally good luck is that Lane Performance is location about 20 miles from Gingerman Raceway, and has a massive showroom with all sorts of go fast goodies.
They had 53 ARP LS crank bolts in stock. Menards had a nice electric conduit brush set we could put on a drill. Between the two, we were able to clean the crank bolt hole and get the balancer snugged down properly.
So, after all the fun and frivolity, we were loading the car on the trailer. It was a little slippery, and the car went about an inch too far to the passenger side, and rode up on the trailer fender. This caused the passenger side outer tie rod end to pull completely free from the adjusting sleeve, which is one of those billet steel jobs with the lock nuts at both ends. We didn't hit that hard--maybe 5 MPH. I'd hate to see something like this replicated on the track.
The tie rod end (Moog) looked like it was in perfect condition. The sleeve looked like it still had threads, but the edges are now shiny. I managed to get it buttoned back together and on the trailer, but it got me thinking.
I'm not crazy enough to use this set up again, any where, as I don't trust it.
Obviously, the performance sleeve has to have some level of tolerance built into to the threaded bore in order for it to go onto the tie rod ends. Is there any difference in this tolerance between one brand's solid sleeve and another? Why not just go back to the stock style split-sleeve? In my eyes, the clamping action of the split sleeve locks complete remove ANY space between the rod and sleeve threads and creates a much stronger connection.
Had the incident happened with the stock split sleeve, I think the car would have rode up a bit, and then simply rolled back.
Thoughts on this?
04-13-2015, 11:28 AM
#2
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I have to be really careful adjusting my toe to ensure that I have enough thread engagement on both ends of the sleeve, It's really easy to almost unscrew it on one side while moving the adjustments.
04-18-2015, 09:24 PM
#4
Im not an expert on this matter but reading your post had me thinking. There is another member on here i believe he has a post on drifting. It looks like he need more steering angle so he took a solid piece of aluminum and had it drill out and threaded couldn't you do that to ensure that you had enough thread inside the adjusting sleeve... I cant imagine it would be real expensive.
04-20-2015, 05:15 PM
#5
Im not an expert on this matter but reading your post had me thinking. There is another member on here i believe he has a post on drifting. It looks like he need more steering angle so he took a solid piece of aluminum and had it drill out and threaded couldn't you do that to ensure that you had enough thread inside the adjusting sleeve... I cant imagine it would be real expensive.
04-20-2015, 08:17 PM
#6
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not sure if you're running a Ford Rack like me, but I was also told that Griggs racing makes some rack extensions that move the inner tie rod farther out so you can have more adjustment room. I may go with that next time I start adjusting stuff.
04-28-2015, 01:43 AM
#7
A good performance sleeve will have less deflection, and less oscillation in a hard corner than the stock split sleeve will. And should be a lot stronger in an impact. If yours got damaged in such a small incident, you should replace them both.
I would only use something well made, and not from aluminum. I wouldn't trust the strength of alum threads in heavy track use.
If the parts are well made, there will be a close mesh between the threads of the two parts. Once the lock nut is tight, the threads will be clamped together tightly, with zero slop. Just like torquing a bolt into the hole.
I would only use something well made, and not from aluminum. I wouldn't trust the strength of alum threads in heavy track use.
If the parts are well made, there will be a close mesh between the threads of the two parts. Once the lock nut is tight, the threads will be clamped together tightly, with zero slop. Just like torquing a bolt into the hole.
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04-28-2015, 11:02 PM
#8
I'm running the stock steering box on mine, though I've been eyeballing rack and pinion setups. From the research I've done, it appears the best way to upgrade the steering on a 2nd gen (without spending tall $$$), is to get a steering box from a late 90s Jeep in the boneyard. It supposedly has rack-like steering in a box, and a wider total steering range.
04-28-2015, 11:04 PM
#9
A good performance sleeve will have less deflection, and less oscillation in a hard corner than the stock split sleeve will. And should be a lot stronger in an impact. If yours got damaged in such a small incident, you should replace them both.
I would only use something well made, and not from aluminum. I wouldn't trust the strength of alum threads in heavy track use.
If the parts are well made, there will be a close mesh between the threads of the two parts. Once the lock nut is tight, the threads will be clamped together tightly, with zero slop. Just like torquing a bolt into the hole.
I would only use something well made, and not from aluminum. I wouldn't trust the strength of alum threads in heavy track use.
If the parts are well made, there will be a close mesh between the threads of the two parts. Once the lock nut is tight, the threads will be clamped together tightly, with zero slop. Just like torquing a bolt into the hole.