driver's side tie rod touches inner wheel

[Slick92GS-R]

this is on bottle caps -- -- this sucks... doesn't happen on the passengers side -- haven't take the car for alignment yet ..

should i just try to angle the bottom/knuckle out to clear ..?

[jtb_29]

Has the car been in an accident?

[Slick92GS-R]

no-- old tie rods fit perfectly no problems --

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

-- haven't take the car for alignment yet ....?

ummmm.... alignment maybe??

[WillisE30]

Something doesn't add up here.

[erik325i]

ummmm.... alignment maybe??

An allignment isn't going to change the fact that the tie rod is touching the wheel.
Something's fucked up.

Since you claim the old tie rods fit fine, that leads me to believe there was some sort of operator error, or someone had to modify the old tie rods to overcome this same problem. Tie rods are so simple, I'm not sure what you could have done wrong. Did you manage to get the tie rod installed upside down?

-Erik

[PeaveyBassist]

The tie rod would have to be too low (i.e. not tight in the strut housing) to be touching the inside of the rim.

Will

[Mike@PureMS]

The new one could also have a bigger housing. Some tie rod ends use bigger balls so they can call them "heavy duty", which necessitates a bigger housing.

[Slick92GS-R]

here are old & new b4 install --


after install




nasty wheel scrape

[Jean]

That's odd. I can't tell from the picture but is the "tie-rod" end the same size / height on both (old and new) ?

[PiercedE30]

it looks like the ball joint is larger than the old one......odd
you sure you got the right part?

[AdamF 88iS]

Make sure the ball joints are teh same size.

Also, could the knuckle bent so the mounting for the tie rod is down too low?

[Mike325]

The new one looks bigger. Did you make sure the nut on top got tight and did not just spin in place? This is common. Mine are close, but not touching of course.

[cthulu703]

Is the ball joint tight against it's taper on the knuckle? It looks like it might not be, but hard to tell. I think the Mike325 might be asking the same question. I put a small bottle jack underneath the joint when I tightened mine. Not enough to take the weight of the car, but enough to make it interfere with the taper on the knuckle.

[ivo316]

From the pic i can't tell, but it seems the thread on top of your bolt is very little, try tightening it a bit more, but make sure you got the right part, sometimes the guy at the parts stor can make a mistake and send/sell you the wrong part.