s14 tie rods on s13 problem. HELP!

[joshchewuhh]

Just installed kazama inner and outer tie rods for my s13. I have the front lower control arms off an s14 on aswell.

Now the toe cannot be adjusted to 0 degrees. One wheel is straight while the other is super negative. I cant adjust the tie rods any more because the inner toe rod is maxed inside the outer.

Its like the inners are too long, but how can that be true if im running s14 lower control arms.

Please help thanks!

[GuardianLlama]

Is your rack centered?

[joshchewuhh]

no i was going to try that tomorrow.

[joshchewuhh]

bump!

anyone?

[essforteen]

You have s14 inners aswell right and your rack is centered?
If so you shouldnt have a problem!!
and make sure the heim is screwed all the way in! to the center piece

[joshchewuhh]

Well I got the rack almost center but still its like the inners are to long. Even with the outers completly threaded till it stops the toe is still wacked inward.

Soo frustrating

[joshchewuhh]

well anyone have input on this? anyone running this setup?

[ManoNegra]

My last S13 had Moog S14 inner and outters, no problems
as been mentioned, sounds to me like the rack isn't centered properly

[joshchewuhh]

whats the best way to center the rack then?


My last S13 had Moog S14 inner and outters, no problems
as been mentioned, sounds to me like the rack isn't centered properly

[!Zar!]

Worst case, just cut the inners down. I've done it many times before, no problem.

[Hashiriya415]

when something is too long you cut it shorter. And no more complains.

[joshchewuhh]

i was thinking about cutting it to make it shorter but i shouldn't have to. S14/S13 inners are the same length just the s14's are a larger diameter. Think I need tensions rods to adjust caster therefore making my toe better?

[kuelee]

ah man.. im about to have the same problem.. no one answered ur question on centering ur rack. Would be nice to know a easy way to center it. Besides the eyeballing method..ANYONE PLEASE?

[wh0aitznic0]

Slide the boots forward and measure how far the shafts come out of the rack to make them even. You might need to remove/recenter your steering wheel after this depending on how bad it was before.

[ManoNegra]

whats the best way to center the rack then?

don't know if this is the 'proper' way to do it
but this is how I did it on my old hatch:
after swapping inner/outer tie rods
I lifted the car off the ground just enough to let the rack move freely
put it at full lock to one side
counted the turns of the wheel till full lock to the opposite side
divided by 2
set the wheel there, it looked centered and straight to me
lowered the car onto armstrong tiles soaked with soap water
set up a string to zero out toe
(google 240sx DIY alignment)
made adjustments till I was happy
tightened everything down
drove car

[SoSideways]

don't know if this is the 'proper' way to do it
but this is how I did it on my old hatch:
after swapping inner/outer tie rods
I lifted the car off the ground just enough to let the rack move freely
put it at full lock to one side
counted the turns of the wheel till full lock to the opposite side
divided by 2
set the wheel there, it looked centered and straight to me
lowered the car onto armstrong tiles soaked with soap water
set up a string to zero out toe
(google 240sx DIY alignment)
made adjustments till I was happy
tightened everything down
drove car

Oh FUCK!!!

I do not have armstrong tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ManoNegra]

Oh FUCK!!!

I do not have armstrong tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh: :duh:

lol... but yeah,
make changes to suspension
roll car back and forth on the tiles to let the changes set
measure
repeat
works great

Skullworks Armstrong Tile Group Buy - Coming Soon!!

[SoSideways]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahahahahhaaha

[ManoNegra]

CNCd from aerospace grade billet armstrong!!!

[Hashiriya415]

count me in on buy if they are just the regular aircraft tile and not some super fancy stuff.

[joshchewuhh]

okay cut my tie rods down. works perfect for those who might have this problem in the future

[SoSideways]

I'm guessing the Kazama tie rod ends' turn buckles are a little too long for those S-chassis tie rods.

How much did you cut down? An inch?

[SHINCHU]

yeah i cut mine on one side (iirc it was the left/driver side) on my japanese silvia when i bought my dmax tie rod ends.
i ended up cutting off about 3/4" and they are fine.
but now i got the PBM 7mm tie rod spacers going on soon, dreading that i might need to cut at least another 5-7mm off again. (flipping left/right tie rods for my US 240)
feh. cars...

[RCG240sx]

Sorry for the thread revival, when doing this swap do you use s14 inner tie rod locks or s13 inner tie rod locks? The reason im asking i bought moog s14 inners for my s13 and they did not come with locks....any help would be great, thank you.

[Frank_Jaeger]

I use rack spacers, so I don't use any locks at all. Just threadlocker and it's good to go! My Tein tie rods didn't come with locks.

[zerodameaon]

I use rack spacers, so I don't use any locks at all. Just threadlocker and it's good to go! My Tein tie rods didn't come with locks.

I second that just threadlock and check them every once in a while. IIRC a lot of kits don't come with locks because they have a minor built in spacer.

Which reminds me I should check mine they have been on a while.

[RCG240sx]

Appreciate the help. For once dont have to move backward on a project lol.

[jamg]

ok so i have both s14 inners and outers.

i straightened out my steering wheel, and i tried to fix the toe, but it's maxed out with no more threads to thread on.

i put spacers on both sides, where the steering rack connects to the inner tie rod, to extend it longer for more angle, but how do i fix this toe problem?

http://i.imgur.com/ceUvNP2.jpg?1?2975

http://i.imgur.com/LhFTJny.jpg?1

[Frank_Jaeger]

Are both tie rods completely shortened all the way, or just one side?

[joshchewuhh]

i shortened both to have adjustability

Are both tie rods completely shortened all the way, or just one side?

[Hiighboost2]

ok so i have both s14 inners and outers.

i straightened out my steering wheel, and i tried to fix the toe, but it's maxed out with no more threads to thread on.

i put spacers on both sides, where the steering rack connects to the inner tie rod, to extend it longer for more angle, but how do i fix this toe problem?


I had a similar situation when installing s14 inner/outers and rack spacers on my s13.
After I got it all put back together, I had excessive toe in on both sides.
No matter how I adjusted them, the outers would bottom out and I was left with no other real option but to cut them down.
After doing some eyeball measurements, I started first cutting the inners a bit shorter.
Test fitted, still needed to remove more.
Cut off a couple more threads and found I was still having toe in issues.
Ended up cutting down both inners and both outer tie rods until I finally had the wheels straight with a little room left for adjustment.

Definitely wasen't what I wanted to do to my brand new parts, but it worked lol.
I've driven at 2 events since installing them and haven't had any issues yet.
I don't really remember now exactly how much I cut off, but I would assume it was around as much as the spacers are thick lol