Tie rod clearance issue

[alsimma95]

Back again...

Finally got my steering rack back in with new tie rods (what a PITA) and was looking forward to going for a ride... Tried to back up and heard a very loud clunking and car felt like it was getting stuck. Got nervous and thought it was my failing throwout bearing griefing me until I got my wits about me and checked out all the suspension work I did, it looks like my front right tie rod was rubbing and getting stuck on a wheel weight. I realized I had left off a spacer that came with the car, and that helped things a lot, but the tie rod is still hitting the wheel weight on sharp left turns.. Not exactly sure why this is happening, has anyone experienced anything similar?

I'm using a uro tie rod I got off rockauto (https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...y-priced-each/ same as this one), and the car is on what I'm pretty sure are the e30 basketweaves.. Is this a wheel fitment issue? Did I install the steering rack wrong? I made sure those marks lined up and steering wheel was straight when I put it in. I installed a uro tie rod on the other end too but its on the spare over there so I'm not sure if it'll have the same issue... Typing it all out this has to be a wheel fitment thing right? It's just strange I didn't have this issue before the new tie rods went in, i wouldn't think they would be that dissimilar from the old ones as to cause a clearance issue...

[alsimma95]

Well a quick google search would have saved me a lot of time in writing this... I guess it is a fitment issue... I'll measure the spacers I've got tomorrow and start looking into a new pair for the front. If anyone has recommendations for good spacers on the budget side of things I would appreciate it. Think I might need longer wheel bolts too, which sucks because I like the anti-theft bolts I have on there atm..

[Opal82]

Just another thought, any chance you have an older model, or the optional steering rack damper?
The damper requires different left and right tie rods, but I'm not sure what effect that might have if you used the same tie rods left and right.

[alsimma95]

Yeah I do have an older model but yeah the tie rods I got were different, as in I didn't put the same tie rod on both ends. Yeah I have the steering rack damper, but I didn't really mess with that thing at all. Visually the tie rods matched up with what I took off (left and right were indeed different) but I didn't go crazy with taking measurements of the new and old parts, just enough for a rough idea of where to put the tie rod end.

Another thing I forgot to mention was the inner tie rod didn't exactly fit into the steering rack on the front right side. My old inner tie rod had a shoulder with a 12.7mm diameter and the new tie rod was 13.7mm. I had to shave the shoulder with a dremel to get it to clear into the end of the steering rack, otherwise it wouldnt have sat flush against the end of the rack and I couldn't have used the lock washer. So fitment was definitely a bit off out of the box..

[cgifool]

I encountered the same issue, and solved it the same way!

[ascot]

If you are using clip on wheel weights for the inner lip of the wheel maybe try using stick on wheel weights to eliminate the interference. If you are already using stick on weights you could search for another type that is flatter/thinner than what you currently have on the wheel.

[alsimma95]

So I got things mostly sorted today with some amazon spacers. Ended up ordering a set of 15 and 20mm spacers. The car had 10mm spacers on it and the wheels are a strange size, 16x6.5 et30 style 5s. Still not 100% on my understanding of wheel offset, but I think I read they came with et13/18 wheels stock, so the 15 could have potentially worked, but it might have been a bit close... 20mm is fine for now, the wheels stick out a bit but it doesn't look that terrible and I'm not too picky about it. Also got some new 45mm lug bolts, the old ones were 25mm, which was definitely not good considering they had the 10mm spacer...

Yanked the wheel weights off on both sides for now, will take the wheels to get aligned and balanced once I finish up the control arms. Car feels so much better with the new steering rack bushings in, it doesnt want to wander left and right anymore ( old bushings were liquifying and nearly ripped in half). But yeah around 40-50, not so sure because the speedo is a bit whacky, the steering wheel still gets that shimmy. Eurometric bushings are on the way, have a fresh right aftermarket control arm, think I'm going to be SOL on the left one and just replace the outer bushings, cant stomach spending the $200+ on it..

Still plenty of stuff to do but shes gettin there, slowly but surely..