steering rack, tie rod problem

[chadhuskey]

ok so on my 1989 festiva i replaced my;
inner tie rods
outer tie rods
lower control arms
struts
and put 175 70 13 tires on

then i took it for an alignment....
they told me the passenger side was close to and the drivers side adjustment is maxed out (as if the inner tie rods were too short) and the drivers side was still not in spec (more than 1 degree out)


so i was assuming i have a replacement part issue

i purchased another set of new inner tie rods and to my dismay they were EXACTLY the same length.

so another set of outers.... EXACTLY the same length ;(

then i compared my old lower control arms to the new... same

what the heck? has anyone had this issue.... what is the problem?
what did i do wrong?

im now considering making some spacers; male thread one end, female on the other to add .75in to my tie rods (on the rack side)

but i want to know what did i do wrong?
it was aligned perfectly (with some play due to wear) before i replaced everything. its never been wrecked, had been owned by me or my cousin for the last 15 years.

help please

thanks,
-chad

[chadhuskey]

i kind of remember the 1989, 1988 being different threads... are they longer?... do i keep getting bad parts? im frustrated ;P

[link5186]

Sounds like your rack isn't quite centered in its travel from left to right. Lift the front end, back those babies out of the tie-rod ends and turn them in equally on both sides until you're close on toe, then recenter the steering wheel.

Sent from the bathroom via crapatalk.

[Movin]

Do your own toe set on the ground to make sure you have it before going
back to the shop for alignment. Links right on do that.

[chadhuskey]

both sides were maxed out?
if i center it wont they still be maxed out?

[chadhuskey]

the inner tie rod threads are 7/8 exposed on both sides.... i remember the old tie rods were less than 1/2 exposed

[Movin]

Any chance some aspire parts might have been in the mix??

[TominMO]

FYI, Rockauto lists different inner tie rods for 88 and 90. The tie rod ends are the same.

[Festy46]

If you still have your old lower control arm, compare its length to your new one. Like Movin said, you may have Aspire LCA's instead of Festiva's. You can do your own toe measurement with a sharpie pen and a tape measure. Jack up the car and hold the pen tip against the tire and rotate it to make a mark all the way around the tire. Then get someone to help you and with the car sitting on the ground, measure the distance between your marks. Measure as high up on the tire as you can get without touching the under side of the car on the front and back sides of the tires. The measurement at the back side of your tire should be a hair under 1/4" longer than at the front. If you have the same amount of threads showing on the tie rods when you get the toe set, but the steering wheel is not straight, just pop the steering wheel off and rotate it to center and replace it.

[chadhuskey]

i ordered MORE tie rods, inner
this time from rock auto,
definitely for a 1989 ford festiva... paid for expedited shipping, roughly $80 total
and yay they are .5in longer
BUT THE THREADS ARE DIFFERENT! AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH! (pirate frustration)
these have fine threads on the inner (rack) side my rack is coarse threads

so frustrated

[TominMO]

You might have a later rack. Maybe they switched over to the coarse-thread racks in the middle of the 89 production run.

[chadhuskey]

so fine threads are usually early prod rack and coarse are late?


she was born 3/28/1989

[shadetree]

You were sent aspire control arms .
As said before !!! That's the problem ...
They are longer that's why there maxing out the inner tyrods .

[chadhuskey]

the tie rod i got as a replacement (top) is 0.5in shorter than the
takeoff tie rod in middle(i dug it out of the trash)
the bottom is the newest from rock auto, correct length.... wrong threads

the replacement (see posts above) lower control arm measures the same as the takeoff control arm.

also the camber doesnt have any issue

[IMG][/IMG]

[chadhuskey]

it appears that the takeoff inner tie rod;
length is approx 10.5in
outer threads are M12-1.25
inner threads (rack side) M16-1.5 (coarse)
so i ordered 2 more tie rods ev288 from moog

will be here in a couple of days