L&R Tie Rods question

jakes 99 · September 6, 2020

Hello Forum: This question is for my Grandsons 04 Colorado 4 dr Cab. He (16 yrs old) is in Oklahoma I'm in So. Calif. so that in it self is a problem for me to help him.

He hit a curb (or that's the story he's telling,LOL) and now he and his father is repairing it. So far they have replaced both L&R sides Ball Joints & Tie Rod ends. They counted the number of turns for the tie rods inner & outer so when the new parts were installed it would be close. Well now they say one wheel turns much more outward then the other.

Here's what I'm thinking that all replacement parts (tie rods) are not the same lengths so they may have thought they did it right by counting the turns too replace the new tie rods back in the same position but if the old ones were slightly longer or shorter then the newer ones that might be the problem for one wheel to be turned outward then the other one. * * * what do you all think?

* * * DOES ANY ONE HAVE THE CORRECT LENGTHS "center to center" for the inner & outer tie rods or does one of you have a Good Back Yard Mechanics method for this problem? All is needed to get him closely aligned so he can get to an Alignment Shop which for them is 20 miles away.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hunters Grandfather aka Popa.

Edited September 6, 2020 by mjgord51

jakes 99 · September 8, 2020

WOW thought this place would be the ticket for information, guess i was wrong I'll look elsewhere.

Grumpy Bear · September 8, 2020

So then it's a toe problem that will last for 20 miles. Does he have enough adjustment to get close? If not something else is bent that is beyond he scope of a simple remedy.

Get it pointed forward and measure from the tires center rib on one tire to the other both front and back. Adjust to get the front 1/16 of an inch closer than the back side. Don't worry about a centered wheel. Worry that you have a safe amount of thread engagement. If this doesn't work......put it on a flat bed and take it to the alignment shop. Something else is tweaked....spindle? Frame? Nothing you can fix in your drive.