Could someone measure their tie rod please

I should have been born blond. So far in the course of converting to front discs and general front end rebuild I have pulled the following blunders....

I got the left knuckle all bolted up and king pins pre-tensioned and looked down to see I forgot to put the axel in first.
Then I had the right side all together and this time I made sure the axel was in before pouring in the gear lube... oh-no... I forgot to bolt on the rear knuckle seal and felt wiper...... clean up the mess and go on I suppose.

So now... I am cleaning up the tie rods and putting new balls on the ends. I figure if I measure exactly, it will be easier to do the toe-in later. So I make a sketch for the steering rod and the tie rod and make my measurements from the end of the rod to the center of the grease zerk of the end balls. Also I take an overall measurement from Center-line of ball stud to Center-line of ball stud, then I proceed to take everything apart for cleaning and install the new ends. You know, the fun part.

The tie rod from the steering box to the right side went together pretty smoothly and it is now the same length as the old one... but when I went to get my dimensions for the main knuckle to knuckle tie rod, all I found was a pretty picture with no dims.... duh !! I forgot to measure...

Could someone give me a measurement to use, (Dana 27, Saginaw steering) My right knuckle is a single hole type and that tie rod end has the extra hole for mounting the steering rod.

Just the overall length left knuckle to right knuckle, taken at the center of tie-rod holes (or zerk to zerk would probably be good), to a 1/16'' please.

Thanks a lot
Al

 

Is this stock Ross steering or a Saginaw conversion? One piece tie rod? Hard to tell from the description. More info would be helpful.

 

It has the saginaw box and a single long tie rod between knuckles. The right tie rod end is longer and slightly bent and there is a boss hole where the steering tie rod end bolts into it instead of in the right knuckle.

 

I would pull a string line from back to front -both sides- and line both fronts to the string, then measure center to center on tie rod holes. That will get you very close.

 

I'm a little confused on the string line back to front thing. What would be the back and front control points?
I could see aligning the tire centers (if they are in line with each other) but I don't yet have my hubs and bearings together so I can't mount front tires yet. Also wouldn't the front tires be a different spacing from stock with the disc conversion in place?

I could try to set the knuckles 90 deg to the axle housing and adjust the horizontal distance between the front and rear of the knuckle castings equally, but the backs aren't parallel with the face side - there is an angle there, so I would somehow have to measure to the face of the knuckles to get them distanced parallel.

I pretty much need to know what the distance between C/L of the holes is supposed to be and am not sure how to determine it from what I have to work with. That's why I hope someone with a similar front end can take a quick measurement. What would be a reasonable tolerance? 1/16''

Thanks
Al

 

What Walt was talking about and is the most accurate way of setting toe without alignment equipment is to put it all together and pick a common point on each tire, i.e. as close to center as possible. Center of tire in the front and center of tire behind the axle when measured from the ground to the top of the tire. Then adjust toe accordingly. About 1/16" to 1/8" toe in (front of tires towards each other) is about right. Trying to do it just by the measurements of the tie rods will get you kind of close, but really not close enough. There are too many variations, movement of components, etc. to do it just by the tie rods and ends.

 

Thanks for splain'in it to me ogre...
I sort of figured on doing a more accurate toe in later when I get the wheels on but I am not to that point yet... still have to do the calipers and brake lines etc. but I would like to get the tie rod installed fairly close as is.

 

Since everyone is out on a trail enjoying the holiday I guess I have to figure out a method. How does the following sound...

The object is to get the outside faces of the knuckles parallel with each other and perpendicular to the axel tube in order to find the distance between the holes for the tie rod ends. Then I can set my tie rod to this length and be close enough to perform a toe-in later when I have the wheels mounted. All I have to work with is the frame and knuckles. I will have to make measurements at the 3-o'clock and 9-o'clock points of the machined outer surface of each knuckle until they are evenly spaced and parallel. I might be able to measure from a nearby point on the frame but final checking needs to be knuckle to knuckle. Perhaps mounting a straight edge across the knuckle face (sticking out front & rear) would provide a convenient measure point.

 

That will work!

 

Easier to do with the wheels and tire in place

 

I came up with 41 1/2" C/L hole to hole.
I took a couple 1/2" alum C channel used to mount bookshelves to the wall and mounted them flush with the face of each knuckle and snugged them up with the top spindle studs. Then I got both knuckles parallel by measuring the C channel inside to inside over the knuckle arms and about 1 1/2 foot behind the knuckle body. They were about 45 1/16 when equal. I then canted the front in to an even 45" and the rear then measured between 45 1/8-45 1/4. At that point I measured the holes and they were right near 41 1/2" so that's what I set my tie rod to and installed them. The only issue is that at full left lock, the right end ball just touches the spring. I had to adjust the ends to let that one stick out from the rod a little more and the left side screwed in a little more but that is the only problem I encountered. The steering rod went right in slick. I then mounted the steering stabilizer. That took a few attempts as the new shock cyl is fatter than the old one and getting everything aligned so it wouldn't rub on something going lock to lock was time consuming but I got it.

Then I assembled the rotors & hubs with the spacer race and bearings. They seem to fit right. I'm just having a little problem getting the pads to stay in the proper place when I try to mount the calipers.... I seem to recall something about some spring clips... maybe that is what I need to keep them in place while I put the caliper bolts thru.....

al