Front end adjustment

79camaro

Last night I tried to adjust the alignment on my front end and have some questions. I followed these instructions http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...-electric.html but I don't think I did it right. When I loosened the tie rod nuts it barely budged, maybe 20 degrees in either direction. I even used a pipe wrench to try and move it but didn't want to force it. Should I have done something else?

BGW

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Taykol

When you loosened one nut did you then tighten the nut on the otherside in order to move the tie rod closer to the first nut you loosened.

Damaged1

I am definitely no expert .... but when I put a lift on one of my carts , I had to re- align the front end real bad ..... I found out that the drivers side nut is reverse thread ( after buggering the nut up with a pipe wrench ) .... I was afraid as well , trying to loosen the nut ..... I loosened both of them while I had the rod removed and adjusted it ... put it back in place and repeated removing the rod and replacing until I had it where it looked good ... then tightened the nuts in place and hopefully ... I will be good ......

pachanga90

If there are jam-nuts at each end of each tie-rod,loosen both.If its' a rack & pinion style(later TXT),there should only be a jam-nut buy the outer end.If the threads are frozen(rust,etc..),take an air-hammer with a blunt-punch,and rattle on the body of the rod-end,where the tie-rod is inside it.This vibration will usually loosen it quickly.I work in a suspension-shop,we do this all the time,it works awesome.If all else fails,a little heat will work too.Hope this helps.

79camaro

I have the nuts loose but the rod won't budge, i didn't want to apply too much force, but I guess it needs more than I am giving it? Should it move in both directions?

Taykol

My cart....
The tie rod should move both ways, so you should be able to go back and forth, toe in toe out. Also my tie rod was flattened near the middle to put a wrench on to turn.
If there is still trouble, many people use the pb blaster or some other penetrating spray. That will certainly not reach through the tie rod, but I have always used a can if freeze spray. A bit more pricey but a freeze and tap works very very well.

79camaro

Just to be clear how much should the rod actually move?

pachanga90

The rod-ends are threaded on most of the length of the round-section from the jam-nut to the ball-joint area of the rod-end.Its' fine thread,but a full-turn(360-degrees)makes quite a difference.Turn it 1/4-turn and recheck,repeat until its' set where you want.Don't do all the adjustment on one wheel,unless there is a big difference in the exposed thread from one side to the other.Hope this helps.