Front Tie Rod

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Cut and attach front tie rod
Parts: Steering rack and outer tie rod
Prerequisite Tasks: Mount front suspension
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 90 minutes
Date Started: July 21, 2012
Date Completed: July 22, 2012
There is good news and bad news about the most of the steering components.

The good news is that pretty much everything appears to be sourced from Flaming River. This means parts can be readily replaced.

The bad news is most of these parts need to be modified to fit the GTM.

Tie rod connected to suspension after trimming 1 inch. There is still a little room left for the jam nut.  Orientation is passenger side front suspension.

Here's the problem. If you wind the outer tie rods all the way to the end of the threads and attempt to bolt it to the front suspension, the rods are too long. I checked SpyTech's Blog (because I knew I had read this somewhere), and he recommends cutting 1 inch off the tie rod as a starting point. I looked in the manual and I couldn't find the spot where it instructs you to cut the tie rod. I'm sure it is in there, but I couldn't find it. I followed SpyTech's instructions and everything worked out. This may be something I read on the forums as well.

This is the driver's side. As you can see we are pretty close to the end of the threads on the inner tie rod.  Orientation  is driver's side suspension.

All I had available was a hack saw, and I used that to trim the passenger side tie rod. After that dreadful experience I figured there are easier ways tot handle this. I went down to Loews and purchased a 3 inch diamond cutting wheel for my die grinder. Wow! I trimmed the driver's side tie rod in 2 minutes. Wear safety glasses for this one! Sparks fly all over the place.

Another look at the driver's side suspension a few minutes before I mounted the tires. Note the orientation of the shocks. This is opposite from the manual. I suspect the printed manual has other items that do not reflect engineering changes or design modifications. There is a great deal of forum discussion regarding the coil over shocks.

For some reason, you end up taking a little bit more off the driver's side tie rod. I had to trim two more times. In both cases less than the width of a dime. I eye balled the alignment for now.