Alignment Mystery (misery) solved. NEW QUESTION 88 80q

[TooManyAudis at aol.com]

Turns out the alignment mystery I posted regarding my 88 80q a few weeks  ago 
was a bent tie rod -- actually it looks like it may have been two bent tie  
rods.
 
I replaced the right tie rod -- with a significant bend in it last  night.  A 
lovely little job that would take me two fewer hours the second  time around.
 
I did an "eyeball allignment" by centering my wheel to the rack, then  
adjusting the wheels to "straight" from there.  The right tie  rod had plenty of 
adjustment room for either direction.
 
The left tie rod, however, is all the way in and could still use 1/4" to  
1/2" of adjustment to allow the wheel to line up to a "straight and centered"  
steering wheel.
 
Upon investigation, it appears that the left tie rod also has a bit of  
deflection (not perfectly straight).  But, I would think that this would  
effectively reduce the overall length of the tie rod (from end to end as  measured in a 
straight line), and therefore cause a "straight" wheel to be  slightly 
further out on the tie rod adjustment bolt.
 
Of course, I could always stop being so picky, adjust the wheels to a  
straight-on position, then take my wheel off and replace it in as centered a  
position as possible, then let the alignment shop have at it. 
 
Or, I could get a new left tie rod and see where that leads me.  Now,  the 
4000q left tie rod looks about the same as the 80q -- and it is $20 or $25  
cheaper -- not insignificant at this point.  Does anyone with a family  album know 
the relative lengths of these tie rods?  if the 4000q tie  rod is longer, it 
does me no good and I would probably just use the 80q tie  rod.  but a 
slightly shorter tie rod (1/2" or so) would allow me to align  the car with the 
steering wheel centered to both the rack and the wheels, while  saving me a couple 
of bucks.  That is, assuming that the tie rod ends are  both the same, as well.
 
Any thoughts?
 
-- Tom
 
 
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