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

[TooManyAudis at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/12/2007 4:45:54 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
speedracer.mark at gmail.com writes:

Yes, to get more threads on one side, you take them away from the  other.  
You can also move your steering wheel a spline in rotation if  that's not enough.
 
You NEED a proper alignment.  It CAN be done with a level surface,  some 
camber guages, and string.  But your math and measurements have to  be exact for 
you to not prematurely wear your tires, steering rack, wheel  bearings, etc. 
 
In other words, alignments on a real rack are a very inexpensive  investment.
 
Mark Rosenkrantz

I am not arguing the benefit of a professional alignment.  It will be  done 
as soon as I replace the left tie rod.
 
The car has over 250k on it.  And, it appears that over that time,  some 
things have shifted that would make aligning the wheels, steering wheel and  
center of rack travel pretty tough to do.  
 
I am curious as to whether a tie rod from a slightly older vehicle  (4kS or 
4kCSq) would be slightly shorter in overall length (1/2" or so ideally,  thus 
making it possible to make a dead-on alignment.
 
The alternative is to align the drive wheels to the steering wheel, with  the 
rack being slightly off center in its travel (steering wheel would have to  
be straightened 30 to 45-degrees).  I'm not entirely opposed to this, as  
compromises must always be made with 19-year old cars.  
 
Could someone with a working FA let me know if this is a doable  solution?
 
Thanks,
 
Tom
88 80q
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