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

[Ameer Antar]

Tom, something doesn't sound right. The tie-rods should have plenty of
adjustment on each side. That's the way it was designed. Was the rack ever
replaced? The steering wheel may have not been put back in the right place.
That could make the center of the steering wheel and the center of the rack
different and to compensate, the tie-rods were adjusted to the end of their
range. I would make sure you have the same number of turns on the steering
wheel left and right of center. If not, just take of the steering wheel and
adjust until you get the same number of turns on each side. I hope that's the
problem, otherwise who knows... could be bent rack mounting points or something
up with the rack itself.
 
There's no info in the FA. Personally, $25 is nothing for something as
important as a tie-rod. I'd figure out what's going on, get the right part, and
get a shop to align it. You'll feel safer and you won't have to worry about
vibration or extra wear on tires, bearings, etc. Good luck.

 
-Ameer 


-------------------- Original Message --------------------
 > Message: 7
> Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:05:50 EDT
> From: TooManyAudis at aol.com
> Subject: Alignment Mystery (misery) solved. NEW QUESTION 88 80q
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Message-ID: [d3f.42a1940.3326c64e at aol.com]
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> 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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