Tie Rod End Help!!!

Hey y’all, need some help figuring out what to do with May maxed out tie rod ends. I’ve got a king 3 inch lift, SPC UCAs, and 35s. Here is what happened, lower ball joints went tits up, so did the SPC uppers. So we replaced them, plus got rid of the drivers side needle bearing for the solid bushing, also replaced outer boots with high angle boots. My mechanic had been doing this since we were kids and the shop doing the alignment specializes in aftermarket suspension, so everyone has experience. To get correct toe we’ve got the tie rods almost maxed out, like barely any threads holding. Literally the alignment shop said if I have an awkward descent angle and drop they could blow out. Anyone got an idea of what we can do?? Anyone run into this before? I’ve searched for longer tie rods finding nothing but heavy duty ends. Maybe a hiem joint? I have no clue what to do?

 

I believe I found what I need. Hit the link and let me know. Heim joint plus +1-3.5 inches of extra width.

https://www.prgproducts.com/product-page/toyota-tacoma-fj-4runner-heimtie-rod-end

 

Rotate the front LCA cam bolts inward. It'll give you more clearance for the 35s and shorten the required tie rod length to achieve zero toe. Final step, adjust camber with the SPC slotted upper ball joints.

 

Are you saying the tie rods have almost all their threads exposed or they're maxed out and have no threads exposed?

 

Almost. Toe should always be set last. Id adjust the lower control arm cams, adjust camber and caster at the SPC uca and then reset toe. You should need zero additional parts to get this to all fit.

 

I almost wonder if he has the front cam tab out, and the rear cam tab in. That would pull the tie rod mounting hole away from the steering rack. Im the opposite (cam tabs maxxed in the right way for clearence) and both of mine are almost bottomed out

 

Wrong. If the toe is out, there's no way to set camber correctly. Caster -> Toe -> Camber -> Check toe again, especially with SPC UCAs.

 

I'm not going to argue with you on a forum about doing alignments. If anything is really far out it will affect the other angles. You kinda have to dance back and forth between them all but the last step you do once camber and caster is set is to adjust toe. I only mentioned camber before caster because t falls that way alphabetically.

 

Almost all threads exposed.

 

If anyone’s in the Cincinnati area and has an alignment rack I’m more than happy to bring it to you. Just PM me!

 

That's really bizarre. I'm close to having almost all my threads used and I have 35s and SPC UCAs. Can you take a picture of your LCA/UCA suspension set up?

 

Id almost guarantee they have the cams opposite of what we all think they should be to help push the wheel forward which is causing it to run out of threads.

 

Just picked up the truck today but it’s dark so I’ll post up pictures tomorrow. Going to take it to another shop that specializes in Jeeps and Yotas.

 

my weekend with the kids, so I’m busy busy. I’ll post up pictures tomorrow evening or Monday. Either way I’m having another shop look at it.

 

Here’s pics

driver side

 

Passenger side

 

What symptoms are you getting now? The cam bolt positions look reasonable (at least with 3 out of the 4 cams visible in the pics).

Are the pics taken at ride height? The CV boots look like they'll last maybe a month bunched up like that. Are those OEM CV axles?

 

Tie Rods are fine. There's plenty of thread engagement.


Can't comment on the rest of the alignment without seeing all 4 cams.

 

No real issues now. CV boots are aftermarket high angle boots, we’ll see how they hold up.