Scottie-GNZ Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Mike (Z-Gad) came over Friday night to help me put the finisihing touches on the installation. Connected the brake lines, bled the brakes, mounted the wheels/tires, mounted the hood. Oh Yeah, looking good. Fired her up and she purred like a low-compression, weak-kneed, Yank V-6 Racheted the shifter into 1st to activate the transbrake, hit the loud pedal, Voila, spools up to 10# boost with ease. In the background, the Orlando Magic are kicking butt and I am just beaming with pride on how the car sits and how the gumballs fill up the fender flares. Saturday morning I back it out of the garage and wash it for the first time since, oh.... Drive out onto the street and made a mental note to check the tire pressure as the rear felt a little squirrelly. I go one block and PANIC!!! Wheels feel like they about to fall off and I envision one of those comedic skits where the wheels fall off and the car collapses. What the hell did I forgot to tighten? Not like me as my buddies sometimes kid me when I stand there pointing at things like I am paying "enee, menee", making sure I did not forget anything. I make it back to the garage and jack up the rear and everything that is bolted up is tight. I do the "hands on the tire at 12 and 6" test and it is solid. I do the "hands on at 9 and 3" and WTF, I can move the tire huge amounts, both sides!! Turns out the toe rods are badly worn in the part that looks like a wheel cylinder. The ends of the rods have little balls that fit on a socket and rotates to allow the rods to move up and down with the suspension travel and also allow the rods to turn when adjusting the toe. The balls are so badly worn that I can move them IN/OUT at least 1/16"!! I am really ticked that I missed that especially considering that I had the rods narrowed. I located a used one at at a junkyard Saturday afternoon, but it did not feel as solid as I wanted. Seems the price for a used one is about $100 + $40 to have it narrowed. Did not even bother calling Chevrolet to see what a new one cost. Checked the catalog of the custom shop in Tampa and they make a custom replacement with heim joints, $260!!! Are these guys nuts, I can make that myself. Called Coleman today and ordered 16" aluminum tie-rod sleeves, with LH & RH threaded ends for $11/ea. The 5/8" heim joints are $12.50/ea. I will use 2 hiem joints on the inside and the OEM tie rod ends on the outside. Couple of $$$ to fab the bracket and it should cost about $85. I just have to be careful that the heim joints are positioned correctly on the bracket so the rods are level with the road surface (like in the picture) to not induce bumpsteer. Another bump (sic!) in the road. Kick myself in the butt for not thinking of making the rods in the first place, considering I paid $40 to have the bad ones narrowed. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peternell Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Scottie, I've been wondering about your progress. Looks great-what your don't like the "rear steer" feature. Like usual, you got the problem AND solution identified before most of us would gotten past the initial fustration! FYI your old parts are starting to take shape in the my 260. Hopefully Mrs. Claus reads my list with the digital camera as the #1 non-automotive suggestion and I can show you some of the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Arg! That BITES! Too bad about losing some cash, but like Larry said, you have it figured out. I would have been puzzled for a long time before figuring it out, if ever. Good luck to your steady progress!!!! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Hey - what's Coleman's? Do they have a website? I'm looking for some heim joints for my truck. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie-GNZ Posted December 11, 2001 Author Share Posted December 11, 2001 A custom rodder's dream. http://www.colemanracing.com/prodex/ Look in the Steering section for heim joints (rod ends). Glad to see you are on it Larry. Keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Oh Cooool! My wife is gonna hate that you pointed me to that site. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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