Offroad-Express

I have just brought a terrano D21 with 33's on it and tie rod is hitting the chassis on the left hand side of the truck.

Does this mean my idler arm is bent?

Il make up a double shear mount and slider plate as soon as soon as i fix the problem, but is it likely that i will need a new idler arm or could i just bend the old one back?

cheers, Willy

willyd wrote:I have just brought a terrano D21 with 33's on it and tie rod is hitting the chassis on the left hand side of the truck.

Does this mean my idler arm is bent?

Il make up a double shear mount and slider plate as soon as soon as i fix the problem, but is it likely that i will need a new idler arm or could i just bend the old one back?

cheers, Willy

If its bent get another one, dont bother trying to straighten it

well i cant see that its actually bent. The only problem is that the tie rod is now hitting the chassis slightly at the normal ride height.

the truck has had a 50mm suspension and 50mm body lift.

my question more is could i simply chuck in slider plates or would this wear out the tie rod end fast. I imagine the slider plates are more to stop deflection during articulation, not to provide a support that the tie rod end constantly slides on.

Can you post some pictures so we can see for ourselves what is happening?

I imported an idler arm brace from Australia. Cheap and easy fix. If you have a friend that is a mechanic try get an idler arm at cost price, which is only about $35. Idler arm brace was only $75 I believe.



When my idler arm brace was bent it also hit the chassis.

Iv never bent an idler arm, just torn one out of its housing.

Made a brace after that and never had a problem since, well, an idler arm problem anyways.... If you have access to a welder, or a friend with one, its less than an hours work, and much more satisfying. You can design something much simpler than the blue one above and just as strong. If you want to see a really simple one talk to sibainmud

thanks for the replys

something is out of wack. You can see where that castle nut has been hitting the chassis.

yea i will be making one of those double shear supports as soon as i can determine whats bent.

You need something along the lines of this, as well as an idler arm brace.

Left hand side


Right hand side






Dimensions


It is the centre link rotating with the pressure of the tie rods pushing up from the wheel. This is a common problem when we lift the suspension as it changes all the angles of the tie rods. Simon has made another mod to the idler arm and pitman arm. but you would need to get something like that certified.
My fix is just an alternative and does not require any form of certification.

Did someone call

This one took me 1/2 an hour to make



The rest of the mods are NOT certifiable





P. S. The grub screws are all split pins drilled right through nut and the bolts

Cheers,

willyd wrote:



thanks for the replys

something is out of wack. You can see where that castle nut has been hitting the chassis.

yea i will be making one of those double shear supports as soon as i can determine whats bent.

Ya ball joints on ya drag link are farked

Try putting it through a WOF

This is why I drilled out the arms and bolted the bugger

All the skid pads in the world don't make the left front wheel even remotely follow the right one

Got sick of chewing out tires

Now the bend point is the tie rods, but at $26 each, who cares.
Carry both as spares anyway

Then the front cross member in front of the front diff is cracking and the 2 chasis rails are trying the move further apart

Cheers,

Simon.

Here is another option, don't ask me anything about it, it's not mine.









I have also heard of people using the older centre links off Datsuns or early Navaras that have the tie rods attaching directly to the centre link shaft. It doesnt suffer from the dreaded rotation effect you are experiencing.
I have one here but have not done anything about installing it yet.
I will try to get a photo sometime of it.

ahh ok so new drag link ball joints! do they seperate? or do i need to buy a whole new drag linkage assembly??

then next step would be to fit slider plates to stop that rotational deflection thats stuffing the ball joints? and also fit some form of idler arm brace.

Im not that keen on going too customised on the steering linkages just yet. Maybe a project for later on but i just need to get something thats warrentable now.

im pretty sure that the right side of the steering linkage is this alright.

cheers for all the help!

has anyone had any success in stoping the linkage rotation by fittting a steering damper?? Or will this just put more stress on the joints?

willyd wrote:has anyone had any success in stoping the linkage rotation by fittting a steering damper?? Or will this just put more stress on the joints?

I have a steering damper on, that was the start of all the issues
In the pics you can see the end of damper drilled and bolted right through left chassis rail. works ok for controlling the bump steer.

Hope this helps,

Cheers.

willyd wrote:has anyone had any success in stoping the linkage rotation by fittting a steering damper?? Or will this just put more stress on the joints?

A steering dampener will not stop the rotation effects.

ok thanks, I just thought a damper would act as support arm that would resist the rotation. I guess the bushes will still allow for some movement....

sibainmud could you please elaborate on how you can tell the ball joints on the drag linkage are stuffed just from the photo? Is it just because if they weren't it wouldn't be hitting the chassis?

Thanks, Willy

willyd wrote:ok thanks, I just thought a damper would act as support arm that would resist the rotation. I guess the bushes will still allow for some movement....

sibainmud could you please elaborate on how you can tell the ball joints on the drag linkage are stuffed just from the photo? Is it just because if they weren't it wouldn't be hitting the chassis?

Thanks, Willy

Hi Willy,
We can't see any pics of your problem
You kept saying that the idler arm is not bent and I or most other people have never bent one, so that leaves just the idler pivot shaft and or the bushes on the idler arm. By process of elimination that is all that is left.
A quick test is, put a jack under the centre of cross member and jack up so front wheels are just touching the ground, grab the left wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock and wiggle. Observe what the drag link, idler arm and tie rods are doing. I fitted a new drag link once, and after the first couple of trips, I was back to square 1
As a refference point, the distance from the top of the tie rod shaft to the chassis rail should be the same as the same distance on the drivers side. In other words the drag link should be level. If it higher on the idler side then the idler shaft is bent and should be replaced, likewise the bushes should have no slop in them. I kept replacing these bushes untill I found huge wear on the idler pivot shaft, replaced that with a second hand one and it has been sweet since.

It is hard to explain in words but you must work out where the movement is in order to correct it. The ball joints on the drag link was just a suggestion. I'm not there so we all are relying on the information you are supplying us.

If you want to chat about it send me a txt, and I'll call ya back.
021 742228.

Cheers,
Simon.

Simon is spot on in his diagnosis. I reiterate that you need to post up some pictures of your idler and pitman arms plus the tie rods so we can better examine what is going on.
The old wiggle the wheels trick as Simon suggests will show where the play is as quick as. Get a helper so you can move around and see for yourself.