My drivers side steering arm needs moved about 1/8 inch, it is rubbing the tie rod on the edge of the rim. Can I just shim the steering arm out, instead of heating and bending the steering arm? they are 50 chevy spindles. If heating and bending is the answer, what is the proper way to do it so they maintain their strength? Thanks....To
Why not put a 1/4" spacer behind the wheel on both sides and leave the steering arms alone? You can get them at any parts house cheep. The Wizzard
On my F-1 I heated the arms several times. (dropped axle) Let them cool slowly, never had a problem.........OLDBEET
Was looking for a cheap way out, rather than buying longer studs and spacers. Seemed alot easier to space two bolt than replace all studs. To
I wonder... Could you put a shorter tierod on one side and still have a car that goes straight when the wheels straight? It'd give you an akerman affect in one direction if I'm still awake and thinking correctly
[ QUOTE ] Was looking for a cheap way out [/ QUOTE ] That is not the first thing I think of, when I'm working on Brakes, Steering and Suspension...
My 2 cents is that spacing the steering arms off the spindle would be fine from a strength point of view as long as you use grade 8 bolts. It will change the ackerman angle, so make sure to space both sides the same, and only as much as is needed. Test it out doing some low speed tight turns on some smooth pavement and see how much the front wheels scrub. There is a bit of leeway with Ackerman angle and there are plenty of factory cars that scrub the front tyres pretty badly.
Most factory cars have Ackerman dimensions all over the place. I wouldn't sweat too much about getting it critical, unless you are into roundy roundy racing.