Tie Rod Clearance to Torsion Bar; Idler Arm Correct??

[Rockett]

He said he bought the car recently... im wondering if theres a possibility that the steering box or pitman arm are from a later model and that's what jacked it up like that since his kframe and idler seem to check out Ok???

...Except that all is good over on the LH side.

The center link angles upwards a bit to the RH side & that's where the torsion bar clearance is an issue when there's a zerk fitting in the top of the [very likely aftermarket] tie-rod end.

I would just chalk it all up to the bulky aftermarket tie-rods, except that I'm under the impression that the center link should be perfectly horizontal.

 

[Lefty71]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-MOPAR-...148383?hash=item4b67ddfbdf:g:zswAAOSwOyJX2Z5A

Read carefully and see if it applies. Youll find a love/hate relationship about that guy here, but you may want to call him because no one will deny he knows his stuff. Good luck!

 

[Rockett]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-MOPAR-...148383?hash=item4b67ddfbdf:g:zswAAOSwOyJX2Z5A

Read carefully and see if it applies. Youll find a love/hate relationship about that guy here, but you may want to call him because no one will deny he knows his stuff. Good luck!

Thanks. I sent him a message on eBay.

 

[Lefty71]

Thanks. I sent him a message on eBay.

I think you are on the right track. I don't have a '69, but I looked at a '66 and a'67 and a '69 Abody here thinking about your problem yesterday..... They were all dead level and had no issues like you described. I really think that if the pitman arm is too long or drops too far, or if the steering box has everything pushed down too low on the drivers side, then its going to pivot all the linkage up too high, once it passes the idler. Hopefully Mr Erenberg has a solution for you. If not, you really need to identify the steering box and pitman arm as to their application, if it's not '69 "B". HTH, Lefty71

 

[rrTor-Red]

Right! I know you guys don't need everything labelled like that, but I was trying to make the "orientation" easy for y'all. Sometimes it takes me several minutes to figure out some guy's photos on here. One can crawl under a car in all sorts of strange positions!

BTW - I'm now also seeing that there have been threads on this tie-rod clearance issue before, & I'm learning a lot by reading those much older threads. Perhaps members have come up with other solutions or parts vendors now (good & bad) ?

Still, also, I'm wondering if my idler arm bracket on the K-member looks worse than most??

Look at it like this. For the guys who know what is what, just overlook your labeling. For the one's who don't, then they can learn what is what. Im cool with it

 

[Rockett]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-MOPAR-...148383?hash=item4b67ddfbdf:g:zswAAOSwOyJX2Z5A

Read carefully and see if it applies. Youll find a love/hate relationship about that guy here, but you may want to call him because no one will deny he knows his stuff. Good luck!

Just to followup .... Rick said, 'put it on a press & bend it... done it many times'
I had my doubts, but another FBBO member here put it on his press & we successfully bent it. While bending, it has a natural tendency to spring back a bit from the "bent" position (as expected) so like most metals it has to be bent a bit beyond the desired position. I've got a good 3/16" clearance now between the zerk fitting on the tie-rod & the torsion bar! No problem reinstalling the idler arm, ...no binding, ...works great! (My center-link sits perfectly horizontal now.)

 

[Diz TheFiddler]

2" difference in height is definitely not done by worn joints!!

i just read about those fast ratio idler arms from firm feel. They say the stock AAR Cuda or T/A Challenger Setup was long pitman arm, short idler arm. Maybe this is your issue...
http://www.firmfeel.com/ackerman_b.html