Garage Star is working on some heim-joint tie-rods. Looks like they could be adapted with some shims to make it an adjustable height piece.

Saw it on their Instagram a few days back.

 

I really dislike using rod ed tie rod ends unless you drill the taper out into a straight hol:m akeout::makeou t::ma keout:205.+

 

I wonder if there will be an issue with range of motion with using standard rod ends. for some reason the Miata tie rod arm is angled so the stud is not nominally 90 degrees from the tie rod. At full droop its right at 25 degrees off 90 actually. The rod ends in this picture don’t appear they have that much range of motion. Wouldn’t want to jack your car up or you will bend your tie rods. OEM tie rod ends have the angle built in to the shank.

 

lolwut

 

Drunk GF kind of interrupted that post. I only needed to type the e on hole and I was done. Too many of the spacer + tapered spacer rod end ball joints have breaking problems with the bolt.

 

That's a quality post. Your handle may get changed to Leaflora if you keep that up

 

I don't think you have a girlfriend, enjoy your hand.

 

Bumping this old thread. So much win in the work Bob did here.

It's amazing to have such little bumpsteer using all stock parts at aggressive ride heights. The 1/16" toe change from static to full bump being damn near perfect. What about the 7/8" change in full droop? Is that not really relevant to track performance?

 

Awesomes. Now I feel so much better about my choice to run the LE ends on my NB. Good show boys, thanks for the feedback and keep up the good work

 

I am glad this thread got revived to remind me it existed after having forgot about it and my having bought and installed LE tie rod ends this winter on the vague recollection it was supposed to be better for bump steer.

 

FWIW:

The combination of:
a) TSE 2.0 BBK (dynalite calipers, not the redonkulous ones)
b) AP Racing uber J hook rotors
c) LE tie rod ends

handled exceedingly well this weekend at my first track outing, but produced contact between the right tie rod end and the rotor at anything past half lock to the right. I have clearanced the tie rod end a bit and will test drive tomorrow.

The left side was tight but did not make contact.

I did have to clearance the singular brake ducts on both sides, and I suspect the stock brake dust shields would have had to be clearanced as well, as they (tie rod ends) come to within a mil or two of the rotor.

 

anybody have the part numbers for the LE ends? both my NBs are due for new outers, and I may as well maintify....

 

 

...

 

 

Depends on how much casting flash there is on your specific tie rod ends. Nobody can tell you what it will need. I typically don't need to grind at all, but occasionally I'll have to knock some flash off an errant tie rod end. It will be obvious when you go to assemble the parts.

 

My stuff is all NB2, so can't directly compare my clearances to yours You'll have to fit them and see.

 

Bump on this old *** thread, sorry, but this is the best discussion I could find ongoing on this subject. Maybe someone in the last 10 years has more input on this?

This thread has summarized that NB subframe + knuckles + r package tie rod ends being the ideal setup. What is the best solution for those of us on NA subframes still? NA subframe + knuckles, R package tie rod ends + some kind of spacer? I found another post from Emilio recommended in a 1/4" spacer along with the R package tie rod ends at race ride heights being ideal, but not sure if that was regarding NA or NBs - and when I look for rack spacers for sale all I can find are 1/2" ones.

Sounds like NA will be a compromise either way, just looking for the best easily attainable setup since I've got to realign my car with new suspension come spring. Plus this is a fun discussion.

 

Start with a baseline reading. I raise the car a set amount, say 1", and measure the difference in toe. It's easy to tell if you're improving the bumpsteer or not. Or is it un-improving? Whatever.

The machine I use measures in degrees, I shoot for damn near zero change with adjustable kits, however a reasonably small amount is under .05-.10 degree change/inch. This equates to about 1/16" per inch. You also have to consider if it's moving towards toe in or toe out under compression. Typically you'd "want" toe in, under compression, as toe out will create an unstable feeling on which ever axle you're measuring, when it hits a bump.

So measure it, make a small easy change like trying a new tie rod or spacing the rack up, and see if it goes in the direction you want it to. They're typically really linear, so if you have .25" change per inch, and you add +1/16" spacer and it changes to .5" change per inch, you need to go the opposite direction, or -1/8". If that makes sense.

I'm used to kits like this, which usually includes a number of 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16" shims to adjust.


Edit: also remember, any time camber is adjusted, bumpsteer needs to be re-adjusted as well, so make sure you're adjusting all this in the correct order.

 

Curly, this is a great post and an awesome addition to this thread. Thank you.

I don't currently have the equipment to do this, though I love the idea. With a lift and some cinder blocks I could load/unload the car pretty easily. And if I had alignment stands, measuring the toe change wouldn't be too hard. So it does sound doable in the future. I've been itching to get the equipment to do my own alignments anyways.

That said, if I'm not going through this iteration of measuring, it's probably best to leave it on a stock rack spacing with R package ends? Or is there some rule of thumb I can follow for this without all the measuring? I.E. angle of the tie rods at static height, or a certain amount of total spacing for a certain ride height, etc. that would get me ballpark?