Hey guys,
I am wondering what the minimum depth of threads are required for a tie rod to be safe. I measured the depth of my tie rods to be just shy of 2 inches. (Capable of being screwed onto tie rods about 2"). The drivers side tie rod end has about 1 1/4 inches of thread inside it while the passenger side has about 1 1/16 inches of threads inside. Is this safe enough thread engagement? With these settings the rotors measure pretty close to parallel. I am just concerned that tie rods don't have enough thread engagement to develop maximum strength. Looking for advice guys. Thanks!
I would think you should be good to go with that much thread engagement. A 100 years ago the rule of thumb for manufacturing was that if you had at least 3-5 full thread engagement you were good, but I always thought that was a little on the low side. My 2 cents worth..
Sam
Aaron, I usually figure 1.5 x bolt diameter to be safe. Curious, did you cut the rods on the rack or were they already cut? I think they ship long, I know I cut mine after getting everything pretty well set up. Knew you put yours together at Lake City to start.
Mark
Mark,
We did cut it initially in Lake City but I noticed the front wheels were still toed out. When I went to screw in the tie rods I realized they were bottoming out before I could get the rotors parallel. So, I cut some more off here at home. It was late and dark in my shop when I did it and I took a wee bit more than I should of, primarily due to a miscalculation. But, most opinions say I'm fine at this point. If I run into a below minimum thread engagement issue after adjusting toe on the final alignment...well, I'll have to replace the rack. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
Don't sweat it, and the inner rod(s) are replaceable if necessary, no need to do the whole rack.
Mark