alignment question

[nelzar13]

so i blew my carrier the other day and im waiting for parts so im going over my machine. So im looking at my alignment. first off my steering stem is bent but im not basing any measurements off of my bars being straight. ( i can live with bars a little crooked till my pocket book opens up enough for a new stem)

So first what i did was make sure my sure my stem was centered. i did this by measuring from the block on my stem to the block on my frame. that should tell me my stem is now perfectly centered.

next i took a couple straight edges and clamped them to the out side off my wheels. from here i can tel that my wheels are indeed straight in regards to my frame.(with the proper toe).

So here lies my problem. i turn left and both my wheels stay parallel as they turn all the way to the stop block. then i turn them to the right, as i get to the max right my right wheel goes out of parallel with my left and starts to turn a lot farther. picture the tie rod as you turn the wheels to the right and the wheel side tie rod end being related to a clock. with the wheels straight the tie rod end is some where in the neighbor hood of 7 o'clock as you turn right and get to the max right limit, the tie rod end is at 9 o'clock. so i get to that point at 9 where it can kind of free float from about 9:15- 8:45. and that's where my wheels run out of parallel at the end of turning to my max right.

After i saw this happen i measured my tie rods them self's. there is a 1/4 inch difference in length between the two. my right is the shorter of the two.

after all that description would it be safe to say the previus owner tried to do an alignment by taking off a tie rod end loosening only one side and then aligning it that way, thus making two different length tie rods? Now i should make sure both rods are the same length to start with then proceed with my alignment process?

thanks for reading through my description of the problem. it makes sense in my head. but not sure i got it wright-en out to make sense! Also this is on a totally stock machine original everything.

thanks guys!

[nelzar13]

bump. opinions?

[Stark]

This is just my opinion..

If it goes straight, turns good, and hasn't caused you any trouble, I'd leave it alone. :)

[liex21]

I'm not sure on the exact adjust ability on the stock a-arms but if you go on walsh's website or lsr's they have good write ups on how to set up your front end. Hope that helps.

[CJM]

Grab a tape measure and make sure the front wheels are 100% straight. Front measurement side to side should be 1/4" less than the rear. Thats toe in and the way your supposed to set itup.

[nelzar13]

so the culprit was steering linkage that wasn't the same length!.... im aligned and well. thanks for the input guys!

[slightlybent47]

One thing you must consider is that like everything else that’s mass produced there will always be some that are not in perfect alignment. The frame itself may have been welded wrong in the first place. Then consider the fact that the frame will flex and could get bent from a wreck or a big jump. My ex frame was not true when it was new.

[duroc825]

Originally posted by slightlybent47
One thing you must consider is that like everything else that’s mass produced there will always be some that are not in perfect alignment. The frame itself may have been welded wrong in the first place. Then consider the fact that the frame will flex and could get bent from a wreck or a big jump. My ex frame was not true when it was new.
Hence the Slightlybent nick? :D

[fearlessfred]

another thing to concider is that when turning, the wheels do not, and are not suppose to stay parrallel with each other.the inside wheel will always turn more than the outside wheel.this is called ackerman and your unequal tierod lenths could have exagerated this

[nelzar13]

thats exactly what the issue was fearless... now that the tie rods are the same lenths the inside turning wheel when turned in ether direction does have that little bit of over steer... ackerman, ill have to remember that one !

[fearlessfred]

right on, you had it all figured out on your own.i was just throwing that out there.the inside wheel needs to turn on a sharper radius,so that is why it is made that way