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Old 07-26-2006, 09:31 AM   #1
C.A.P
 
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Fabtech tie rod install

After having fear with boosted launches and them pathetic factory tie rods that are no bigger than a 1/2 ton truck. I was scared of the tie rods potentially bending or worse, snapping . I decided to do something about it .
There are several tie rod sleeve manufactures out there that do make decent products; however there still lies the risk of bending the rod ever so slightly or rust setting in, and then you cant ever turn them to adjust the toe again. I know this first hand . I had a set of sleeves that were not stainless, and they rusted on, or were locked on from stress bending. I could not adjust my toe at all .

I did a lot of research and found that there are several off road rods available with Hiem joints. Hiem joints make for a strong bond but they are not as smooth and are much louder than tapered pins and ball joints like stock. Another factor is that most Hiem joints needed to permanently modify the stock spindles by drilling the taper out of the spindel. This limiting you forever.

What I did find was the Fabtech tie rods , they are as big as a sleeve at there smallest point 1 1/16 inch , and the ends are huge about 1 1/2 inch with factory tapered pin bolts to mount right up to the factory spindle. They have a very large jamb nut that adjust just like stock and is easily loosened when needed.

The install was fairly easy , you can do this with the tires on; however its easier with them off. I did not remove the tires. I turned the tires out ward on each side I was working on. I then loosened the spindle nut. I took a ball peen hammer and taped the side of the spindle a few times and the pin fell out, if it does not tap on the top of the pin (don't be concerned as you will be discarding them any ways) Once its loose and falls , take a 1 1/16 inch open end wrench or a big crescent wrench and loosen the ends that connect to the center link. Spin the whole assembly off , you may have to lower the pin and maneuver it to turn it , I did !

Once out , I took as good of a measurement from the end of the big nut that connects to the center link and the center of the Zerk fitting on each , the factory and the new Fabtech rods.make sure to try and square them up together. This is just a real close measurement , as you will have to get a alignment to be balls on acurate.

I assembled the new Fabtech rods on the bench with proper grease and fittings. For the install you will need a huge 2 inch wrench , or a big crescent wrench . They use a huge outer nut, the inner bolt is factory sized with a path for the zerk fitting to grease the joint. The area up there is a tad tite and getting the whole rod in there was a tad tricky but was do-able. Fabtech recommends red Loc-Tite and torquing the nut to 100lbs.

Take the spindle end and push it up in the spindle. You may have to take a soft mallet and tap up to get the clearance for the nut to get started. Once its started the nut has locking grooves to hold it in place. I tightened it to GM spec. It was very easy as the taper seats itself.

The last step was the greasing of the Zerk fittings and the joints. Repeat the steps for the other side and check for all things being tightened. After that you should go get a front end alignment to fine adjust the toe .

I have done several boosted launches at 20 lbs and have not had a issue at all. The best thing bout them is when I got new tires and had to adjust the toe, it was a breeze, Just like factory, no hassles. If you are looking for a great setup for our trucks and want to retain the factory design this is the only way to go. For me its the tie rods GM should have put on a 2500 HD diesel .

Here is a pic for comparison. They run any where from $225 to $250 depending on your ability to shop . Do a search and look for them at off road stores.


Look at the weak area of the factory rod, the Fabtech is as large as the end of the stock rod . This pic does not do it justice ! It is a well built piece.
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File Type: jpg tie_rod_weakpoint.jpg (15.7 KB, 79 views)
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Last edited by C.A.P; 07-26-2006 at 07:33 PM.
 
Old 07-26-2006, 11:49 AM   #2
touch racing
 
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Nice write up CAP, very detailed.
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