Upgrading to Turbo tie rods using a laser l - no alignment required

[stormcrow]

I just had my P-car aligned because the rear wheels were quite a bit out of alignment. However I wanted to wait till I installed the turbo tie rod upgrade before the alignment. Well the turbo tie rods never got installed but the alignment did.

Pondering the turbo tie rod change out without having to pay for another wheel alignment I came up with a sure way to do it using a laser beam.

The challenging thing was to determine a way that I could use reference points coming off the wheels of the vehicle. These reference points then could be used to re-align the wheels after the new tie rods were installed.

In addition to that the wheels still had to align with those reference marks even after the wheels were turned from left to right with the use of the steering wheel. Lastly it had to be done with the front wheels off the ground. That’s when I came up with the idea of using a laser beam.

So to get started I jacked both front wheels off the ground and removed them exposing the brake discs.

With the wheels straight the steering wheel lock was not engaged so I turned the wheel 1/8 of a turn CC to lock it.

The Laser I was using was a Craftsman (pic included) and it has a knob to adjust the beam for horizontal/vertical use. It also has a magnet built into the base along with two built in levels one for horizontal and one for vertical.

Now when you do this you need to make sure the laser is lever horizontally and plumb vertically – that is very important.

I took the laser and attached it to the passenger side front wheel disc opposite side of the brake pad. I turned the body of the laser in the vertical position making sure the body was plumb with the laser beam pointing down.

The laser beam was turned on and with the laser beam perpendicular to the wheel disc, I made three marks on the concrete about 8” apart

With the laser body in the same position, I then rotated the knob on the body so that the laser beam would be parallel with the front disc. Again, I made 3 marks on the concrete.

We now have two reference lines – one parallel to the front wheel disc and another perpendicular to the front wheel disc.

Without removing the laser from the wheel disc, I then rotated the wheel disc clockwise and leveled the body of the laser which was now positioned horizontally on the top of the front wheel disc and the laser beam was pointing into the rear side of the wheel well.

The body of the laser was now level and the laser beam was now vertical. I made three reference marks inside the rear of the wheel well on the body of the car.

With the laser beam still in the horizontal position I rotated it 180 degrees making sure the body of the laser was level and with the laser beam still in the vertical position, I made 3 reference marks inside the front of the wheel well. So I now have two reference points inside the wheel well to use if the need arises.

I proceeded to the drivers side of the vehicle and used the same method to mark reference points on the drivers side. Once all the reference lines were made I unlocked the steering wheel and turned the wheel from left to right several times.

After I did this, I then locked the steering wheel in the position it was and took the laser and checked to see if anything had changed with regard to the alignment. I first checked the passenger side – all the reference marks lined up. I then checked the drivers side and those reference marks ligned up. It was time to install the new tie rods.

One thing you need to be aware of is if your steering rack has play in it you need to make sure the wheel is pushed to either one side or the other to make sure the wheel is stationary – and make a note of this when you mark your reference lines. If you don’t when you try to align it again the marks won’t line up properly because of the play in the wheel.

I worked on the passenger side first. After fighting to get the tie rod end off with free tool loaner from Advanced Auto Sales, I removed the old tie rod and matched the new Turbo Tie Rod to ensure it was close once installed.

With regard to the boot, what I did was push the rubber retainer back towards the ball joint and installed the the collar of the boot over it. By doing that it allowed me access to the nut on the steering rack without having to fight it.

With the boot properly secured on the new tie rod, I applied heavy duty locktite to the threads. Before I screwed the new tie rod in, I placed the spring retainer on the steering rack collar and then screwed the tie rod in. Once it was installed and tightened, I lubed the collar, slid the boot over it and installed the retainer spring. That was it – passenger side tie rod installed.

Now it was time to check the alignment. I locked the steering wheel and checked the drivers side for alignment. All the laser marks lined up. Then, using the laser I was able to adjust the toe in exactly where it needed to be on the passenger side. I then checked all 4 reference points with the laser and they were spot on.

I then moved everything over to the drivers side, repeated the same process in removing and installing the new tie rod and once completed did a laser check. Checked the passenger side to see if anything had moved – marks were spot on. I then adjusted the drivers side using the laser for the final adjustment and everything aligned up perfectly.

Job complete – tomorrow I will install the wheels and take it for a run. I am attaching some pictures for you to review. They should be self explanatory but if you have any questions by al means don’t hesitate to ask.

I found this method by far really easy to used and when you are done, you won’t need to get your wheels aligned. With the vehicle being stationary nothing is moving and if your steering rack is solid changing out your tie rods should be a breeze.

If you have play in your old tie rods then you may need to have the front end checked but you can be damm sure you will be as close to the alignment as it was prior to changing out the tie rods.

Here are several pictures that were taken showing the laser in the parallel position along with the horizontal position. Two are before pics and two are after the tie rod installation. Also included is a picture of the laser I used.

There are laser levels out there that have a built in horizontal/vertical laser using a knob and as long as the beam ends up in the exact same spot when switched from horizontal to vertical you won’t have a problem.

Passenger side before tie rod change out






Driver Side before tie rod change out




Passenger side after tie rod change out







Driver Side after tie rod change out

[bigel]

You should take it back to the shop and "verify" the alignment is still 'on'.

Shouldn't cost much, maybe nothing if you have the car in for someting else.

If there is a cost to verify, it'll be worth it just to confirm your technique for future 'at-home' alignments.

[Targalid]

I think this is a clever use of a tool designed for a totally different application. The new alignment machines use lasers clamped to the wheels but they cost a lot of money, thousands of dollars. I always worry how far out I am after any work on the front end and it always costs me for a new alignment. Sometimes I am pretty close on my estimates, sometimes I am way off. This seems like a great way to tell if I am close or not.

[stormcrow]

There really isn't reason to take it to the shop because nothing has changed. As you can see by the pics the before and after laser lines are dead on the reference lines in both directions.

I don't know how more accurate you could be when the lines match up exactly after the tie rod change out. Nothing was done to the camber or caster and changing out just the tie rods won't affect either.

I also had reference lines on the frame inside the wheel wells and they also matched up perfectly. So I feel 100% confident that the alignment is exactly where it was prior to the tie rod change out. I feel there is no need to take it back to the shop for a check.

[gtc]

I used a laser pointer in a similar manner a few years ago when I put new tie rods on a friend's 914. It worked surprisingly well - I don't think he bothered to have it "professionally" aligned afterwards.

[stormcrow]

One other thing I will recommend when doing this is which I didn't do is extend the laser line further out to Make it as long as possible - also use as thin a reference mark as you can.

Doing this will give you a lot better accuracy.

[RSTarga]

so complicated when stringing works just as well.
Of course I'm just an old fart.

[Trackrash]

I have been doing my own alignments for years and have been looking at a way that I might incorporate lasers. That said, I have a couple of concerns about your method.

Are you sure that the a-arms are all the way at the bottom of their travel? Any change in suspension height will affect toe.

I would not trust the steering wheel lock to positively position the wheel or brake rotor.

Additionally, if the laser is not perfectly vertical on the disc, there could be some change in the angle of the beam.

[stormcrow]

The a arms are extended as far as the shock will allow them to extend as the torsion bar is putting downward pressure on the shock.

With regard to the way the wheels are pointed. Once the wheels are set the way you want them, you need to make sure that after you lay down reference lines on the first wheel, when doing the second wheel you need to make sure nothing moves.

Otherwise if you move the second wheel when laying down the marks the first wheel will be off. That's the only concern. Being sure the wheels don't move when you are laying down the marks is critical.That's the reason I used the steering wheel lock to secure them and that may not be necessary.

Once all the reference marks for both wheels are laid down and your steering rack and ball joints are tight, you should be able to turn the wheels from left to right and then back to their original position where all the reference marks are in alignment.

Also I cannot stress enough that the laser beam needs to be horizontally level as possible along with being vertically plum as possible. The reference lines, which I didn't do, need be as thin as the laser - the thinner the reference line the better to minimize error.