Elan tie rod ends

[gwnorth68]

I'm redoing my '68 Elan S3 suspension and bought new tie rod ends from RD Enterprises. These were slightly different in length (approx. .250" longer} from the old ones and had a metric thread stud and locknut. (Ray said all the Spitfire tie rod ends were like that now and that you couldn't get them with UNF threads any more. I checked with a local supplier and he had the same parts so I guess I'm stuck with two 17mm nuts on an otherwise UNF car?)
The bigger problem is that these tie rod ends won't adjust inwards enough to give me toe in: in fact I've got about 1/4"-3/8" toe out as the tie rods bottom in the tie rod ends. I'm about to chop about 1/4" off the tie rods to enable more inward adjustment.
I've confirmed that I have the "real" Lotus 6 5/16" tie rods. With the previous suspension parts I achieved good alignment results without difficulty.
Anyone had a similar experience or can shed any light on this situation?
Thanks for your help.

[rgh0]

Apparently a common problem. The original ones could only dial in a little toe in before bottoming and the current ones thread is a little less deep resulting in your problem. They just work for some people depending on the chassis and rack assembly tolerances and just don't work for others!

A recent post said that MG Midget ones were better but I have not tried them

cheers
Rohan

[elanman999]

Tom,
I have found that you can gain a little, about 3/16in by tapping the hole as deep as possible with a plug tap.
Cheers
John.

[gwnorth68]

Well at least I'm not the only one with the problem. Tried a bottoming tap but couldn't seem to gain much.
Always expect the the unexpected when doing even the simplest changes on an Elan!
Your input much appreciated.

[Quart Meg Miles]

You might as well chop the end off the tie rod if you've got enough thread outside of the rod end. Mine haven't any thread left but I have spot on toe-in, luckily.

[gwnorth68]

Spent a fun-filled afternoon cutting off about 1/4" from the ends of the tie rods and, after a lot of fooling around fitting new rack boots, got it together with a tiny bit (about 1/16-1/8") of toe IN. Quite a struggle. Still tighter than I'd like.
Not very successful trying to retap the tie rod end with a bottoming tap: the 1/2-FT hole in the tie rod end appeared to be slightly wandering, causing the thread to dig in on one side and become very hard to turn. The thought of breaking the tap in the hole was enough to dull my enthusiasm for this approach.
Thanks again for the input..

[RichardHawkins]

Tom,
I bought my track rod ends here in the UK from a company called Amsteer. This was in 2008, but they fitted well, and were tapped 3/8" deeper than the original that I was replacing. I have tried to speak to Amsteer again today, but the man I need to talk to is busy. I will be away until next Monday so I will probably not get an answer until next week.

Amsteer also make track rods (tie rods) I will enquire if they know whether a late MG Midget track rod is the same size as an Elan, and also how much they charge to make track rods as specials.

Regards,
Richard Hawkins

[gwnorth68]

Sounds like a business opportunity. The tie rods commonly available here (apparently) don't have UNF thread on the ball stud so I assume they originate from some other make of car? It would be nice if the Amsteer parts were obtainable here in NA.
The complication of making the tie rod ends fit would be quite costly in terms of time to someone paying for job. Since I'm retired it's just the frustration of spending a lot of effort on a simple task. With a Lotus you get used to that.

[terryp]

This has been driving me round the bend (!) for months. From what I can see for every new part you fit it adds nearly 1/4" to the track. I have 1 new tie rod and 2 new track rod ends meaning its well out.
Has anyone sourced the MG Midget track rod ends or any ends that will solve that part of the problem.
I have now bought two sets, one from Sue Miller and the other from SJS and both add the 1/4inch.
I didn't want to cut the tie rods which have plenty of thread left but I can see its going to be the only option.

Thanks

Terry

[elancoupe]

JAE has the correct length tie rods.

[mgourwcg]

Had the same problems myself, now cutting 5 threads off the track rod s, Thanks Rohan for the advjce

Michael

[gwnorth68]

Thought I'd add a final note to say that after cutting about 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch off the tie rods I was JUST able to get a little toe-in. There's not much margin to get more (maybe one turn more each side ) so it's tighter than you'd like.
I'd like to know if another tie-rod p/n is available that would give a better result (and I still don't like the metric 17mm nut).

[billwill]

Am I being a bit thick here, but which part are you talking about?
http://www.rdent.com/manuals/index.html
Part 2 or part 3 or both?

Part 3 is what I would call the tie rod end, but if that has a metric inner thread how will that fit on an original part 2 (the tie rod).

Or if you are talking about a pair Part 3 and part2, How will the nut of part 2 screw onto the actual steering rack?

[oldelanman]

I assume it's the thread on the ball stud itself which is metric.

[AlfaLofa]

Bill,

You were not the only one who was confused - I was unsure whether we were discussing track/tie rod ends or the track/tie rods.

xxxxxxxxx

Re MG Midget track/tie rods: I bought a late Midget rack a while back to see how the rods compared with the Herald items. (I couldn't check directly with the Elan rods because they are still on the car).

But the Midget rods accepted the track/tie rod ends I had bought from SJSportscars.

lotus-suspension-f42/track-rods-post-midget-t27607.html