Flipping Tie rod ends

[56_in_714]

This one's for you guys with narrowed beams!
Got my beam in and now i gotta put the steering together. My question is, what size drill bit do i use on the spindles to be able to flip the tierod ends and do you also flip them at the quick steer or just at the spindle?Also, I went and bought a 7/16 last night to use on the pitman arm for the quicksteer(read the instructions). Will this size work for the spindles also?
THanks

[slackin' at work]

to do this you need "TIE ROD RELOCATION BUSHINGS". tie rod ends are tappered and you can't just drill out the spindle and mount your tie rod ends upside down. After you get the bushings, drill a 5/8" hole on your spindles and press in the bushings... which reverse the tapper and then you can mount from the bottom.

you can get them at cip
https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C12-6613-11

also, just flip them on the outside tierod endsand not the pitman side.

good luck.
-chris

[56_in_714]

It says im gonna need to buy later outer tierod ends now. True?

[slackin' at work]

that is true. but no one said it would be easy to flip 'em!

You'll be much better flipping them, but you can do it further down the road if you want to run it and see how awful the bumpsteer will be first.

how low are you going? how narrowed?

[56_in_714]

Narrowed 5 inches and im gonna go pretty low whithout dropped spindles(for now). Maybe ill just wait on flipping them until i get my dropped spindles...

[suicidedoordavid]

how low do you have to go before there is a need to flip your tie rods? or is cause you're running a narrowed beam?

i drove a lowered 66 a few years back that was less than 2 inches off the ground under the front beam, and i don't remember ever facing the problem of needing to flip my tie rods.
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david duplessis

[slackin' at work]

bumpsteer gets exponentially worse as you get narrower, because the rod length is decreasing, hence the angle of the rod itself is increasing... which is the cause of bumpsteer.

I've never had to flip them on non-narrowed beams, but it's a good idea to do it when lowering and narrowing.

However, like I said before, it isn't totally neccessary to do it now. If youre going to eventually get lowered spidles and pull the front end apart later... I'd go ahead and roll it without flipping them (since you need the bushings and later tie rod ends) and see how it does... then you can always go back and do it if needed.

good luck
-chris

[vwpackrat]

If you plan on going pretty low you'll have to turn your tie rods over. If you don't your passenger side tie rod assembly will rub against the bottom of the gas tank and can also interfere with the cutout of your fender wall behind the wheel
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62 Convertible Bug
67 Westfalia

[SLawson]

I'm not sure if this was emphasized but you don't need to flip the tie-rod end on the driver's side. I heard it is unnecessary. Only flip the passenger.
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$heldon

[caromin]

I'm currently running a 4" drop on a std width BJ front end, since our roads suck around here the suspension really gets a workout. When I hit a bump, the momentary swerve is unacceptable to me. I drove another lowered bug with a really stiff front suspension that didn't have much bump steer but that was only because the suspension wasn't hardly being used. Since I'm in the process of narrowing another beam, I plan on flipping the tierods. The lowered look is cool but not at the expense of crappy handling.
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Chris
59Rag
86 Westy
Sandrail
Explorer rail build!

'Rollin Dirt Video!

[olskool58]

talking about just doing one has got to really screw up your steering geometry- do em both, or don't do em at all

[actorboy]

I flipped mine on my old 65 vert. I had to go up a little bit in drill bit size for several passes. If you just try to drill the large hole you need without going up in increments you might burn up your drill bit or make the hole off center. I used the Bugpack bushing relocater kit and had to grind it down flush after I got it in the hole.
I will never do it again even though it eliminated all bumpsteer and this is the reason. The stock hole is tapered so as the t/r end gets pushed in it gets tighter. But when you drill out the taper and install the bushing you lose the tightness. Now this becomes a problem since apparently nobody makes the t/r ends with the castellated nuts anymore. The new t/r ends use a nylock nut. Now that by itself isn't that bad except for the fact that the tierod's shaft will spin. So when I lost the factory tightness there was nothing to hold the shaft from spinning when I installed the nylock nut. So lets just say some giant vise grips totally ruined the threads and the nylock nut will never come off unless you torch it off.
Plus with the wide5 disc brakes I had I had to remove the calipers everytime I had to change the tie rod ends since they were in the way.
I will never do that modification again, it sucked!

[vwpackrat]

I had this problem on my 62 with the nylon lock nuts wanting to spin when you start to tighten them up with a wrench............use an impact just enough to get them tight and they will tighten up without the shaft spinning on you.
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62 Convertible Bug
67 Westfalia

[walter kandetzki]

ive got a 73 bug lowered in the front but it doesnt have adjusters nor it hasnt been narrowed.the beam was turned then welded shut and when i put the front end back in and the tie rods are within a few inches of the body soo should i install the bump and steer kit i have?they do alot of road work here and there seems to be alot of pot holes and im afraid of the front end bottoming out and it tearing the body up

[Split 1]

I am fitting adjusters to my early 60's beetle, I need new tie rods anyway, if I get the bushes do I just order a later complete tie rod for both sides, will they be the correct length? Or do I just order the long one for the later beetle and get an early for the short side
What model do I order?
Thanks
Dave

[Split 1]

Also do you do the pitman arm as well or just at the stub axles?

[Lidpainter]