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Got the car up on jackstands to make sure everything is OK to run the post Thanksgiving VIR event - I've had a noise develop in the front suspension/steering that I thought was just the heim-jointed endlinks -

Hear the sound in the turnaround (0:22) here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPgWMbI2U8M

So - tie-rod ends another possibility - no obvious play, but it takes a lot of effort to rotate the driver's side tie-rod, and not very much at all to rotate the passenger side. I can just convince myself there might be a little radial play in passenger side if I shake it really hard near the inner tie-rod.

Inner tie-rod for sure? Definite no-go if I don't get it fixed before the event? I'm thinking yes on both.

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

Also - going over the details from the guy who originally built the car - he notes "R-package tie-rod ends" - anyone know if these are just the outers?

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

R-package are just outer and it's what you want if you're lowered. they have better geometry to reduce bump-steer.

Are you sure it's not an alignment eccentric that's lose or stretched? I had one that clunked around like that and after replacing suspension bushings, tie rods outers and sway bar end links an alignment at a competent shop fixed it.


There is a spec for the torque required to turn them. Let me see if I can dig it up.

Thanks for the info.

The huge difference in how easy it is to twist/rotate the tie-rods on one side vs. the other still concerns me and makes me think worn inner tie-rod end (even if that isn't the noise).

_________________
One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

Hard to tell from the video, but we get some "clunking" from the front of ours due to the "racing" sway bar endlinks - and it took me a while to finally figure it out that these were the issue is they always "feel" tight. Ours tends to be most apparent over very slightly bumpy terrain. I've also had strange clunking due to an alignment bolt loosening up on one side that would allow just a little "slip" back and forth with just the right loading.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

Check that the sway bar can move in the bushings mounted to the frame. I removed and lubed the poly bushings on the front bar of the miata and it seemed to remove a similar noise.