Tie bars ?

[mattyguk1]

Hi all, I think I've read that the tie bars need tightening until the dish/washer hits the shoulder of the tie bar. Is this correct as it means that the castle nut is way past the split pin hole in the threaded part of the tie bar ? I don't want to over tighten and cause any damage....any advise welcome

[philthehill]

The front washer should be tightened up against the shoulder of the tie rod.

What does happen is that the washer tries to ride up over the shoulder of the tie rod so making the washer sit further back on the tie rod especially if the shoulder of the tie rod is not good and square.

[mattyguk1]

Thanks Phil, so do I tighten the castle nut until it runs out of thread or am I missing something? You can see where the nut ends up in relation to the split pin?

[mattyguk1]

Thanks Phil, so do I tighten the castle nut until it runs out of thread or am I missing something? You can see where the nut ends up in relation to the split pin?

[philthehill]

I would check the dimensions of the front end of your tie bar against those stated below......

The length of thread on the front end of my original factory tie rods is 14mm.

The length of the plain shank onto which the bushes fit is 36.5mm.

From the center of the split pin hole to the rear end of the threads is 10mm.

The depth of the castellated nut is 8.2mm

The castellated nut should be done up tight with the split pin inserted to stop the nut from coming undone.
It is not always possible to align the castellated nut with the split pin hole with aftermarket bushes and a nylock nut may be preferable.

When fitting a castellated nut to my tie bars the castellation's do go past the split pin hole as per your photo.

The original factory bushes had a raised centre which fitted into the chassis tie bar mount hole and stopped the tie bar from rattling.

All I can suggest is that you fit the washers, bushes and nut and tighten so that the bushes are held tight and then fit the split pin.

A plain washer between the front cup washer and the castellated nut may help bring the castellation's of the nut back into line with the split pin hole.

[mattyguk1]

Thanks Phil the dimensions are the same, I've found a nut that's approx 4mm thick which takes up the slack if I fit it before the castle nut allowing the split pin to fit castle nut so I'll tighten to end of thread and double nut ? Sound good to you Phil?

[philthehill]

Sounds good to me.

Sometimes things have to be fitted to suit - it is not always possible to have a straight forward installation especially when fitting non factory parts.

Phil