Seized up tie rods

[Cobrajet]

If you were closer I would offer my used set of Rancho shocks for evaluation. I went back to OEM, and much prefer the stock shocks. I've been holding on to the Ranchos in case I blew another OEM shock.

I believe you will be happier with the trimmed bumpers than with different shocks. I like the way the VX handles corners with the stock bumpers.

[VXRick]

Tie rods finally got here. Got the vx lifted a 1.5 inches.

I was a little confused on the two sets of rubber bushings and the spacers. I could only get the spacer to work on the top and the bigger rubber bushing got squashed to much. The ball joint sits close to the wheel mount when fully tight (see pic), unlike the stock rods. the steering works fine. Here are some pics.

Did I install them correctly?

[tom4bren]

Rick,

It doesn't look like the spacer serves any purpose. Can you even get the cotter pin back in with it like that?

BTW, I ended up getting the OME shocks from Indy. I've been very happy with them. They are not adjustable but are set up for a nice mix of on/off road use. They are about the same price as Rancho's so it's really just a choice of whether you want the adjustable feature or not. I decided that I'd never change them once set so the adjustable feature would be lost on me. The OME are progressive so they are kinda light on the smaller bumps and get stiffer on the larger.

Tom

[VXRick]

Rick,

It doesn't look like the spacer serves any purpose. Can you even get the cotter pin back in with it like that?

BTW, I ended up getting the OME shocks from Indy. I've been very happy with them. They are not adjustable but are set up for a nice mix of on/off road use. They are about the same price as Rancho's so it's really just a choice of whether you want the adjustable feature or not. I decided that I'd never change them once set so the adjustable feature would be lost on me. The OME are progressive so they are kinda light on the smaller bumps and get stiffer on the larger.

Tom

I need the spacer or the pin will sit too high above castle nut. I read some old post last night and a couple people describe the same thing I have. The bearing rod is smaller than the stock therefore travels to far into tapered housing leaving very little room for boot/grease and movement. It seems a few others have installed them so I just want to find out if theirs was done the same way as mine, before I start driving it.

Thanks for the knowledge on the Shocks Tom!