Tie Rod Ends & Tension Rods For Is/altezza

Marseille · September 10, 2007

Hi everyone!

I'm from Russia, Moscow.

Now I'm building a drifty altezza with 2JZ-GTE (from JZS147 Aristo) and R154 tranny (from JZZ30 Soarer).

I've already installed Tein Flex coils, thick Hotchkis swaybars and all the braces (upper/lower/front/rear).

Now I'm seriously concerned about steering angle and allignments... WTF! Any ricy-drifter on 200SX/Silvia can easily get all the drifty stuff like "all-in-1 package for building a D1 car"! And what about us, the luxury drifters? ;)

Look what I've found to make our cars drift with better, more agressive angles:

1. REINFORCED ADJUSTABLE TIE RODS.

The ones I've found are made by JIC-magic for JZX110 (Mark2/Verossa). Our suspension is 100% equal to JZX110.

These increase the turn angle by aprox. 5 degrees.

Here's the link to jap site (look for "Performance T-Rod"). It costs 17000JPY, which is fair enough.

2. QUICK STEERING KNUCKLES

I found these from our japanese brothers "Altezza Drift Club". They used to have these short knuckles from "GT-Net". But I've purchased the ones from C-One Motorsport.

Here's the link to C-One's site (look for "QUICK STEERING KNUCKLES" there). The price is 48000JPY.

I've already installed them - this really rocks! The steering angle increased, also the lock-to-lock of the steering wheel decreased a bit, which is really helpful at turning from side to side while drifting (also when you do fish tails).

BUT... I've searched all the net and I couldn't find any adjustable TIE ROD ENDS (for more extreme turning angles, and a must-have thing for lowered cars) and TENSION RODS (for changing the caster angle - to make it like, you know, these Mercedes crazy laying-on-the-road wheels) for IS/Altezza!

Well, actually only one brand I've found makes all the stuff for our cars - Ikeya Formula. But it's :tsktsk: expensive! So I don't even take it into account. I heard Mat wanted to use Ikeya's stuff on his "drift car", but didn't see it on the car though, since he left this car as a spare one.

So, if anybody could help me find any affordable stuff like that - I'd really appreciate that, mates.

Hope some of my info above would also help you, guys.

Cheers.

Monster-Mat · September 10, 2007

i made up adjustable rods for the rear, the upper arm im working on at the moment, for the front i have some TOMS tension rods, which i dont think i will be using, regards more steering angle ive found the car is fine.....

Tony-Bones · September 10, 2007

By steering angle i assume we are talking "Ackerman" or "TOOT".... What sort of gain was you looking for?

As you know the now decreased front camber has reduced the castor by a few degrees so you will need adjustable tie rods...

In fact a camber of -3 degrees and a castor of about +6 degrees will accentuate the TOOT aggressively... Say 2 degrees 30' on a 20 degree lock.

Any more than that the steering will lock unless you have an elevated KPI/SJI... This can only be achieved if the lower natural camber adjuster is adjusted fully negative then an upper secondary A arm is used to position the camber.

Marseille · September 11, 2007

...for the front i have some TOMS tension rods, which i dont think i will be using, regards more steering angle ive found the car is fine.....

Mat, where did you get TOM's tension rods??? I"ve just searched the japanese catalogue and didn't find any there...

BTW, as you were going into EDC, soon you'll find the nessesity of more agressive steering angle.

By steering angle i assume we are talking "Ackerman" or "TOOT".... What sort of gain was you looking for?

I'm sorry, english is my second language... What do you mean by "Ackerman" or "TOOT"? I don't understand that, sorry.

The gain I'm looking for is extremely wide steering angle that enables better drift angles at high speeds.

As you know the now decreased front camber has reduced the castor by a few degrees so you will need adjustable tie rods...

I thought adjustable tie rods enable increasing steer angle...

And to adjust the castor angle I thought I need adjustable tension rod...

Isn't that correct?

In fact a camber of -3 degrees and a castor of about +6 degrees will accentuate the TOOT aggressively... Say 2 degrees 30' on a 20 degree lock.

Sorry, what did you mean by that? BTW, camber -3 and castor +6 - is the setting most preferable for drifting. Could you please explain that again but more simplified?

Any more than that the steering will lock unless you have an elevated KPI/SJI... This can only be achieved if the lower natural camber adjuster is adjusted fully negative then an upper secondary A arm is used to position the camber.

So you mean that I'll need an 'adjustable negative camber A-arm' to adjust the proper camber angle? So will this increase the steering angle without any other stuff?

I'm sorry for tons of questions, but you are here - the main source of info for me.

Thank you in advance.

Monster-Mat · September 11, 2007

i have the tension rods here for sale if your interested

Tony-Bones · September 11, 2007

TOOT (Toe Out On Turns) is the lock gain on the inner wheel

If the outer wheel is on a 20 degree lock and the inner a 22.30 lock this is favorable to drift since it will work on both locks, whereas a change in the turn angle only works on one lock.

You will need to adjust the castor "Tie rod-tension rod" terminology differs....

The positions displayed are not law just an example.. The camber/castor/toe positions are dependant on many factors as i'm sure you know.

Do you have a base-line for your set-up?

The KPI/SJI is the inclination if the lower swivel. The angle is perpendicular to the vertical and supports the entire sprung weight.

The lower the numeric position the higher the inclination. If you use a high TOOT then the ability to recover the lock will be diminished. So if the natural camber adjuster is used to decline the inclination (higher KPI figure) and a secondary adjuster is used to manipulate the camber you will have a reactive KPI assisting the lock recovery during lock transition.

Also to note a very positive castor will change the lateral steering radii accentuating the TOOT. This is simply due to the fact the steering arm is behind the wheel.

Marseille · September 12, 2007

Thanks, mate.

I've just understood the half of what you tried to explain. Probably it is because of my poor English.

Particularly I can't get all the things about the KPI and inclination and its dependance on allignment of castor/camber... Well, I need some time and an explanation in native language to understand all the stuff. But thank you very much, anyway!

Mat, I've wrote you a PM about tom's tension rods... I'll buy 'em.

Tony-Bones · September 12, 2007

Thanks, mate.
I've just understood the half of what you tried to explain. Probably it is because of my poor English.

Particularly I can't get all the things about the KPI and inclination and its dependance on allignment of castor/camber... Well, I need some time and an explanation in native language to understand all the stuff. But thank you very much, anyway!

Mat, I've wrote you a PM about tom's tension rods... I'll buy 'em.

Have a read in the technical part of the wim web site www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk The images and longer explanation may help.