Tie rod end
If your CMC
chassis uses a first generation RX-7 front end, take a look
at the swivel joints where the tie rods from the rack connect to
the steering arms.
If the nut that holds the
swivel joint to the steering arm is located
on the bottom
of the arm, your
swivel joints are installed upside down!!
I checked mine and there is
not room on my car to mount the swivels the
correct way due to the placement of the lower "A" arm.
On my car
someone, somewhere (most likely at CMC), reamed out
the tapered mounting holes (from the small side of the taper) on the
steering arms just enough so the
tapered shaft of the swivel joint could be inserted the wrong way so
the
nut could be installed and tightened down.
To say the least this is
not right and could lead to failure of the
swivel joint. Luckily I changed my steering to
correct the bump steer and the angle of the upper "A" arm and was
able to correct the swivel mounting at the same time.
CMC Lower ball joint
Another thing to check if you are
removing the lower ball joint is that the ball joint mounting is
actually seated onto the lower control arm flat metal when the three
bolts are loosened. My car has one ball joint with a grease fitting
that
has curved surfaces on the bottom of the casting where it contacts the
lower control arm. The hole cut in the lower control arm was not big
enough in diameter and the ball joint did NOT seat flat onto the
control arm.
Apparently when the bolts were tightened the lower control arm metal
would bend to match the ball joint casting.
I had to use a rotary burr and a very coarse file to enlarge the hole
and taper the sides so the ball joint can properly seat on the control
arm. The other ball joint doesn't have the grease fitting and seems to
seat correctly onto the lower control arm. So check both of
them.
|