Tie Rod Adjusters

[Shawn F.]

Do aftermarket tie rod adjusters like the heavy duty ones from Spohn make a difference over the stock ones? I am getting ready to rebuild my front end with all new steering (MOOG parts) components, shocks and bushings. I want to do this right the first time and get my 80 El Camino to handle much better. Am I wasting $30 for this or is it worth it?
Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated!

 

[79loserbluebu]

They look cool. I can't really see any performance advantage over them. But I'm sure someone will come in here and start going on about your stock replacement tie rod adjusters stretch under intense cornering and high speeds.

 

[username]

IMO, I would not bother with aftermarket tie-rod adjusters for a street car,if I was going to have a track car where I was doing a lot of toe adjustments they would be a worthy investment.Take the 30 bucks and buy some polyurethane end links for your sway bar, that will yield a lot more performance than beefy tie-rod sleeves.

 

[Bonnewagon]

In all the front ends I have rebuilt I have never seen a bad or failed tie rod adjuster. Rusty, yes, broken, no.

 

[pontiacgp]

I have a set of stainless that were made for me by one of the machine shops that does work for race cars...I like them cause I can butter the tie rods nicely and the threads stay clean unlike the open stock adjusters. With some of the roads around here I check the wheel alignment sometimes twice a month. We have our own set up and we have shops who do it for a dozen donuts and coffee. Another reason I like the stainless adjusters is when I taking a corner real hard the adjusts don't let the wheels flop around from stretching and compressing like the stock ones do..

 

[montanamonte]

i do alignments and front end work all day long at work. i have never seen a broken sleeve Ive seen them smashed shut by people that don't know how to adjust them and Ive seen them rusted. but like previously stated if you plan on adjusting front toe alot they would be great if not maybe just replace the sleeves with new ones from Napa i think they are like $16 they will work fine.

 

[megaladon6]

yes and no. the stocker get rusted HARD on occasion and can be a b*tch to free up, and they look like crap. but the "good" aftermarket ones won't improve handling times speed etc, but they are easier to adjust and don't need a tie-rod tool.
are they worth it? to me--yes, to others--no

 

[Shawn F.]

Well I bought the kit from Speedway Motors with all new MOOG rebuild stuff for the steering. It came with stock ones but figured I may buy aftermarket nice sleeves for easy adjustment and because of the rust issues. The ones on my vehicle now are stock and rusted. That and they do look like crap lol.

 

[Bumpin1ohmSS]

I just tore into my 87 Elco's front end and yep! The adjusters were rusted badly. Im replacing it all (and have matched up the new tierods sizing to the old set) but now this thread has me thinking about snatching a set of those nice Spohn adjusters Hmmm...Maybe for the Malibu build up.

Elco Warren 8)

 

[Shawn F.]

Yeah I think I am going to do the same and sell my stock MOOG's still in the box to help recoup a little of my cost. I am picky about the underbody, suspension and frame of my vehicles looking clean and keeping them from rusting. I do not like oil, grease and rust all over the suspension, steering, or chassis. It drives me nuts!