133 replies to this topic

[Just Droo]

My car finally passed smog. Holy Shit! This has taken forever, countless amounts of money, time, and my patience are now no more. Today, I went over to Tognotti's and paid $15 a tire to have them dismount my bald, flat, mismatched tires, with new ones. It took forever, but at least now I am not nervous of driving down certain roads.

Rob, you helped me out big time. I should be able to run the ECU out to you tomorrow after work. Now, I have to track down another one since mine is technically garbage. Would an upgraded or re-flashed one from JWT (www.thenismoshop.com) be worth it since I am going to eventually upgrade my MAF and fuel delivery?

Now, I can get the windshield replaced and spray paint my wiper arms. Coilovers, here I come!

[Jonnie Fraz]

No way!

It is pretty amazing that after all that it passed no prob.

[mestizo]

Congrats on it finally passing smog! As for a reflash I wouldn't worry about that for a long while, however I have another ECU that might work tho. If it works I'll let you have it for cheap, since we bought it for cheap. But I want the one I gave you today back cuz that is the ECU Kelly will use in her car to smog.

[InfamousJesseJames]

well its about damn time!!!! Yeah I am glad I dont have to worry bout smog for 2 more years...lol. Well now you can come out and slide with us...like Rob said "you can slide without coilovers,but it will make a man out of you!!!" lol

[mestizo]

I figured I would throw a couple of pics of the car being painted... lol no explanation I'll just post these 2 pics and let them do the talking.

[InfamousJesseJames]

you mean Jason and Drew in the background just standing there not doin work!!! lol Shootin the shit instead of shooting the paint!!! LOL hahaha i crack my self up...

[Jonnie Fraz]

Why is is so dark? How come there are only two pics?...lol

[Just Droo]

Too funny. Yeah, I nned to come out there with ya'll and break it in proper like.

[Just Droo]

SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!!

So, I come outside at the end of my shift at work, hop in my car and start to head home. The car is veering to the left. WTF!? I get out of the car real quick at AM PM and take a look around. Somebody hit my car! No dents thank god, but a scuff that runs along where the front bumper and fender meet on the driver's side. Now, I take a look at the wheel, it obviously is pointing out, and the wheel is straight. My tie rod is bent all to shit.

My best guess as to what happened was instead of putting their car into reverse and backing out of a parking space, some asshole drove through it and hit my tire/car hard enough to bend the tie rod. Thanks for not leaving a note, you dick! Whoever you are. Better get that Daytona Blue Pearl (paint transfer) off you Dark gray shit box before I find you and drag you out Grand Theft Auto style. (SIGH)

Anyways, I'm now looking at tie rods and tie rod ends, since I was going to have to upgrade them anyway.
SPL offers a couple different set ups:
Their V5 tie rod ends
Are new and improved and also fetch $229.

The inner tie rod set from TEIN (through SPLPARTS.COM) for stock knuckles are only $89, and this is the bent portion on my zenki.
Now, my research has been telling me that I cannot mate a aftermarket inner tie rod with an OEM tie rod end, so, what should I get?

There is also brands like Circuit Sports and Megan Racing, and I know it will still be better than 14yr old OEM stuff, but over time...is it going to bind or snap too?

[Just Droo]

Okay, I took some pics real quick this morning...here ya go...

[mestizo]

Dam man that sucks! I agree some GTA justice would be great! lol

Anyways about the tie rod issue, I would go with Z32 inner's and the SPL outer rods. I believe the Z32 is still thicker than the S14, but I know for sure it's thinker than the S13. Either case the Z32 will work and is your best bet besides going with an aftermarket setup.

However I have heard a lot of Jap Drifters running the stock S14 outer rods because they are supossed to be stupid strong. I have no proof of this, but I do know that the stock outer rods do not have bumper steer correction like the SPL units have.

[Just Droo]

Yeah, I kind of decided against the Circuit Sports or Megan Racing setup. Quite a few people have said their's have binded within hours of installation. A lot of people have either said TEIN or SPL's are the bomb. I'd like to have the pillowball ends, but good ones are kinda pricey. We'll wait and see. I will give it some more thought.

[InfamousJesseJames]

SPL all the way!!!!!

[InfamousJesseJames]

Sorry I got a lil happy to post that...lol but that sucks bout your car!! deff go Grand Theft style on thier ass!!!

Oh and hey I told Jon I have an extra front Zenki bumper in good condition if you want it...

[Sideways~S14]

Yeeee GTA Justice! But damn that sucks Sorry to hear bout the car though Droo!

[Just Droo]

Thanks for the support guys. You're all good folks. I bit the bullet this morning. Got some goodies on the way----->


I ordered the Ikeya Formula Inner Tie Rods and Tie Rod spacers from Powered by Max. Once my tax money gets here I'll order the SPL rod ends, that way I can start piecing together a nice set up. Still chipping away at the big stuff...(cough) KTS's (cough,cough) Gravity Gullflames (cough,cough,cough) Navan.

[Just Droo]

Ok boys and girls, I needed to fix my whole tie rod issue because I was growing impatient waiting for my goodies from Powered By Max. I figured it would give me plenty of practice for next time. Enjoy the pics:


Here's where we begin, this is the driver's side bird's eye view of the wheel/tire, slight toe out.

Passenger side - straight(ish) The steering wheel is dead center.

Well, there's your problem...(this is supposed to be straight)

Wheel off, nut unlocked from tie rod end, dust boot unclipped.

Dust boot pulled back away from steering rack, see the lock plate? you have to pry this open to unthread the tie rod from the rack. New lock plates are 12 bucks from the dealer if you don't want to clamp back shut. Would have saved me an hour.

Here is another look at it.

Lock plate pryed open and inner tie rod removed.

Removed from tie rod end.

New versus old.

Reassemble was quicker except for the lock plate. I'll probably ditch them when I get my Ikeya Formula tie rods from PBM and just use lock-tite. Adjusting the toe in/out was a bitch. Got it pretty much straight, but the car now pulls slightly right. Professional alignment is next after the new beefy tie rods go in. Too bad it was raining today otherwise I would have had more pics.

[assassin10000]

Glad to see it's roadworthy again. But changing tie rods is a PITA. Probably why I haven't put my spacers in... that I've had for 2+ years.

Andrew

[Just Droo]

I get to do it all again on saturday. Question, can I 86 those lock plates and just use lock-tite and should I get some more since those I pryed open are now haggard?

[assassin10000]

I get to do it all again on saturday. Question, can I 86 those lock plates and just use lock-tite and should I get some more since those I pryed open are now haggard?

Trash them.

Blue locktite.

Done.

Andrew