this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
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Hi all! My very old Mitsubishi Pajero III (V60 from 2000) got a 2" lift kit and now the rear wheels have too much toe-out. The stock tie rods won't adjust far enough and there are no other original "sizes."

So I need some aftermarket tie rods for the rear axle. My own research tells me I need a shorter (longer?) version of the original part number MR508134 (Imgur).

Two questions:

  • Am I correct that the rear toe angle is adjusted via this part?
  • Given that the stock MR508134 is no sufficiently adjustable, what sort of aftermarket part should I be looking for? I'm in Europe.

(For the sake of completeness: the front tie rods have adequate adjustment range.)

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[–] tenacious_mucus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Toe out is the front of the tire being too far out…i think you mean Camber, where the top/bottom is too far out/in. Unless you have rear wheel steering, there’s no way a lift or drop would change the toe of rear wheels. Tie rods are used on the steering system, coming from the rack and pinion. Again, unless you have rear wheel steering, these dont exist on the rear wheels.

You’re looking for control arms.

Likely with a lift installed you got really positive camber (bottom is too far in). You either need longer lower arms or shorter tops, this varies depending on vehicles. However…these parts should have come with your lift kit? Unless it wasnt a kit and you assembled the kit yourself with various other parts. A complete kit would have had the parts to correct any geometry changes associated with the lift. Also, it looks like your setup uses 3 control arms on each side…2 lateral (top & bottom) and one coming in from the rear, so you might have a few parts that need extending to do this job correctly.

If you have this issue on the rear, how was it solved for the front? You said front tie rods were adjustable enough, but since you arent using the correct part terms it’s hard to know exactly what you’re referring to.

You’ll have to find someone that makes aftermarket control arms for your specific vehicle, there wont be any factory sized parts to help with a non-stock situation. Or get ahold of whoever made your lift kit (if it was a kit) and see what they recommend.

Best to go to a source (forum, community, etc) specific to your vehicle to see what kits, parts, vendors and sources people are using for lifts.

My experience with lifting not-so-common vehicles always made finding parts/kits like this difficult. Sometimes i even had to make the part myself. Usually, if anyone makes the part it’s not a huge supplier, just a few guys in a shop somewhere. Or someone with more resources found an OEM part from a completely different vehicle that worked.

[–] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Thank you for this insight! I will contact the dealer of the lift kit about those extra parts or any other recommendations.

Thanks also for helping me with the correct words for these parts! Yes I am asking about the control arms (product link), and yes the rear control arms do have eccentric adjustment bolts, but adjusting these to their minimum isn't sufficient according to the shop, and more-eccentric bolts don't exist.

It seems that the toe-out comes from the fact that the rear upper A-arm isn't mounted parallel to the vehicle, but angled backward (image), so the lift causes the axle hub to lean forward into the control arm which therefore turns the wheel outward.

  • Before the lift, the rear wheels did have clearly visible negative camber, and the car was running dead straight, and turns were "on rails".
  • Now with the lift kit, that camber is practically zero, and the rear wheels are visibly toe-out and when you now drive the car, it's obvious that the rear axle doesn't want to go straight; taking a turn feels like the rear wheels are actively steering opposite of the front wheels. Very effecitve for turning, but not what it's supposed bo be :)

In the front, it's not a problem because both toe and camber were fine before and after. Front upper and lower A-arms are mounted parallel to the vehicle (image).

[–] tenacious_mucus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 months ago

Glad i could help!

I didnt even consider angle mounted control arms! Sorry about some semi-wrong info then….!

Your Imgr link isnt working for the picture, but i have seen the style you’re referring to…i just didnt think about them while typing out my reply! So that all makes sense then.

Let me/us know what you get figured out! Always fun to learn new stuff!