BIRTH OF A TIE ROD END FLIP KIT

Long-time suspension expert Louis Morosan, the "L" in L & G Enterprises of San Dimas, CA, and suspension modification designer and manufacturer, DJM Suspension of Gardena, CA, have been doing business and trading ideas for some time. Not too long ago, they got on the subject of the worrisome angle of the tie rod that is created when a truck is lowered. "The tie rod should be parallel to the lower control arm and both should be parallel to the ground, "When a truck is lowered, the tie rod is repositioned at an angle to the spindle. The result is very annoying bump steer and undue wear of suspension components." Morosan adds, "I told DJM about an idea I had for correcting the problem. Obviously, the angle of the pre-drilled hole in the spindle had to be altered so the angle of the tie rod end would be changed to eliminate the unwanted angle. I envisioned a spindle exchange program whereby DJM would alter spindles, changing the taper of the spindle, and trade them for stock spindles from their customers." "Louie's idea was a good one," says Ullmann, "We just carried it a little further to a more practical conclusion. An exchange program such as Louie suggested is very difficult to manage. So we engineered a tie rod end flip kit. Our first kit is for the late-model Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra only. We devised a solution to the tie rod angle problem for lowered trucks regardless of what drop kit was used and we gathered all the components necessary to correct it into our flip kit. Now kits for other applications are on the drawing board." The core of DJM's kit is a tapered insert that is fitted into each spindle to correct the angle of the tie rod. In the stock set up, the tie rod ends are fitted into the spindles from the top down. The flip kit calls for the tie rod ends to be fitted into the spindles from the bottom up. The new tie rod end flip kit includes a pair of the tapered, threaded inserts, one for each spindle; an 11/16th drill bit to enlarge the pre-drilled hole in the spindle to the size needed to accommodate the tapered insert; a ¾-20 tap and a can of tapping fluid to tap the new hole to the proper thread to accept the tapered insert; two USS 7/16th washers that are positioned before each nut that locks the assembly together on each side and a tube of Loctite to be certain nothing loosens. It's a simple fix with DJM's new flip kit. Everything necessary to do the job is included. The kit is affordable, since rumor has it that the kit will be priced at about a hundred bucks, a fair price for correcting the problem. For the professional suspension tech like Louie Morosan who will do many installations, all components in the kit are reusable. Only the two tapered inserts must be purchased for each installation. Additional tapping fluid will be needed when it's used up. To see just what's involved in employing the flip kit, check the photos.