What size heim joints for custom tie rods? Options

[914turboford]

What size tie rods should be used to get the proper strength to make up some custom tie rods? Would 7/16" be adequate or should 1/2" be used?
Brian

[Demick]

Brian

Like I said in my first post, no offense intended. But, as you know, 914 owners are notorious for being cheap. Many are known to spend 5 hours in the garage jerry-rigging up some contraption to save from having to spend $20 on the correct part.

So when a newbie comes along (yes, your classification still says newbie even though you have been a member for 2 years) and says they want to make some tie rods and what size should they be, I naturally assume that the person is just being cheap and trying to save a few bucks over buying a proven solution like Turbo Tie Rods.

Now there tend to be a few items about a car that are very important to safety. Brakes probably being #1. But steering ranks up there pretty high I'd say. So when someone comes along and wants to fab up a new intake design for their motor - I say go for it. Worst thing that can happen is you ruin your motor or get stranded on the side of the road and have to get towed home. But when it comes to critical safety items - like steering - which tend to cause major bodily injury when they fail - I like to take a more conservative approach. Especially when given the conditions that I laid out in the previous paragraph.

So that's why I chose to enter this discussion even though I did not know the answer to your question.

If you spend much time on this board you will realize that you will always get a variety of opinions from various people - appreciated and not so appreciated. But it's always important to use your own head in the end - because much of the information you will get will be priceless - and much of it worthless (or worse - completely wrong). Remember, nobody paid an entry fee or took a test to get in here (myself included).

Take care
Demick