Does turnbuckle orientation matter?

[Mongoose]

I have had a heck of a time setting the toe on my V3 Kraton. One turnbuckle seems like it's almost all the way out and the other all the way in. After messing with it for a while I noticed the turnbuckles aren't "mirrored". On the right side of the truck, the short half of the buckle is on the "servo side" and on the left side of the truck, the short half of the buckle is on the "wheel side".

Does this matter when adjusting the toe? I want to say that it shouldn't as long as they are the same length but something is off. The exploded view of the Talion (same part number buckle) shows the short side being on the (wheel side) of the square both left and right.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but they are not equal when I draw them both in all the way.

Thanks in advance...love this forum and loving my Kraton so far!

 

[Jerry-rigged]

You do want all turnbuckles oriented the same way (not mirrored). That way you will know turning them forward makes them longer, and back makes them shorter (or vise versa), regardless of where on the truck you are. If they are mirrored, then you need to remember which way to turn the different sides of the truck, and you will probably get it wrong more often than not. This gets frustrating. If they are all the same, you always know which way to turn the wrench.

To set them from scratch - set your servo so the Bellcranks are straight forward - best you can. Then adjust one steering link until that tire is pointed straight / slightly out. Measure the length of the turnbuckle, and make the other side match. If you need to adjust the Toe setting, make the same change on both sides - you want them to match. Once toe is correct, then you can adjust your servo horn to center, then use the radio steering trim for fine tuning the steering to center properly.

 

[Mongoose]

Thanks for the response Jerry-rigged. That all makes sense now about the orientation...it was like a light bulb or duh moment as I was reading your response.

I don't know that I can make them the same length though because when I turn both of them in all the way the right wheel points a lot further out than the left. It's like the link themselves are different lengths. I will measure them but they appear to be the same length.

So, center the servo, run one in and start at zero, adjust until wheel is pointing slightly out, measure link length, and make the other side match. I will give it a shot.

I attached some pics to show what I was talking about.

 

[Mongoose]

Also, how do you when your servo saver needs to be tightened?

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Start with centering the bellcrank, not the servo. If the servo horn is off, you don't want to build that error into the system. Look at the arm pointing forward on the ServoSaver - the one connected to the red metal bar - that is what you want to center as step #1. Then make one wheel straight / toe out, then measure, then make the other side match. Then center servo horn.

Get one of these Digital calipers from Harbor freight, home depot or wherever. Measure the turnbuckle between the plastic - how much metal rod is showing between the two plastic parts. Make that measurement match between the right and left. Having about the same amount of threads showing on each side of one turnbuckle is good, but exact is not needed.

As far as tightening the SS, kind of up to you. I leave mine kind of tight, but I have aftermarket servo's with steel or Ti gears. The stock bras gears are not so strong.

 

[Mongoose]

Ok, I will give this all a shot tonight. Thanks again, I really appreciate all of your help.

 

[nulli]

The notch on a turnbuckle means that side shortens counter clockwise.

 

[Mongoose]

Thanks nulli.

I was wondering the purpose of that notch. Makes sense they would give some type of orientation indication.