Tie rod alignment problem

[ericmatwey]

New to the forum
1966 chevy sedan delivery 2wd

My mechanic told me he cannot adjust the driver side tie rod in enough to get a proper alignment. The driver side tie rods are both bottomed out in the sleeve, no threads left. The passenger side tie rods are almost all the way out. Both sides (passenger to driver) have the same length of tie rods, and inner to outer are paired up the same, passenger to driver side.
I did notice that the pitman and idler arm are not parallel with the wheels, in fact, both are turned toward the driver side when the wheels are straight. which is the side with the tie rods bottomed out.
Can I fix this by removing the tie rods from the spindles, centering the pitman arm, and then adjusting the tie rods to reconnect to the spindles, and keep the wheels straight, and pitman arm centered?:confused:

Thank you

[CPPAaron]

As long as the steering box is centered this would be something to check; keep in mind all pitman arms are "keyed" to fit only one way on the steering boxes

[ericmatwey]

Does this mean I should pop the tie rods off the spindles, adjust the pitman arm parallel to the tires, and then adjust the tie rods such that I can reconnect them without moving the wheels or pitman arm?

Thank you for the help

[CPPAaron]

What you do is center the steering box. install the pitman arm (it will only go on one way) and then make all the tie rod adjustments to center everything else.

[ericmatwey]

Thank you Aaron, I'll give that a try.