Track Rod End

[Guest mcyoungy]

thanks gregers......I had that one covered.

[Guest mcyoungy]

Sorry...thanks mum of 4

[seatkid]

The wear limit IIRC for a track rod end is only 0.3mm, i.e. very little. Basically any free play and its an MOT failure. The reason for this is that free play will usually lead to rapid further wear and a dangerous level of play. You would not normally notice 0.3mm of play as a driver - maybe just a tendency for the vehicle to wander.

 

One way to check, is to rock the front wheel in question in the left/right direction, you should be able to determine if there is "slack" (could be only 2-3mm at the wheel), its done easier with the wheel jacked or on one of those rotating plates they have at MOT stations.

 

Track rod ends do seem to wear quickly on a Galaxy, probably because of the front end weight.

[chromedome]

You may notice excessive wear on the inner or outer edge of the tyre. So if you leave it too long you may have to add the price of a new tyre as well. :)

[Dave-G]

Galaxy goes through track rod ends in less than 20k if yer town driving. If the car was jacked up and you tried to move the wheel side to side through its steering cycle you would notice free-play. Dead simple to replace, and IIRC - about 20 squiders each.

 

Like I indicated above - try to move the wheel... through its steering cycle. In plainer english maybe - try to steer the wheel while gripping the tyres at the front and rear edges while there is no weight on the wheel in question. If you can feel free play - consider how much the weight of the car can move it when cornering.

 

 

 

 

 

There's some places a woman should'nt go - protective head gear wanted :lol:

[tim-spam]

The best way to check a tie rod is to jack up that side of the car only and remove the wheel. The weight of the car on the other wheel will provide significant resistance to steering movement. It's then just a case of grasping the brake disc at '3' and '9' and feeling for any play. If there is any play felt, and the play is in the tie rod, you should just be able to see relative movement between the steering knuckle and tie rod.

 

To increase the leverage, I have a bar that I can bolt to the hub - this works really well.

[mumof4]

You know..ive been thinking......tracking is fine on my car as is wheel balance..but it still wanders a bit...there is a slight wobble on the steering wheel when car is straight but not cornering....brake discs are fine as i had them checked....could this be track rod thingies?..yes tyres are at correct pressure..

[MadBaz]

A bit ott I think, considering thats unlikely to happen because of a worn track rod end, if it snapped/worked loose from hub carrier maybe

 

Have you never seen one snap? so if he plows into another car thats OTT?? when he knows about it,

 

 

 

 

Apologies Radiotwo/everyone, my post was a bit off.

 

I've never seen/heard of one failing, I used to make them for a company in Germany which supplied the likes of Lotus, the way they are made makes them almost impossible to catastrophically fail, however when they are worn, they seem to deterioate rapidily, which is very very noticable thru steering, anyone that doesn't get it sorted must be a chimp.

 

I did mine recently, cost 20 quid + tracking @ 25 quid at kwik fit.

[gregers]

how about doing the job yourself,then find a fast fit centre thats doing free tracking etc,

 

JOBS A GOOD ONE :lol:

[Jimbo73]

Right,,, mine failed its mot on this...

 

Anyone any info on how to change it and what tools i need...As I will have to gewt spanners etc of my mate....

 

Many thanks.....

[seatkid]

You need will some large spanners, socket set (w/allen keys) , and possibly a large hammer and WD40.

Change it yourself if you must, but do you have the equipment (and training) to set up the steering geometry which will require setting after the new tie rod end is fitted? You can get the job done quite cheaply at places like tyre/exhaust centres. Better to use the ones that have "laser" optical alignment kit (i.e. not the cheapo mirror kit)

[bofivefive]

Took gal in for the cambelt today.

 

When I picked it up the mechanic says that the OS track rod end is worn - they noticed it when they took the wheel off.

 

So......what might he have noticed? Play in the wheel when he took it off? Visible signs of wear?

 

Car drives straight and true with no knocking or squeals.

try jacking the side up he says has gone grab hold of the wheel at three o clock and nine o clock move side to side if u can feell a noticeable gap he was right it needs changing

[mindspace]

I'm just about to change the track rod ends and thought I'd do the brake pads while i'm there too.

 

Any pearls of wisdom folks?

[chrispb123456]

Count the turns it takes to remove each track rod and replace by the same amount, though always have alignment checked professionally as a small amount of inaccuracy will cause unnecessary tyre wear.

[mindspace]

Cool thanks for that. I just have the bolts for the track rod end soaking with WD40 as they are ever so corroded.

 

Add to that, the brake calipers are held on with 7mm allen bolts - i've been through two sets of allen keys so far and both have 6 and 8 mm but no 7 lol.

[sparky Paul]

7mm allen is a non-standard size you will find on many brake calipers, and other places too on the Gal. Most motor factors sell them.

[mindspace]

Cool thanks for that. I bought a 7mm hex socket in the end from Halfords (begrudgingly). I have the 19mm bolt off at the hub end but how do you free the ball joint from the hole at the hub end? I can see a 5mm Allen socket in the bolt but it's sheared so I have no chance of getting an allen key or hex bit in it so if I have to undo that then I may have issues lol

[chrispb123456]

Either a ball joint extractor or a blow from a large hammer to the end of the arm, the shock will release the joint although there can be a knack to doing this that you only get from experience.

[mindspace]

Thanks Chris

 

What size is the bolt that attaches the end to the track/tie rod?

 

Ta

[chrispb123456]

It's been a while since I done one but it's either 22 or 24mm

[mindspace]

OK Thanks. It's incredibly tight and I've put lots of WD40 on it but at the moment it's not budging. I'm assuming that it threads clockwise (as you look at it from the outside)?

[mindspace]

It is indeed clockwise and I can confirm that the jam nut is 22mm.

 

Still struggling to get the ball joint end out of the hub though. I'm going to try a claw hammer this morning.

[chrispb123456]

Hi Mindspace

 

As I said there is a knack to this, you need at least a club hammer and get the steering on full lock to expose the arm it's full extent, then a sharp blow!!

tap tap tap will not work,

You need to hit the arm end on as in direction of arrow.

 

Edited November 6, 2012 by chrispb123456

[mindspace]

I hammered every which way until I was blue in the face without success.

 

Then I decided to cut the bolt flush at the hub with an angle grinder :angry:

 

More WD40 and still the bolt was stuck fast. So I applied heat from a blowtorch, gave a gentle tap on the bottom and it popped right out :)

 

Refitting the new part took a matter of minutes and on the plus side, the hub is now very clean lol

 

The road wheel is now back on but it's now too dark to start on the other side so it's the turn of the O/S tomorrow.

 

I'll keep you posted.

[mindspace]

O/S brake pads refitted now on O/S Track rod end. I don't know how long these have been on but once again the jam nut is as tight as a... well a thing that's very tight lol

 

Currently soaking in penetrating lube. The ball joint nut was easier this side but I haven't tried separating it yet.