Technical Multipla track rod end replacement no go...

[MarkX]

Hello,

Planned to do what I thought would be a straightforward track rod end (TRE) replacement today. Didn't go to plan...

Started to undo the TRE ball joint nut, got so far, then the bolt/ball joint started to turn with the nut. Sawed a slot into the end of the tapered bolt with a junior hacksaw (good blades!) and stuck a screwdriver in the slot to stop the pin turning but couldn't get enough torque on the screwdriver. Ended up sawing off one side of the nut trying to preserve the bolt threads in case I couldn't unscrew the TRE and replace and had to reassemble. The nut did now come off and the ball joint pin then released easily from the steering arm. However, no amount of coaxing with wrenches, hammer and WD40 could loosen the TRE or the TRE locknut on the track rod. Well seized.

I have had this problem before when the locknut seized but the TRE screwed off no prob. Not this time.

Anyway, I put everything back together and retreated home (via Tesco for some consolation beverages) tail between my legs to plan Plan B.

Have measured the locknut and the flats on the TRE body and they are 20 or 21mm and 11mm respectively. Plan B is to put an 11mm spanner on the TRE flats and stick the other end of the spanner in my 4ft breaker pipe/bar with the spanner and pipe at a slight angle so I can swing the pipe o/s the wheelarch, plus an adjustable spanner holding the locknut in place. Hoping this will crack the joint between the TRE and the locknut.

Plan C, if Plan B doesn't work, is to (carefully) saw through the TRE locknut, w/o damaged the threads on the track rod, in the hope that this will allow the TRE to unscrew. I will buy another track rod first so I've got a replacement locknut.

Plan D is to replace the inner track rod too. Been watching some great videos on this procedure by pro mechanics on YT. Will need the tool to undo the inner track rod from the steering rack, but apart from this inconvenience it looks like a straightforward job.

Going to order an inner track rod tomorrow morning, hoping I can return it if not required including if there's no play in the inner track rod (didn't check today).

Will update.

 

[MarkX]

Update: Managed to get both track rod ends (TRE's) done today.

Pictures below show how I did it and what tools I used.

Track rod end loosen and removal: I used a junior hacksaw to saw all round/through the joint between the TRE and the TRE locknut. Not all the way through, just down a mm or so. Then liberally sprayed WD40 into the joint. I then used 2 adjustable wrenches to undo the TRE, a big one on the locknut with it's handle wedged under the driveshaft, and a smaller one (because the handle fits into the breaker pipe/bar) on the TRE flats with the handle in the end of my breaker bar/pipe (See photos). I rotated the breaker bar anticlockwise to crack the joint between the TRE and locknut.

Note: threads on the tie rod/track rod, TRE and locknut are normal RHT (Right Hand Thread) ie. "Righty Tighty Lefty Loosey" (I've just heard this expression today believe it or not), or turn right to tighten, turn left to loosen. Same on *both* sides of the car. O/S and N/S TRE's are *identical* ie. not handed.

Tip I got from a YT video: When unscrewing the old TRE from the track rod, count the number of complete turns it takes to completely unscrew the TRE from the track rod. Then when installing the new TRE on the track rod, screw on the TRE using the same number of turns to get the tracking roughly correct. Tracking by a professional will still be required later. FYI: Both my TRE's required 18 complete turns to undo.

TRE locknut loosen and removal: No amount of banging and cajoling would loosen the locknut, so I carefully sawed through 3 adjacent locknut flats almost to the track rod threads. To assist with the sawing I screwed the old TRE back onto the track rod and put the ball joint pin back into the steering arm to steady the track rod and locknut while I sawed. Sawing completed, to loosen the locknut I grabbed the track rod on it's flats/hexagonal section with large mole grips, handle wedged against the suspension arm to stop the track rod turning, as I applied anticlockwise torque to the locknut with an adjustable wrench to loosen it (See photo). Sorted. No need for blow torches etc.

With the TRE and locknut removed from the track rod, I cleaned up the corroded/rusty track rod thread (in contrast the part of the thread which had been inside the TRE was like new) using a wire brush on the end of my portable drill, and then repeatedly running a new locknut up and down the thread, using a wrench for the tight bits, liberally spraying the thread with WD40, until the new nut would spin up and down the whole thread by hand with no effort.

For the second TRE on the nearside: I had to saw through 3 sides of the TRE ball joint nut to remove it. It would have been easier to saw through the bolt but if afterwards the TRE would not loosen there wouldn't have been much thread left to reattach the TRE to the steering arm. To remove the TRE off the track rod I used the method above. The locknut came off without any sawing. Hurray!

Tracking to be booked next week. With new track rod ends, locknuts and cleaned track rod threads it should be easy to do.

Parts and labour costs:
- New TRE's = 2 x £10.20 = £20.40
- New TRE locknuts = 2 x £0.80 = £1.60
- Labour: £0.00 !
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TOTAL: £22.00
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Specs (supercedes info in my first post above):
- TRE ball joint nut is 17mm (Nyloc)
- Flats on TRE are 12mm (requires *deep* spanner or adjustable wrench. I tried my normal 12mm spanner but it's no good as not deep enough)
- TRE locknut is M14 x 1.5 pitch, 22mm spanner or adjustable wrench required
- Track rod hexagonal section/flats are 13mm

Photos:
- 1 Removal of track rod end using 2 adjustable wrenches and a breaker bar/pipe
- 2 Ditto (close-up)
- 3 Removal of locknut (sawing through nut with junior hacksaw)
- 4 Ditto (close-up)
- 5 Loosening locknut using adjustable wrench and molegrips
- 6 New TRE installed (with new locknut).