Technical Steering - track rod - how to change it???

[Godzzi]

The rods have a safety clip so they will not unscrew by themselves.
1. you need to damage the clip (the arrow in the 1st picture).
2. you need something like a clamp to unscrew the hole rod. (I've used the tool in the 2nd picture). That's way the rod is so damaged in the picture.

 

[longgo]

Thanks again for the info!It will do the job. The new ones for sale are with milled places for key and is much easier to take them on or off

 

[longgo]

By the way there is tool for removing that tie rod without to take the whole rack out..

and the company: http://en.kamatec.com/index.php?main=0&page=7&kat=6&skat=0&item=3992
Only i never seen it in real how that work..(not on video). The price what i found was - 142eu

 

[longgo]

Here it is some small manual with pictures,in case someone decide to walk on the hard way

Needed tools:
---------------
- keys
- MoSo4 spray or some other with acid and oil for easy take loose rust screws(or coca cola )
- jack and tripods for support the car
- some beers to keep the mood
- aspirin for after repair because you'll hit yourself at least one time
- chewing gum, just to prevent loud swearing

Lets start (that is info for European LH driving position)
-----------------
1. Lift the car up and put that tripod keepers under
2. Loose and remove the weels
3.Take out the screw inside of the car - 10mm

and take out that plastic cover with a screw driver
4.Loose and remove the long screws keeping sdteering rack under the bodywork

5.Loose and take forom their places in steering knuckles
6.Loose the left arm joint

7.Remove the nut form the bottom side of that rod link

The last 2 operation make life easyer to take the rack out, that mean this big keeping plate under the car can go more down.

8.Take the screws out - one behind the MacPherson the other under the car



9.Turn the rac to the engine and take the plastic cover out


10.Now take that plastic clamp that keep the fuel pipes

11.Get the rack out:



Now there is choice to do what you wish to do: replace with new, fix, or what ever..

Little photos:




How to put it back?
----------------------

It is the same just from the last to first.
1.put the rack inside , put that plastics for the fuel and that steering column axis cover
2.Turn upward to be against the hole that axis and it will go easy
3.Put back on place that keeping plate with the screws, but not tide to the end
4.Put back the suspension ball joint and rod link
5.Now tide as needed
7.Tide the steering rack screws(that long ones)
8.Tide that CV joint inside of the body
9.Put back the tied rod ends
10.Weels back, check up for something missing or extra
10.New wheel aligment

Sorry if something is not clear, i`m not native En. speaker..

 

[sime]

The steering rack bush is a big problem in Romania because we have such bad roads. With time the steering arm will start to have movement in all directions. Because the bush is not a Fiat replacement part a lot of us replaces them with hand built ones.
The same thing I've done to my car by myself.

Sorry for the non ENG words from the pictures.

What is dimension of plastic part you made for steering rack housing? I found on some other forum that it is 35X25X24 Doest it need fix in housing or just jam in housing?

 

[jakobbr79]

Thank you so much for the guide, I have just done due to this guide. Thanks

 

[eairlie]

Hey guys,
I’ve changed the tracking rods on two stilos now. In my experience this is a one day job at most, and does not require removing the rack from the car. If there is interest, I will attempt to post a complete guide for this job in the near future.

Long and short, there is a long socket type tool that slides over the track rod shaft to enable you to undo the track rod from the rack, however it does require the steering to be hard over on whichever side you want to do. The most difficult bit I have found has been removing the track rod ends from the rods. 50% of the time I have simply cut them off with a hacksaw, but I have discovered that where one spanner might round off the flats on the track rod end, or the rod, a pair of spanner’s appears to not do this. This is likely to do with the greater area absorbing the torque from the spanners.
Ewan

 

[Ralf S.]

Hey guys,
I’ve changed the tracking rods on two stilos now. In my experience this is a one day job at most, and does not require removing the rack from the car. If there is interest, I will attempt to post a complete guide for this job in the near future.

If you are The God of Steering Racks, it would be rude to not post a guide..

Steering rack is one job I've never had to do on anything (and I've had three cars over 150,000 miles) so sooner or later it's going to catch up with me..


Ralf S.