track rod end bolt

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deian
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track rod end bolt

Post by deian »

i was between two minds getting the driveshafts out yesterday with my engine bush adventure, and i kinda started it, only to find out that the 35mm bolt needed to open the hub was hard to get hold of, so i was gonna take the whole lot off, this meant getting the track rod end off the hub thing too.... so here's my question...

i started opening the bolt that holds it to the bottom of the hub only for it to catch on some corrosion lower down, so it got stuck and turned the nut and the ball... say i want to open the bolt again in the future... how do i get it off? the bolt turns with the ball to which the track rod pop onto, can i pop off the track rod off the ball? and grip the ball to get the bolt off? any ideas, i feel the need for a driveshaft removal soon and these small complications do my head in.

any ideas?

thanks
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Post by CitroJim »

I once had this on a 405, it's exactly the same joint. Usually if you take care to wire-brush the threads first and put a bit of WD or similar on them they'll not be a problem.

The probelm is the "nyloc" bit of the nut sticking fast. What I did was to carefully cut off the "nyloc" bit with a junior hacksaw to leave what looked like a conventional nut. It then came off no problem in two halves, the "nyloc" bit first followed by the rest of the nut.

Obviously the nut is now useless and must be replaced ASAP but at least there'll be enough thread on it to reassemble everything and enable you to get to a source of new nuts. It's not a standard thread IIRC.

Use a bit of Copper Grease on reassembly and never have a problem again.
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Post by reblack68 »

It's a very common fault with track rod ends and ball joints. If it's still possible to tighten the nut again you're in with a chance. As stated a good start is to wire brush and lubricate the threads. If the pin points up I've been known to put a jack under the joint to force the taper in. If, as I think is the case here, the pin points down it's not quite so easy but creative use of a biggish pair of vice grips should hold the taper in place.

If the above doesn't work (but it usually does unless the threads are actually damaged) you'll have to consider getting somebody to heat the nut with a welding torch or even burn it off. A hacksaw can do the same job. If you opt for destructive removal make sure you have the correct replacement available.
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Post by DaveW »

You can usually find some way of applying a (non destructive) pressure to the joint to force the taper to jam, a small jack or even hand pressure will sometimes suffice.
The nut can then be undone (or done up) easily if you have done the precautionary thread cleanup as described by reblack68.

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Post by deian »

it's a nuisance isn't it, it's one of those silly things that can complicate a straightforward job
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Post by Peter.N. »

You can very often jam the threaded part by putting pressure on the joint, forcing it together, either with a jack or lever of some sort. If you put enough pressure on it it will not rotate when you try to undo the nut. I use a large tyre lever about 3' (1 metre) long and lever against the chassis or something else thats solid.
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Post by DaveW »

Peter.N. wrote:You can very often jam the threaded part by putting pressure on the joint, forcing it together, either with a jack or lever of some sort. If you put enough pressure on it it will not rotate when you try to undo the nut. I use a large tyre lever about 3' (1 metre) long and lever against the chassis or something else thats solid.
Nothing like ramming home the message .... :-)
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Re: track rod end bolt

Post by andmcit »

deian wrote:the 35mm bolt needed to open the hub was hard to get hold of
It's not that difficult to get if you can find a normal car accessories/tools shop if Halfords seems too expensive and unhelpful;

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PI ... et-6-Point
deian wrote:can i pop off the track rod off the ball? and grip the ball to get the bolt off? any ideas, i feel the need for a driveshaft removal soon and these small complications do my head in.
thanks
No chance - even if it's well duff, otherwise it would have done so already! Are you talking about the downward pointing track rod end, or the main bottom balljoint!? Check to see if there's an allan key eye in the end of the ball joint shaft - these DO exist but get filled up with crap so you don't actually see them!!

Otherwise it's cutting the end off the joint or the nut itself if you actually want to re-use it - you could try a nut splitter tool;

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PI ... t-Splitter

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Post by goldfinche »

Hello I had the same problem, was in the middle of nowhere and all I had was some spanners and a long breaker bar. On the ground was some fine gravel and sand, I managed to get a little of the sand into the taper then put some pressure on with the breaker bar to force the joint back together, the sand provided enough friction to stop the pin from turning and off came the nut.
Perhaps a little sand or perhaps some valve grinding compound would help. Just a thought.
Cheers.
Geoff.
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Post by AndersDK »

Its important the exposed thread is clean.
Start with a steel brush - then using a spare nut same thread wind this on & off while lubing well.
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Post by davek-uk »

Use a G-Clamp to pust the trackrod end back where it came from. With a big clamp you can usually get enough grip to stop the whole lot turning.
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Post by citronut »

if you mean the track rod end and its pivot pin is pointing downwards,you need a long bar or scaffol tube about 3 foot long,put it across the back (top) of track rod end and under the cassis to lever it back home,whilst levering try doing up the nut,then wire brush the thread and lubbe it.if it your lower swivel joint at the bottom of the hub,just put a trolly jack under the arm and jack it till you have most of the weight of th car on the jack,mind not to attemp to do this on uneven ground,then do up and clean thread and lubbe it,then undo with the load still on
regards malcolm
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