ZX Track Rod

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 06 Jan 2010, 15:07

For those who didn't see my previous posts...sucks to be you I guess

.
Long story short, the one on my nearside is like a banana.

Got my new track rod and end from SOC just a second ago and by the looks of the funny lock washers it comes with: This could be entertaining.

The BoL is remarkably not useful for this job, there's one picture of a person using a balljoint splitter to remove the track rod end but that's it.

Anyone got any hints or warnings for this one?
Also any tricks to get the tracking right?

Going to trudge through the snow to get a balljoint splitter and a tin of brake cleaner from Halfrauds soon.

Thanks.

-Alex

lexi · Unread post by **lexi** » 06 Jan 2010, 17:27

Count your threads and put on same number again. Shock the balljoint off with two engineers hammers......good heavy ones. Put one on to back of joint to cushion the shock.........and whack it like you would a burglar in your house

Wear gloves and safety glasses. It WILL spring apart and may need ten blows.

This is a good method especially if using joints again.

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 06 Jan 2010, 17:41

I got a splitter

Hoping I can actually unscrew the balljoint actually... It's rather wonky.

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 06 Jan 2010, 19:22

Don't assume that the new one will have the same length of thread as the old one, check the tracking - I've been there!

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 06 Jan 2010, 20:02

Indeed, the safest bet would be to count the number of threads still exposed on the old end.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 06 Jan 2010, 20:43

first thing is to slacken ( but only just start it ) the lock nut on the track rod before seperating the swivle pin,

i alway loosen the swivle pin nut till it spins with you fingers, the wack the side of the eye the pin goes through, two or three times,

this 9 times out of 10 will split the joint,

then i mesure with a vernier from the centre under side of the joint to the back face of the lock nut, then spin the lock nut onto the new joint to the sam distance

regards malcolm

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 06 Jan 2010, 20:48

I was thinking calipers would have been the best idea, depends on how bent the track rod end is. Although I could solve that by sticking some electrical tape on it and measuring that.
Methinks some guess work and a lot of measuring is going to have to take place.

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 06 Jan 2010, 21:05

Chlorate wrote:I was thinking calipers would have been the best idea, depends on how bent the track rod end is. Although I could solve that by sticking some electrical tape on it and measuring that.
Methinks some guess work and a lot of measuring is going to have to take place.

You can do an effective job of measuring the tracking using a gauge made from a few of pieces of wood.

You need one long piece of wood, slightly longer than the width of the car. To the long piece (the horizontal), you attach two shorter pieces (the verticals). The horizontal goes on the floor underneath the car, the verticals go up vertically to the wheel rim level with the centre of the wheel. Using this "gauge", you measure the gap between wheel rim and gauge, for the front of the wheel and the rear. The gauge I have uses two woodscrews for the measuring, you can screw them in and out. A picture would explain this very easilly, however I don't have one and it's snowing outside....

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 06 Jan 2010, 21:08

I can see where that's going, but a picture would make it a lot easier to understand.
I'm not in any hurry to fix it. The car is in Maidstone and the last time I called there was over 4 inches of snow and rising.
Wondering how the hell i'm getting back to university if this keeps up...

uncle buck · Unread post by **uncle buck** » 06 Jan 2010, 23:59

This method of tracking works ok....

http://mercedes-diy-alignment.blogspot.com/

Cheers.[/url]

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 07 Jan 2010, 00:30

Hmm, probably going to take a different angle with it...

Since I'm only replacing one rod end I'll assume for now that the OS wheel is where it should be.
So I'll measure up the OS track rod end to find out how far to screw in the NS end as a rough adjustment.
Then draw a line around both tyres at equal distances from the edge so I have a point of measurement.
Then mark them up on a dowel and measure the distances between the lines.
Do a few sums.
Do some adjustments.
Do some more measurements.
Lather, rinse, repeat, etc.

The Haynes BoL says that they should toe-in by 1-3mm, i.e. the rear measurement should be 1-3mm greater than the front measurement.

I'll probably find whoever did the tracking before cocked it up

Anyone see anything obviously wrong with that?

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 07 Jan 2010, 10:03

its very unlikely the track rod end its self is/has bent, as its usualy the track rod that bends,

so the distance from the centre of the under side of the swivle joint to the locking nut will still be corect, in other words how fare up the tread it is will not have changed,

no matter how bent the rod is,

regards malcolm

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 07 Jan 2010, 11:03

citronut wrote:its very unlikely the track rod end its self is/has bent, as its usualy the track rod that bends,

so the distance from the centre of the under side of the swivle joint to the locking nut will still be corect, in other words how fare up the tread it is will not have changed,

no matter how bent the rod is,

regards malcolm

Malcom, the track rod end was pretty bent, have a look at the photo in the first post of this thread.

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=29155

Even if you set up the track rod end the same as the original, the tracking would still be wrong because the track rod was bent and would be shorter than it was when the tracking was set up originally. It may also be the case that the track rod is bent, or any of the other suspension components, so the tracking must be checked.

handyman · Unread post by **handyman** » 07 Jan 2010, 14:49

Judging by the bent track rod, there will be other items in the steering and suspension that will have shifted. I'd even look at damage to the steering rack, you do not bend a track rod that easily as the amount of force required would be considerable. Could even have bent the steering arm.

Rather than rely on rustic ways of checking the tracking with bits of wood and nails, go to a centre that can check not only the front wheel tracking, but also the track of the wheels front to back, wheel base length side to side and turning radii of both the front wheels. Anything off spec will at least tell you if the car is still running true or going up the road sideways.

And, to use your strange language, Chlorate, anything else sucks.

Handyman

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 07 Jan 2010, 17:39

Well, to be honest it's quite easy to see how the track rod could be bent like that...since in the accident the steering was set to full-lock left and the wheel was wrenched out by the catching the crash barrier of a lorrey's trailer at an approximate relative speed of 20mph (maybe more, maybe less, I couldn't really tell at the time).
So effectively the wheel and hub form a lever and there is an enormous force multiplier acting directly onto a 14mm steel bar of the track rod end.
I'll look at it more thoroughly next time I'm with the car (and when the weather improves), taking measurements etc and comparing them to the undamaged side of the car. And I'll consider having it checked out professionally if the lower arm assembly (or otherwise) is showing signs of damage.

But I'm fairly confident that it'll be ok.

Oh and handyman, I'm not entirely certain what you meant by "And, to use your strange language, Chlorate"
I'll choose not to be offended.

-Alex