Track Rod Ends

It's MOT time next week and the gaiters on my track rod ends are completely perished which is a fail.
I'm going to have to replace them so

a) any particular brands to go for?
b) is it worth replacing the track rod at the same time? I have a 1992 90 so it's getting on a bit!
c) is it that hard to do? Busters photo guide makes it look pretty achievable!

Cheers
Simon

You may find youll never get the track rod off the rod! I never could. Ended up replacing with Terrafirma HD which where around £80 - £90 I think. Plus they come with greasable ends so last much longer.

bankz5152 said:

You may find youll never get the track rod off the rod! I never could. Ended up replacing with Terrafirma HD which where around £80 - £90 I think. Plus they come with greasable ends so last much longer.

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Put it in a vice, prise open the two slots with a pry bar, and run oil into them, they almost always unscrew after a while.

Greasable tres are a good idea.

Lots and lots of penetrating oil. for a few days before or longer if possible.
Count the threads, but also make sure the new ones are the same distance from the ctr of the joint to the thread starting position. If not then measure from ctr of joint to the start of the ar.
I found it best to remove the bar c/w the TRE's and put the bar in a vice to get a good torque on the TRE.

Cheers

Ahhh seeI didnt have a vice! No wonder why I couldnt get em off

bankz5152 said:

Ahhh seeI didnt have a vice! No wonder why I couldnt get em off

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Two pairs of big Stilsons will do at a pinch. Opening the slots and plenty of time for the oil to soak in makes all the difference.

From memory...i seem to recall that they are handed too.
I fitted new ones during the restoration 14 years ago and they are still good but cos it was so long ago I'm not 100% about the handed bit but 99.9%

Flossie said:

From memory...i seem to recall that they are handed too.
I fitted new ones during the restoration 14 years ago and they are still good but cos it was so long ago I'm not 100% about the handed bit but 99.9%

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Yep. Different threads on the two ends.

Turboman said:

Two pairs of big Stilsons will do at a pinch. Opening the slots and plenty of time for the oil to soak in makes all the difference.

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Thats what I tried, just wouldnt budge, new track rod ends where £15 each, i needed two so an extra £30 - £40 for the HD set up was worth it imo. Though good to know it can actually be done! Should be getting a vice soon n all

Also , a little love tap with tool number one on the bar can help "loosen" the rust.

Cheers

Avoid the cheapest ones, if you can get ones with grease nipples and grease them every year they should last longer. I'd also renew the clamps that go on track rod at the same time - chances are the nuts and bolts on them are rusty/damaged and they're cheap. I changed all my TREs recently, on a 1985 90". The track rod was still fine. If you have a splitter it's much easier to separate the TRE from the swivel ends. To get the TRE out of the rod I used plenty of releasing oil, then a few bashes with a hammer to loosen the TREs in the rod. When that failed on two of them I used a thin chisel to GENTLY open the slots, after which they came out easily. Easily is a relative term here of course. If you have the spare cash it will be easier to buy a new rod with TREs already fitted. Don't forget to carefully measure the distance between the centre of the TREs on the track rod before you start - mine was 1230mm from memory.

Cheers, thanks all

zeaphod said:

Don't forget to carefully measure the distance between the centre of the TREs on the track rod before you start - mine was 1230mm from memory.

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I take off the whole rod by popping the tapers out. Then I turn the rod upside down on the bench, and draw round the two ball joints with a pencil. If you lose track of the turns and so on, you can adjust the bar to exactly fit the outline on the bench.

When mine are rusted in I find it helps to hammer the track rod itself against a suitable 'anvil' such as a kerbstone where the track rod end screws into it. This helps break the seal of the rust and (possibly) stretches the tube slightly so it loosens its grip.

I'm a bit sceptical of all this measuring and counting turns. Track rod ends vary a bit in how long the threaded portion is, and how close to the pin the thread goes. I prefer to check the measurement at the wheels to make sure they're both pointing in the same direction. I also turn the wheels round a little to check in several different places because they don't always run true. If you're only a millimetre out at the track rod ends, that could easily give you three or four millimetres of toe in or toe out at the tyre, which is enough to affect the handling and tyre wear. Plus, it's a good idea to get it properly trued up with the correct kit at a garage soon afterwards.

Lemforder and delphi are good brands. Both OEM I think.

Quinton Hazzel make Greasable TRE''s which seem decent quality.

As Brown says. Did mine a couple of months ago, new clamps as well as they are cheap enough and make the whole job so much easier, get it as near as you can to original length then after fitting check and adjust tracking and then tighten the clamps.
As a chippy I find the best way to get the tracking right is to use two lengths of thin wood strip and hold them together one touching one wheel the other touching the opposite then pencil mark where the strips overlap, move to rear of wheel and do same and the difference is easy to see, far more accurate than a tape measure.

When we had the Series I made myself a caliper to do the tracking with lengths of 1/4" threaded rod as pointers which could be adjusted. I could mark their position with a nut, withdraw them, put the caliper on the other side of the wheel and see whether the pointer would go in to the same position. A very small amount of twist of the track rod could make a noticeable difference at the wheel rims. We used to run it with a couple of mm of toe in which seemed to work quite well for most driving conditions. I don't have that device now, so manage with wood and tape measure. Depending on what datum you use (the wheel rim itself versus the shoulder of the tyre tread for example) the results turn out a little different, but taking a few measurements you can arrive at a best guess of all of them.

Don't forget to put the clamps on in the right orientation so they're actually squeezing the split bit of the track rod together!