Tie-rod replacement

[sidrick]

When my car was in the garage for some work this week I was advised that there is movement in my o/s track-rod end and it won't pass it's next MOT with this.

I've had a look and the adjustor is seized and it'll likely be a battle to get the end off.

How easy/difficult (see 'labour intensive') is it to replace the complete track rod?

If the garage will charge me (for example) 2 hours labout to replace the end and it'd be the same amount of time to replace the whole thing then I'd rather do the latter. I'd be looking to get both sides done as well.

Any experiences/advice?

Thanks.

[Error404]

They can be a real pain to free of sometimes. IIRC Lemfoerder make reasonably priced OE quality replacements.
A blowtorch, PlusGas and a big pair of stilsons are your friends if you want to try and free off the old ones. You would need to replace the adjusters afterwwards, Kev (Banbridge) makes some high quality ones with a larger 17mm hex on them.
Whatever you do, whether it be freeing off old ones, or buying new, make sure you lube them with tons of grease to keep them from seizing up again.

HTH

[sidrick]

Thanks for the advice

I probably wasn't clear enough with my rambling question though. How difficult (time consuming) is it to replace the complete tie-rod (inner and rod end) as opposed to just changing the seized end?

[Error404]

on a ramp you could do them both inside an hour. On stands, a bit longer. The bracket that hold the tie rods in at the rack end has two pressed pins in it which often come loose when tightening or undoing the retaining nuts. Worth a squirt with the welder to prevent that happening

[sidrick]

Superb, thanks

[gunman]

I'd say it's a lot quicker than freeing up siezed ends. The whole steering arm\track rod is best removed and put in a vice to free it up anyway, it isn't a big job to remove. Kev also does uprated inner bushes.

While we are on the subject, are the steering arms on teh S2 the same as a standard 80? I have a spare pair here and adjusters\unner bushes from Kev and was goign to refurb them so it's a quick swap over.

[Error404]

yes i think they are, just check the drivers side is kinked to provide clearance for the downpipe

[sidrick]

Where's the best place to buy pattern complete tie-rods?

Euros and GSF don't list them on their website (I haven't called yet) and my local motorfactors only do the ends.