Track Rod Ends - Removal?

[Integra99]

Hi,

 

Just after a little advice!

 

Took the wheels off the elise this afternoon as I am cleaning up wheelarches and painting calipers!

 

Noticed the rubber on the track rod ends have split and perished and also steering gator is ripped!

 

Would like to replace track rod ends myself and just after any step by step procedures etc.. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

 

Many thanks,

 

Si

[simonk]

There isn't that much detail in the service manual.

 

Count the number of threads showing so you can refit the track rod end in the same position. However if you are fitting new rod ends they may not be exactly same size so it might be better to get alignment checked afterwards.

 

Use a decent ball joint splitter on the steering arm connection. Loosen the track rod end lock nut. Unscrew track rod end, there are flats on it for spanner but not on the track rod so you might need to use mole grips.

 

Replace gaiter and screw it all back together.

Torques: Ball joint locknut 30Nm, trackrod end locknut 80Nm (although you would need an open ended torque spanner to do it, FT should be fine).

[Integra99]

Thanks for this,

 

As was after the TQ settings! but Ft sounds good to me!

 

Cheers for the help!

[dss123]

Si,

 

Did this job a year or so ago, I'll pass on a few pearls of wisdom which might save you some time.

 

Rack gators: (do these first obviously!)

 

Got mine from Liz parts seemed very substancial, better than the original. I was told you could change the gators in situ but this seemed like a tall order to me. I know others that have done it (very long nose pliars I think) but I wanted to make sure everything was seated and sealed nice and tight so opted for removing the rack.

 

Not the easiest job in the world, real back breaker undoing the bolts in the foot well and separating the Universal joints on the steering column. Make sure you mark up the UJs really well (with something indelible!) so you can put everything back how it was!

 

Oh yeh, the rack comes out better from the nearside of the car. I struggled for about 2 hours trying to extract it from the off side, then gave up. Came out in a jiffy when I tried from the other side. It's a bit like one of those crazy puzzles with bent wire and bits of string! It looks impossible but it does come out eventually.

 

If I did it again I might try changing them in situ - didn't look easy though!

 

TREs:

 

I fitted S2 ones to my S1, better design but longer body means you can't do the old thread counting trick. I measured mine up with verniers and think I got everything back within 0.5 mm of the original position - not easy and I would defo get the toe checked at least after doing the work.

 

When I undid the nut on the old TRE the joint released itself before the nut was fully removed. So the stud just kept turning and I could not get the nut off. Enter "angle grinder" to finish the removal! For the others I jacked up the hub (car was off the ground already) just to put some load back into the joint. Stopped them popping apart before the nut was fully released.

 

All in all mate, not a difficult job though, no more than a day even with all my problems!

 

Have fun

 

 

Dunc

[Integra99]

Cheers for the advice..

 

Yeah my TRE did the same, no grinder so some hard work and hacksaw.

 

Gonna try in situ for gators someone mentioned and putting a rod on the end of the tie wrap and push in situ, then tighten turning like a sardine can... A little unsure about this but will give it a go!!!

 

Cheers

 

Simon

[Phil S1]

When I did the gaitors on mine using Eliseparts gaitors I ended up turning the rack end of the gaitor inside out then feeding it onto the arm until it buts up against the rack. Provided you've got average sized hands you can just about reach inside and then push the gaitor back the right way and it flips over the rack. I then found that it was alot easier if you use a much longer tie wrap than those supplied in the kit. You can then hold the locking feature of thr tie wrap with some long nose pliers and pull the other end with another pair of pliers. The extra length brings the end of the tie wrap out of the ally box section so easier to get hold of. Hope tha makes sense....worked for me anyway

[Integra99]

When I did the gaitors on mine using Eliseparts gaitors I ended up turning the rack end of the gaitor inside out then feeding it onto the arm until it buts up against the rack. Provided you've got average sized hands you can just about reach inside and then push the gaitor back the right way and it flips over the rack. I then found that it was alot easier if you use a much longer tie wrap than those supplied in the kit. You can then hold the locking feature of thr tie wrap with some long nose pliers and pull the other end with another pair of pliers. The extra length brings the end of the tie wrap out of the ally box section so easier to get hold of. Hope tha makes sense....worked for me anyway 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yep did one side tonight worked a treat, just warmed up the end of the gaitor and went on. Hands a bit battered though... did the plier trick too.