Got Tie Rod End Troubles?

[arbess]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here tonight, I have a comical but very serious guide to replacing your tie rod ends. Sit back, use the mouse wheel to read and have a icy glass of your favourite drink.

Firstly, tie rod ends adjust the allignment of your steering and can determine how long your tyres will last. You can also check if they are worn by jacking your car up on either wheel. Have it high enough so that you can grab your wheel and shake it left-right and if there is movement, your tie rod ends can be the problem. Tie rod ends are found at the ends of you steering rack that join to your brake rotors(Not exactly your brake rotors but yeh). Having these correctly set up can make you driving experience "absolutely fabulous" (Theres a old school song that has that in their chorus). All alignments SHOULD be done by a professional, if not these things can happen:

Not really, but maybe =)

Ok, lets get to it now that the audience has been interested.

Firstly, Play some music, pretty boring with out.

This is the genuine part number you need for your R32 GTR tie rod end.

Oh, you need to ask your girlfriend if you can have some private time with your skyline. Alternatively, just duck out without her knowing, haha.

Remove your front wheels. Ensure you have jacked up your car safely with correct stands, unlike mine - bricks. lol

This is what your tie rod ends are.

Take the cotter pin out.

Use a plumbing wrench or something of good torque. *This is actually the other side of the car, same principle on either side.

******NB:****** Do NOT turn the nut too much, if so remember to mark where the nut is so that when you put the new tie rods on they arent too badly aligned. IMPORTANT

Use a 19mm socket and ratchet to undo your bolt. This could be hard, mine wasnt.

Now here is the complete parts with the bolt and washer off. NB: YOU NEED THIS WASHER FOR LATER, DO NOT DESTROY.

Now here is where you need to pay attention. The knuckle that hold the tie rod in, is aluminium. do not bang that. trouble will avail if done. Put the same bolt back on, upside down, and hit it perpendicular to the bolt. Doing this will ensure that minimal damage is done to either part.

Ok. Now the arm is disconnected to the knuckle you are able to take off the tie rod. turn the way of the arrow.

Hahaha now when your woman finds you, your stuffed. (Have a 10 min break)

Here are your new bits n pieces.

Screw the new tie rod in, dont need the wrench or shifter as showed, just make sure you screwed the tie rod end up to the old point. You will need to tighten the bolt later.

Dont forget to put your washer first then your nut. DONT FORGET THE COTTER PIN.. PIN.. PIN. Bend the pin over the top.

Thats about it. I cleaned the knuckle with a rag and petrol.

If there are any questions, send a PM or post here, ill try to do my best to answer them.

Edited November 25, 2006 by arbess

[d00dz]

HAHAHA

I enjoyed reading this..!

Nice work with the pics mate!

[arbess]

Haha thanks dude.

[GTRgeoff]

Very entertaining. I had to do this last week on the auto GTS25t. Same process.

Often the first sign of trouble in the tie rod ends is a clunking in the steering when you brake hard. If you feel this then start at step 1. BTW rod ends were $130 each from Nissan or $100 trade if you can scam it

[Bl4cK32]

Tie rod ends can be bought from Pedders.

From memory they are around $32 a side. They come with a grease nipple under the bottom too, unlike the std items, as well as a new pin, and bolt.

[arbess]

Black32. I was dicked around by pedders when after GTR tie rod ends. On thier website they say R32 skyline RWD and R32 Skyline AWD. Obviously i clicked the AWD link and it had the same part number as the RWD link. As one would think, "oh so they are the same part". They said to bring a sample in and should be no worries. Came back to me after i had my hopes up, and said that they couldnt do it. MISLEADING bastards. I was up for 45 bucks alingment, car wasnt the same because you cant align with stuffed tie rods. They pretty much caused an inconvenience than help.

Pedders will be good for anyone who doesnt drive a GTR. If your after some advice for your skyline, pop into fulcrum, i found lots of customer service there.

Good luck.

[saliya]

Hi,

Nice tute

If you're planning on putting the old part back on the car you _don't_ want to hit the nut (even upside-down) directly

with a hammer. Hit the conical surface that the threaded part is protruding from - you can see that this has already

been done to the part in photo 7. Several (fairly hard) bangs from a hammer around the side will make the end just fall out.

[edit]

Only if you're _definitely_ throwing the old part away should you hit it directly (and even then, you probably shouldn't,

because then you will _have_ to throw it away )

Just so it's clear, I've drawn the plane the hammer hits on and the 'rough' angle you come in at. It's hard to do

3d in 2d And yes, I have used/will use this method even with the availability of a ball-joint separator - they can make

a real mess of things.

Regards,

Saliya

Edited March 29, 2006 by saliya

[GTS-t VSPEC]

I'll be trying this on the weekend, thanks for the tips

[arbess]

What Saliya said is actually correct. I did hit the nut on upside down and found some damage to the threading. I would suggest to find something, like a metal rod to go between your hammer and a the tie rod end. At least you know what angle your hitting it with.

[Duncan]

well I think thats why there is a tool called a ball joint seperator. whacking a nut is just the option if you don't have one of those handy, as always the best answer is to have the right tool for the job....and in this case they are pretty cheap

[mteched]

is this the reason why my car is pulling all the time steering wheel changing directions while i drive and also making CUCK CUCK noise when i turn the steering left and right>?

[STLKHR]

is this the reason why my car is pulling all the time steering wheel changing directions while i drive and also making CUCK CUCK noise when i turn the steering left and right>?

sounds like CV clunk clunk like a machine gun?