| Author | Message | ||
     Kristopher March (Apexdisco) Senior Member Username: Apexdisco Post Number: 310 Registered: 02-2002 |
I was underneath the truck last week. I noticed some play in my tie rods. I guess this is a sign that my tie-rod ends need to be replaced. Is this a DIY job? btw, My truck likes to pull to the left. I know my steering stabilizer is dead, the tie-rod ends need to be replaced and I'm replacing my dead shocks with OME. How do I get this truck back to running a straight line? | ||
| Jaime Crusellas (Jaime) Senior Member Username: Jaime Post Number: 260 Registered: 05-2003 |
I just replaced my drag link and track rod 'cause they were bent. It was easy to remove the ball joints with a ball joint removal tool (Atlantic British sell it for around $50.) Other guys just smack them with a hammer. Which may be an option since you think they are damaged anyway. However, the biggest pain in the ass of the project was getting the joints off the drag link and track rod. In my case they were rusted on so badly, that no amount of persuasion and PB blaster could get them off. Since my joints were good, the rods were bad, and my patience was short, I just cut the rods off the joints. BTW, once you replace the track rod ball joints, I would align the wheels. Toe in/toe out only. Caster/camber is already set with shims in the swivels. To set the correct toe in /toe out, adjust so that the distance between the back center edge of both wheels is the same (or damn close) to the distance between the front center edge of both wheels. The adjustment is done by shortening or lenghtening the track rod by turning it or the adjustment end (D1) To measure the distance I used a threaded rod cut to approximate lenght of the distance between the wheels, and a coupling nut to make it just the right size. So I would put the threaded rod between the back of the wheels and adjust the nut util it touched. Then I'd bring it around to the fromt of the wheels and measure. and if it was too big, or too small, I'd adjust the track rod lenght until the distance between the wheels was the same. It took a couple of tries, and was kinda tedious, but it worked. Good luck | ||
| Kristopher March (Apexdisco) Senior Member Username: Apexdisco Post Number: 313 Registered: 02-2002 |
Thanks Jaime - Excellent post. Who sells the rod ends other than the dealer? Do you adjust toe in/out with the truck on jack stands? | ||
| Jaime Crusellas (Jaime) Senior Member Username: Jaime Post Number: 266 Registered: 05-2003 |
Kristopher, Atlantic British has them, and I'm sure a lot of the other rover suppliers do as well. I did the toe in/out adjustment on jack stands, then I drove around the block, and checked it off the jack stands, and found I needed to adjust it a bit. I think the change had to do with the suspension settling maybe? Anyway, I would do it on the ground, drive around a bit, and check again to make sure you got it. | ||
| Frode Hübertz Haaland (Discofrode) Member Username: Discofrode Post Number: 152 Registered: 02-2002 |
Try here: http://www.sf.hiof.no/~frodehaa/steeringalignment.htm Main entrance to site: http://home.halden.net/discovery |
