Cheap track rod ends

[cliomtb]

Has anyone on here got any experience of the very cheap sets of track rod ends available on ebay? I see you can get both inners, both outers and new boots, all for £35, which is quite a saving on the genuine parts.
But are they actually any good???

 

[oreA]

Well I’ve just fitted new inner tie rods and I had to get cheapos because I needed them quickly for a trackday. It turned out they were exactly the same as the ones I took off, which looked quite new with little rust/corrosion of the arms & threads etc, perhaps suggesting they hadn’t been on long ?. However the ball joints were fooked, with obvious play and floppy as hell. I’ll leave the new ones on for now & see how long they last, but I’m not hopeful.

Also factor in the cost of alignment, which you may need to pay for twice if the cheap stuff doesn’t last.....

 

[bloke]

for £35 you might as well throw your money in the bin!!!

 

[cliomtb]

Sounds like these probably aren't the bargain I'd hoped they might be. I've ordered some OEM ones. Thanks for the advice ?

 

[R3k1355]

Most of the cheap ones are the wrong length, people run them anyway but there's only a bit of thread inside the actual end if you do.

Buy the genuine ones from RPD, they're much better.

 

[Greeny.]

I just refreshed the inner and outer of mine on both sides with genuine parts from RPD, around £100 in parts and £30 alignment, really not worth the hassle to save a few quid, especially when the genuine parts aren’t that more expensive in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Brigsy]

Buy cheap buy twice when it comes to suspension/steering bits. Trw or lemforder are good aftermarket, renault for the inner tie rod if cup

 

[cliomtb]

I ordered the genuine parts from RPD. Just under £105 with postage. I was a bit disappointed they don't come with new nylocs for the outer track rod ends (my ones aren't good enough to re-use). I asked for some to be added to my order, but got no response. Ebay to the rescue!

I also got an inner tie rod removal tool (one of the long tubular universal ones that goes over the length of the rod) from ebay for £22.

I'll get them fitted Saturday afternoon.

 

[JamesBryan]

I ordered the genuine parts from RPD. Just under £105 with postage. I was a bit disappointed they don't come with new nylocs for the outer track rod ends (my ones aren't good enough to re-use). I asked for some to be added to my order, but got no response. Ebay to the rescue!

I also got an inner tie rod removal tool (one of the long tubular universal ones that goes over the length of the rod) from ebay for £22.

I'll get them fitted Saturday afternoon.

I usually go with genuine inner rods and Lemforder track rod ends from Euro for £15 ish a side, they come with new nuts too.

 

[Greeny.]

The biggest 'issue' I had when fitting my inners for the first time was pushing the new rubber boot over the rack, obviously not a hard thing to do but I couldnt get the nack for the first one as the fitment is fairly tight, doesnt help doing it on my back I suppose!

 

[JamesBryan]

The biggest 'issue' I had when fitting my inners for the first time was pushing the new rubber boot over the rack, obviously not a hard thing to do but I couldnt get the nack for the first one as the fitment is fairly tight, doesnt help doing it on my back I suppose!

Yeah, that was a proper piss take. Especially the drivers side.

Ended up using something to hook the boot over.

 

[Greeny.]

Yeah, that was a proper piss take. Especially the drivers side.

Ended up using something to hook the boot over.

Yeah I struggled more on the driver’s side as well, ended up getting it over with lots of swearing using a pair of bent thin nose pillars along with my other hand, was a pain in the arse, although im sure it would be so much easier with the car on ramps, but then again most things are.

 

[JamesBryan]

Yeah I struggled more on the driver’s side as well, ended up getting it over with lots of swearing using a pair of bent thin nose pillars along with my other hand, was a pain in the arse, although im sure it would be so much easier with the car on ramps, but then again most things are.

Yeah, get the top part on with your hands and hold it there while you stretch the bottom bit over.

I'd imagine it's easier on a ramp too.

 

[cliomtb]

Finally got round to swapping them today. Does anyone know what the inner rod ends should be torqued to, and I should I be using threadlock?

 

[RichValver]

The biggest 'issue' I had when fitting my inners for the first time was pushing the new rubber boot over the rack, obviously not a hard thing to do but I couldnt get the nack for the first one as the fitment is fairly tight, doesnt help doing it on my back I suppose!

soak the boot in warm water usually helps ?

 

[cliomtb]

I left them in the sun for a little while but still struggled for ages on the right hand side.

When I got to the left, I realised I could roll the end of the boot back on itself, put boot in place, then roll the end onto the rack housing. Took about 5 mins! Probably would have worked on the other side too.

 

[R3k1355]

Yea passenger side is a piece of piss, usually because you've been arsing around with the other side for ages, you just ram the boot on and it slides on without any issue.

 

[cliomtb]

After changing the track rods, I thought it would be a good idea to set my tracking. It's set to just a tiny bit of toe-out. Please excuse the carbon wrap on the bonnet (it was the previous owner!)

I had about 1.5 degrees of toe-in when I started. I wasn't careful to keep the original settings when I swapped the track rods.

I've just taken it for a good drive. The horrible creaking, knocking and play have all gone. For the first time in two months of ownership, it feels absolutely lovely to drive ? With hindsight, I think the sole culprit was the left outer track rod end, but it's nice to have it all nice and tight!

Once I'm happy everything is as it should be and I don't expect to have to change anything else I'll get a laser alignment done. It'll be interesting to see how close I've managed to get it. I was aiming for 12' total toe-out. I've got the steering wheel in the right place for straight ahead.