Some information on track rod ends with photos

[Rich H]

Yeh, I found it made it big difference when I had mine done to

Quote:My only question is (as I've misslaid my manual) what torque setting should I use for the steering rack clamp bolts?, the 4 you access under the car.

Don't quote me, since I don't have the manual in front of me, but it's quite low 26 N.m rings a faint bell, but I'm guessing

What I can tell you is that is that when I tried tightening to this torque, it stripped the threads on the brackets

I'll look it up when I get home if somebody doesn't beat me to it. Many torque wrenches don't go that low anyway...

[JamesRGUK]

RichH Wrote:Yeh, I found it made it big difference when I had mine done to

b]Don't quote me[/b], since I don't have the manual in front of me, but it's quite low 26 N.m rings a faint bell, but I'm guessing

What I can tell you is that is that when I tried tightening to this torque, it stripped the threads on the brackets

I'll look it up when I get home if somebody doesn't beat me to it. Many torque wrenches don't go that low anyway...

Thanks Rich,

I have done them reasonably tight using a standard 12" socket wrench, the 1st test outing I noticed a slight rattleing sound coming from the front right, so I got back under and nipped them up a little tighter but haven't done anouther test drive yet to see if that had resolved the problem.

The rattle sounded like metal on metal and I though perhaps the plate under the pass side steering rack bush wasn't clamped down sufficiently.

I'm off tomorrow so I will take it for anouter test run and see if nipping up the bolts has made any difference.

Then it's on to the TABs just 1 left to do then the car's ready for a four wheel alighment, hopefully this will all add to the driving experience!

Also any settings for the track rod ends? they are on a taper so is it just a case of nipping up with a socket or are these torque specific?

J

[JamesRGUK]

Both TABs now changed for the super strong inconel ones with new bushes, changind the drivers side was a little more time consuming, but it is an auto so space is a little limited.

I've booked in for a 4-wheel alignment next Saturday so that should finish things off nicely.

Still having a bugger finding this rattle at the front end, I simply can't replicate the noise when the vehicle is stationary and I can't find anything at all loose.

Any ideas? (yes the boot is empty and it's not the tool bag etc...)

James

[Chris Williams]

Speedo drive cable, hittiing something after it leaves the angle drive? Loose fiberglass around the fan radiator assembly?
Chris

[JamesRGUK]

Chris Williams Wrote:Speedo drive cable, hittiing something after it leaves the angle drive? Loose fiberglass around the fan radiator assembly?
Chris

Thanks Chris, that's a couple more thing to check, hmmm I did have to mve the speedo cable around a lot when fitting the new rack....

I'll let you know how I get on!

Ta

James

[JamesRGUK]

I found the rattle at last, turned out to be a loose shock and I thought I would post my experience on hear as I'm sure it could effect a lot of DIY'ers installing the new Spax shocks.

This may sound obvious, but if you have recently fitted Spax shocks please make sure that you torque the top nuts with the weight of the car on the suspension.

When trying to find the rattle I couldn't replicate the problem on the jack as when the car was on the jack the weight of the wheel, hub and the long front spring pushing down meant that the shock seemed tight.

With the front springs being so long, if you torque the top nuts without the weight on the suspension i.e. you've got the wheel off and the car stood on an axle stand they will be completley loose when the weight goes back on because the rubber bush at the top of the shock will compress inside the top of the shock tower.

This video shows the top of my shock when I removed the wheel, all looks fine, but wait until I lower the weight onto the hub as it would be under normal load bearing conditions, the top bush is under no tension and the top of the shock can be moved by hand, it's completley loose.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a1auVq8Z00[/youtube]

You should have about this amount of thread showing when the shocks are properly tightened.



The rattle had me flumoxed until I set up my video camera under the car foocusing on the front passanger side suspension and then bounced up and down on the front wing, sure enough when I reviewed the footage I could see the shock bobbing up and down loosely through the top of the shock tower.

If you're not sure have a quick check, whilst a loose shock is not inherantly dangerous, it will effect your handling and negate the whole point of having nice new shocks!

James

[Birksie]

Cool. Nice write up James.

I never would have thought about that.

Just as well I've not fitted any yet!

[stunned_monkey]

This should not happen unless the bush under the tower has failed.

[JamesRGUK]

stunned_monkey Wrote:This should not happen unless the bush under the tower has failed.

So are you saying that you don't require the suspension to be under load to torque the shocks?

I really can't see that without weight on the suspension to compress the spring or at least a jack pushing the hub up that you could successfully tighten them up.

Everything seems fine since I re-did mine with the weight on, but I may be tempted to drop them out for further inspection of the top bushes.

J

[stunned_monkey]

It's not really possible to tighten the top nut up too much because you hit the shoulder pretty soon, although that's designed for the shock being mounted through a thinner piece of steel.

The shocks actually provide very little "lift" - in fact oil filled shocks like Ed's provide none at all, so the weight on the wheel does nothing other than help poke it through the hole in the first place. It takes force (actually power if we're being accurate) to *move* a shock, but in steady state, it provides very little force of its own.

[Chris Williams]

Out of interest what springs are fitted??

Chris

[JamesRGUK]

Chris Williams Wrote:Out of interest what springs are fitted??
Chris

I have the lowering springs from Chris P, I understand that a few people have encountered problems with these springs but mine seem to be OK.

I bought them a good 8+years ago so perhaps it was a batch thing.

I think Martin offers a slightly firmer set, I think I'd like some stiffer ones on the back but that doesn't seem to be an option at the moment.

James

[stunned_monkey]

JamesRGUK Wrote:I think Martin offers a slightly firmer set, I think I'd like some stiffer ones on the back but that doesn't seem to be an option at the moment.

Next time you hit a speed hump - one of those low wide ones with the white triangles on them are ideal for demonstratin gthis, note how the front squashes down while the rear bumps over it with little absorbtion. Body roll is massively improved with stiffer fronts because it stops the car diving forward onto the outside front wheel, if that's still not enough,a rear anti-roll bar improves roll while not affecting ride too much.