Tie rod

[Gufshoz]

I was under my car, getting ready to adjust my toe in, and I noticed that the tie rod turned easily by hand. Not the rod itself, but the ends. Should these be tightened or replaced. How much movement is normal? Replace the internal components with something like Snyder"s E-Z Steer?
Thanks

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Gufshoz

I was under my car, getting ready to adjust my toe in, and I noticed that the tie rod turned easily by hand. Not the rod itself, but the ends. Should these be tightened or replaced. How much movement is normal? Replace the internal components with something like Snyder"s E-Z Steer?
Thanks

G - Not sure what you're asking here. Are you saying that the tie rod rotates within the ends, or that when you grab the tie rod it rotates easily several degrees around the balls, with the ends staying with the tie rod itself? The former is a big problem because the tie rod could back out of the ends and you lose your steering. The latter may not be if there is no play between the tie rod ends and the balls on the spindle arms (you want them to be able to rotate around the balls to allow movement when turning, but not side-to-side).

Put one wheel up in the air and then have someone twist the other wheel back and forth. Go underneath the car and look for movement of the ball on the spindle arms within the tie rod ends. Generally speaking, if they are adjusted properly initially then the wear is to create flatness on the spindle arm ball, which should be taken up by the springs in the tie rod ends. I've not seen slop of the ball within the tie rod ends.

If you are still concerned you could try tightening up the tie rod end centers by 1/2 turn (to get the cotter pin slot aligned again) and see if that significantly increases stiffness in your steering. Any binding after doing that likely indicates out-of-roundness of the ball on the steering arm. Which is not a huge deal, you can knock out the spindle arms with the spindles in the car and send them to any of the suppliers for re-balling.

I suspect that the E-Z steer mod, which uses teflon cups instead of the standard steel cups, would wear faster with worn balls since the balls often wear to have a sharp edge.

[nkaminar]

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The ends should be able to rotate around the balls as Jay Jay said. There is a certain amount of judgement required when tightening the plugs. The Red Book says to tighten the springs by 25%.

The Teflon pads will save the balls but will not cure bad balls. As Jay Jay said, if the balls are not round they need to be replaced.

If you do any work on the tie rod like tighten the plugs, you must check the toe-in alignment.

You probably know how to measure the toe-in, but for those who do not know how, here are some instructions. Loosen the clamping bolts on both ends and rotate the rod to change the toe-in. The toe-in must be measured at the same height at the rear of the wheels and the front. Push the car forward a few feet and then measure at the front of the wheels. Then push the car forward and measure at the rear at the same height. A simple gauge can be made with PVC pipe or 2X4's. Mark the tires so that you assure that you measure at the same location in case there is some runout. The toe-in should be 1/16 inch. When done tighten the clamping bolts on both ends to the point where the rod will not rotate on the ends.