Forum:
after crashing my fourtrak, the tracking rod for the front left tyre has become bent.
the guy at the garage is saying i need a new nearside rod, 'both rod ends' and the 'part in the middle that adjusts it all'
Ive been quoted me a price of 130 quid, is this reasonable?
Im looking to search for the parts myself but hes been a bit vague in explaining why i cant just replace this bent rod.
anyone fancy exaplaining how the whole tracking system works? I understand its the centre part, rods coming out either side, then the rod ends at the end.... so why do i need all this stuff if i jsut have a bent nearside tracking rod???
and does anyone know any places/scrapyards i could look for a good deal? (Im in north yorkshire)
cheers.
BENT TRACK ROD
Any impact that bends the track rod would necessitate a complet inspection and renewal of all suspect parts. I suspect the Mechanic is edging on the safe side by replacing all the parts likely to have been damaged and £130 to me sounds very good.
The geometry of the steering would have been affected by the crash and the rack rod ends may look ok but the impact may cause the ball joints internal damage that could have deadly concequences if they later fell apart. I assume you have driven the car and found that the steering is out of alignment and that the car pulls to one side. In order to repair this the parts will need to be renewed and then the geometry will need to be checked and adjusted to ensure that the vehicle runs true and does not scuff off the edge treads on the tyres on the outer or inner edge,TRACKING.
If the crash has not deflated or wrecked the wheel and tyre you shoud check the walls of the tyre for splits and damage and I would be inclined to place the tyre on the rear incase of sudden failure. Check also the wheel itself for cracks if alloy or steel as these can disintigrate,
In simple terms the rack rods transfer the movement of the steering wheel to the road wheels and any weakness in that chain is very dangerous. The track rod ends push and pull the front wheels appropriate to the direction required. Failure of these means you lose your steering. The track rod ends are used to shorten or lengthen the track rods to keep wheels in allignment. Once alligned the tyres will wear evenly and the vehicle will move forward in a straight line. It is likely that the side hit will have sent the allignment out of true and increase tyre wear. If you have driven the car you will have noticed that the steering wheel is out of line and that the car drifts one way or another dependant on the damage done. Tracking can be knocked out by kerbing causing rapid tyre war so a crash will hve done a lot of damage, some not visible.
I hope this helps.
OLDMINIMAN
OLDMINIMAN
M J Young
Tracking
Agree with Oldminiman, replace the lot, safety is more important, and cheaper than your funeral.
Mechanics working for any business have what is called a "care of duty", this simply means that they want your vehicle to be safe when it leaves them. Steering components such as ball joints have plastic internal components on which the balls sit to allow articulation and movement, these may split or deform causing the potential for it to collapse, imagine this happening to you on the motorway.
Components consist of the central internally threaded tube, and one l/h and one r/h threaded track rod end. If this tube is bent then the integrity of the threads is in doubt, one side will have stretched, the other side will have contracted, most likelt tearing most of the threads apart. Your mechanic is corrct in replacing the lot.
Contact Milners, they will supply the lot, see what they quote and compare the prices.