Track Rod

[zetecse]

hi guys, ive bent the inner track rod on my fiesta after hitting the kerb in the ice last night. as far as i can tell the balljoint on the end of the inner track rod unscrews from the ram on the steering rack, but its seized/rusted solid and will not budge ive removed the track rod end from the hub and removed the gaiter from over the ball joint but cannot for the life of me get the balljoint to unscrew. any suggestions guys ???. greatly appreciated.....

[DanGersFord]

Give it a good spray with WD40 and leave it over night to work into it

[zetecse]

i did spray it up with wd40 quite heavily whislt trying to undo it to no avail but i will soak it and leave it over night and see . thanks for the tip

[DanGersFord]

Like I said give it a right good soak and leave it over night so its got chance to work right into it. That should do the trick :) either that or try http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=274625&categoryId=165594&langId=-1

That stuffs quite good aswel

[FOCA]

You might have to carefully put some heat on it with a blowtorch

[DanGersFord]

the blow torch is a good idea aswel it works on seized pump valves etc at my work. How did you get on anyway?

[b1g_dav3]

Ouch, try a blow torch but honestly at work, we a good deal of the time end up cutting the buggers, trouble is for you that means getting a new rack probably.

[FOCA]

Try to get it off without damaging it if you can- ive got a feeling a new rack is expensive

I have a set of winter/ snow tyres on steel rims, a good investment in my opinion

[zetecse]

heyy all, thanks so much for all the advice, i heavily soaked it in wd40 over night, went down yesterday morning and still had no luck, decided to try a pipe wrench. had no luck on the first 3 attempts and 4th attempt she come free took it out completely then went out on a hunt for a new one, managed to get a brand new one for £8.99 at my local parts store :o :o ......very suprised.....also changed the rubber gaiter to be safe ill add a picture of the old tie rod so you can see the damage :)....as for the tyres i went and had to decent part worns put on for the time being had to have a new steel rim though as the alloys was seriously damaged and im told one alloy and one steel on the front with different tyres will get me pulled over, i have been offered a very nice set of 14" alloys with fairly decent tyres all round for £100.00.....a good deal i thought... the only problem i have left to deal with now is my tracking, i thought i had put it back as near as damnit by marking it with paint but when i hit 55mph coming onto the m25 tonight the steering was vibrating like mad so i think tracking and probably balancing at the weekend. (could tracking explain why my steering wheel is suddenly off centre????)

anyway ive ranted on for long enough, thanks again for all the advice.

byeeeeeee

[FOCA]

With disturbing the steering it would set the tracking off, when you get the tracking done you can get the steering wheel centred (this is annoying but does not affect tracking )

If they cannot get the car tracking done it may mean there is more damage the the suspension (eg - bottom wishbones can be bent in a shunt) the steering pulling to the left or right is a sign of this

you can swap the steel wheel to the back (so both front wheels/ tyre sizes are the same) - this will help

best to get it checked soon, if the tracking is way out it may wear out your tyre/s quickly - ("stitch in time..." etc)

the vibrating may just be wheel balance (a shunt can often knock balance weights off)

Well done on getting it mobile/ fixing it yourself (and so cheaply too!) - glad you got it sorted :)

[zetecse]

sorted the vibration out guys, the track rod end was 1 turn off and as such the wheel wasnt quite straight, turned it one more and all is good. no more vibration and the steering wheel is now back in line :) thanks for all help once again :)