New tie-rod end reaps great rewards

[Wacko]

I replaced the passenger side outer tie-rod end 2 days ago as it had some play in it. $32 at AutoZombies, I mean Autozone.

When I first got my car in the fall, I had the common vibrations at highway speeds. New tires, driver's side hub/bearing and tie-rod end reduced the problem. Did some other things too. Like new rotors due to brake pulsing. Cleaned surfaces where wheel meets rotors. Torqued wheels. Each of these improved the vibration problem but did not totally eliminate it.

No less annoying was some odd feel or feedback with the steering. Of course, I'm spoiled with the steering in my 325i but I knew something was amiss with the Aurora. The symptoms were as follows. Pull on the wheel at speed and the effort would suddenly get light causing you to turn too far. You would then have to correct. It was almost like the steering had some play in it or the steering rack or the Magnasteer was faulty. It was quite annoying and unsettling at speed to not have that fine level of control.

I replaced the passenger-side tie rod and the car feels totally different now. No more play; the steering effort feels more consistent and the feedback is good. Not perfect but real good. Perfect for me would be a linear increase in effort as you move the steering further off center. But constant effort is better than it was before which was almost random.

Bonus: The vibrations at speed in the steering wheel are almost completely eliminated. I would bet having my wheels balanced on the Hunter road force machine would take it to the next level. But I'm happy with it.

Next project: Get the A/C leak fixed.

[MBowen574]

« Thread Started on Today at 12:32pm »

Now, this is interesting...

Why is this thread an hour ahead of the rest of the board!? It's 11:39...

[Wacko]

I've just returned back from the future. I wonder what the timestamp on this reply will be?

[Aurora40]

How'd you narrow it down to just the passenger tie-rod end?

[MBowen574]

I should probably post something on-topic here...

We've been having a little bit of trouble with vibrations. I wonder if it would have something to do with this. It's only been since our car had new brake rotors put on about three weeks ago (apparently, what I was convinced was a wheel bearing problem was just bad brakes). Anyway, is it possible that a tie rod end would wear out this quickly? Ours was broken, uhh, last spring or so by me (oops...) because I accidentally hit a very deep pot hole in the dark. Couldn't really avoid it - two lane road with heavy traffic - but hated it nonetheless. It was replaced, however, and the car has seen perhaps 5,000 miles since.

[Wacko]

mbowen574 said:

is it possible that a tie rod end would wear out this quickly?

I would say yes. My car has 62K on it. The driver's side one was original and the passenger side one had already been replaced by a previous owner. I jacked the car up and grabbed the tire at 9 and 3 o'clock. I wiggled the tire by pushing with my left hand and pulling with my right, and vise versa. I felt some play in the driver's side one and decided to replace it last fall.

At the same time the passenger side seemed OK. However, when I greased it, water came out where there should have been grease. I drove like that until a month ago when I rechecked the passenger side and determined it was gone. I ordered a new one and replaced it this week.

Bob, I guess I narrowed it down to the passenger side since the driver's side was nearly new. The play was definitely there at the tie-rod end as I could simultaneously grab the tie rod and the end and wiggle the tire and feel the end move more than the tie rod.

The inner tie-rod ends are harder to diagnose (and replace) as they are covered by a rubber boot. I suppose it's possible they could be gone too but they're not exposed to the weather or the same type of duty that the outers are. So I didn't bother with them.

MBowen, I read somewhere that runout in the hub can introduce runout problems in rotors in as little as 500 miles. FYI. A dial indicator is a must for measuring runout. I don't have one.

I hope this helps someone.

EDIT: I re-read your reply, MBowen. Three weeks and 5000 miles to wear out a tie-rod end. Probably not but it could have been DOA. Perhaps, it was never greased if it has a fitting on it. In any case it is not too difficult to check for play.

[Aurora40]

wacko said:

Bob, I guess I narrowed it down to the passenger side since the driver's side was nearly new. The play was definitely there at the tie-rod end as I could simultaneously grab the tie rod and the end and wiggle the tire and feel the end move more than the tie rod.

Good investigating!