Inner Tie rod replacment

[blazingmo23]

Hi Guys

Has anyone got a guide as to how to replace the inner tie rods please, was told on my MOT there is play and need replacing soon, can feel it when driving.

Thanks

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by blazingmo23

... was told on my MOT there is play and need replacing soon ..

If this was an advisory Mo, then you don't need to do anything. The garage is simply covering itself against those fictitious people who spend their time suing businesses. If the play was serious, you would not have been granted an MOT pass.

What is an inner tie rod anyway Mo?

Simon

[RogerHeinz57]

Originally Posted by SD1too

If this was an advisory Mo, then you don't need to do anything. The garage is simply covering itself against those fictitious people who spend their time suing businesses. If the play was serious, you would not have been granted an MOT pass.

What is an inner tie rod anyway Mo?

Simon

Simon, your suggestion really needs to be thought through a bit more in my opinion. The component that's in question happens to be a steering component!
This component is what the track rod end attaches to, fits inside the rack and has a ball joint which wears out on any car eventually. I look after several 75's and most of them have a small amount of play in the inner joint. These are slight, but don't affect the driving of the car badly yet, but they don't fix themselves. The cars that I look after will get these replaced during the summer months.
Don't take it to heart or feel offended, but would you be annoyed if you were unaware of a safety problem that an mot tester ignored to highlight?

[Number 6]

So is there a "How To"????

[RogerHeinz57]

Originally Posted by Number 6

So is there a "How To"????

Not yet, I will try to do one when I replace the first set, The n/s one looks ok to do for access, but the o/s one will present the bigger issue due to location of other components close by. Incidentally, the ones that I have reported are all o/s!

[Number 6]

Originally Posted by John H

Not yet, I will try to do one when I replace the first set, The n/s one looks ok to do for access, but the o/s one will present the bigger issue due to location of other components close by. Incidentally, the ones that I have reported are all o/s!

Funny that,My O/S track rod end needed replacing and now I have a small amount of play in the O/S inner jointNear side is all OK and still on original parts

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by John H

This component is what the track rod end attaches to, fits inside the rack and has a ball joint which wears out on any car eventually.

Ah, thanks John, it seems to be a case of careless wording. It's the inner ball joint of the steering tie rod, not the "inner tie rod" which is the expression which confused me.

I'm not offended by your post at all John, in fact quite the opposite. I'm really pleased to receive your response because I'm only interested in getting to the bottom of the problem and making sure that Mo gets the best advice.

So yes, a steering component is in question, and I agree that a small amount of play is sometimes found in joints but that doesn't automatically make them dangerous does it. It's the job of the MOT tester to decide whether the degree of play is serious and affects safety. If it's considered that it does, then an MOT certificate should be refused, but that doesn't appear to have been done in this case.

'Advisories' are difficult. I am learning from reading forum posts that there are a lot of people who treat these as if they were a failure point. I'm sure that garages realise this, and as a result some are rather generous with them. Another member today reported two pages of advisories! So I say that caution should be exercised with advisories. By definition, they are not a notice that a component is dangerous and should be replaced.

So, to answer your final question, yes I do expect my tester to bring to my attention everything he finds. I've been with the same family-run garage for years and he used to fail my SD1 on excessive play in the front hub bearing, even though I had adjusted it according to the factory manual. I nipped it up a bit as he recommended. This happened a couple of times, then never again. I guess that he realised that the play in the long term wasn't a sign of impending failure. Nothing was renewed and the car is still running on its original hub bearings thirty years and 170,000 miles later.

Best wishes,

Simon