Inner Tie Rod / Track Rod Replacement

May 11

inherited a well used rack, (power steering 205 Si, right hand drive)

cleaned and checked it over before installing and after four years its finally got a small knock

did some checks and looks like its Left Front inner tie rod / track rod

already put new tie rod ends on it, but never had to replace a track rod before, ever

couldn't find much discussion at all on this, nothing that made it clear anyway

couple of questions before getting in

- is it ok to replace inner tie rod on the car or much better to just get the whole rack out and then do it ?

- are the part numbers for inner tie rods same both sides ? #381295 ?

tia

Edited May 11 by Gohn

May 11

They are the same both sides , I got mine from retro race and rally in the uk but that wont be much good to you in Australia , you need to be able to hold the rack teeth firmly to get it unscrewed , I held the rack teeth in the vice protected by wood either side as mine was already off the car . The little washer behind will need reused as the pas one is different I found. there are pics on my thread.

That small boot on the left in your pic has a metal ring on it and just taps off ,there was no info out there I could find on it , replacements often come with no metal ring inside and there is very little to hold it on , I had to buy twice to get a decent one.

Edited May 11 by Leslie green

May 11

Page 9 has pics :

May 11

Car replace it with the rack on the car or with the rack removed as you wish .. there's spec. tool for inner tie rod replacement with the rack on the car (google "inner track rod tool") or some of the tie rods had flats on the sides so in that case you can undo them simply with a wrench .. if it's round and you do not fancy buying tool just for one go , with the grinder grind off two flats opposite of one another on the round end so you can slip the wrench in and loosen it off (do the same on new one for tightening back on) ... or can use bigger plumbers wrench/stilsons to undo/tighten back grabbing on the round end .

Retainer/locking ring , can do with or without it .. if there's no locking ring use red loctite threadlock or equivalent (the hardest/strongest) on the tie rod threads .

Yes the part No. is 381295 , for 205 they're all the same length base model and GTi and fits both left and right ..

D

Edited May 11 by DamirGTI

May 11

thanks gents ! as they say here, rack off it is then

not sure how it all fits together yet but will reread your tips once the rack's out of the car

off to order parts which'll take a few weeks

June 23

need this car every day so decided against removing the rack and expanding the whole job if possible

but after starting it looks like the power steer ram prevents removal of the rubber boots

which prevents removal of the track rod

(the pics above of my PAS rack show the ram ring/nut Left side that prevents removal of the boots)

no mention of that anywhere

- so do I need to remove the nut/ring, PAS hydraulic ram first ?

- the new Febi track rod has spanner flats, do I still need the special tool ?

June 23

The small boot on left side just taps off, it has a metal ring inside which is what holds it on. You don't need the ram off unless you want to replace middle bellows type boot.

August 9

each time I start on this it is not clear how to proceed further

really need a proper idea of the process

don't have the luxury of ripping in and wrecking stuff as the parts are not available locally

otherwise I risk getting half way thru finding I need new parts from the other other side of the world

the only obvious things about this job are the questions it raises

it is not clear how to get the small outer boot off, then if I can do that what part of the rack I am gripping, what part of the track rod I am supposed to turn

haven't got to the locking washer yet either so probably some difficulty there too

first things first though, the boot is rubber, so if I tap on rubber with metal nothing happens, except likely it gets a hole in it

exactly what am I supposed to be "tapping"

my small outer rubber boot is in good condition, am I supposed to assume it'll get torn in removal and get a replacement before starting ?

my original track rod has spanner flats at the inner end, can they be used to remove the track rod itself or they have nothing to do with it ?

am I supposed to have the steering turned to the extreme Left or Right ? Does that help ?

August 9

small outer boot off...

the boot abutts the ram ring but is separate

tap down next to the ram ring with a small flathead screwdriver, this will prize the small boot away and as you then peel it back the track rod ball joint is exposed

turned steering to extreme right, maybe better access

from the outside its trackrod balljoint, then locking washer, then ram ring, then main L rack boot

there is no section of the rack to grab hold of

undo the clip on the main boot, push the boot inward to expose the rack and hold it with pliers ?

turning the spanner flats on the track rod just spins it, so dunno if that's gunna do anything good

so maybe then undo/turn the track rod balljoint with another set of pliers ?

August 9

to try and find some part of the rack to grip undid the main boot spring clip, pushed it inward

but doesn't look like there's anything of the rack to grip onto and hold while undoing the track rod

can't grip the washer and turn the track rod ball joint, that's just part of the same thing, pointless

the rack is bolted to the subframe so tried undoing the track rod ball joint with some pliers without holding the rack

but the rack moves too much

there's no part of the rack exposed as Leslie's is above, maybe because mine's PAS ?

try holding the PAS ram ring with stilsons while undoing the trackrod balljoint with some pliers ??

August 9

Mine is pas too ,you hold the rack teeth to stop it trying to bend ,this is why its far easier to do at a vice with a piece of wood either side to protecting the rack teeth out of the car ,then you grip the end of the tractrod ,the round bit with vice grips tightly and unscrew it. It will be tight as you are busting the lock washer to get it off.if you can't see the rack teeth you need to put it on full lock to expose them. Its been a while since I done it now and I had the pas ram off but I can't remember if this was necessary for to access one side .