Okay, I search, but found nothing. My tire rod is damaged and needs to be replaced for me to pass Safety Inspection. What the heck is a tire rod? Anything I should pay attention to when getting this replaced?

 

You should probably ask the correct model forum.

Also, I searched as well. After typing in 'what is a tie rod' into google the first link revealed this. Maybe search a little more nest time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by old man neri &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You should probably ask the correct model forum.

Also, I searched as well. After typing in 'what is a tie rod' into google the first link revealed this. Maybe search a little more nest time.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Moved to suspension forum.

 

I meant "searched the forum."

 

A "tie rod" connects the steering rack to the steering knuckle. It consists of two parts: an inner tie rod (or rack end), and an outer tie rod (or tie rod end). The inner tie rod usually threads into the outer tie rod and is held by a jam nut. This threaded interface allows the length of the entire tie rod assembly to be adjusted, which is how the toe alignment of the front wheels is changed.

The tie rod end has a ball joint where it connects to the steering knuckle, and this is the most common failure point. Like any ball joint, over time the protective boot will rot and crack or be torn, allowing grease to exit and dirt to enter and contaminate the joint. A contaminated or dry joint will wear very quickly and develop play. Once the ball joint has play, you must replace the tie rod end.

If you do not address the issue, eventually the ball joint will break and allow the steering knuckle on that side to turn in whatever direction it wants. If this occurs at speed, you will obviously risk crashing into something.

Most technicians will count the number of threads and try to line it back up as close as possible when replacing a tie rod end, but it is always a good idea to get the car aligned afterwards. Even a small deviation in toe can cause the car to pull to one side or wear tires unevenly.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Most technicians will count the number of threads and try to line it back up as close as possible when replacing a tie rod end, but it is always a good idea to get the car aligned afterwards. Even a small deviation in toe can cause the car to pull to one side or wear tires unevenly.</TD></TR></TABLE>

if you JUST do one tie rod, then you can keep road testing and adjusting until it steers like it did before and youre probably no worse off, depending on how well you get it.

but then you really have no objective baseline, so always assume you need a full alignment after working on steering stuff like tie rods.