Based On These Pics Can You Guys Tell Me If The Job Is Done Correctly?

[sonicz]

I put new tie rod ends in with the help of a friend since the old ones were shot (R33 S2 GTST). When I reversed the car out of the driveway afterwards I heard some clanks like something was settling. A day later after driving around I decided to take a look as I wasnt sure if the tie rods were seated proplerly. Do they look they are sitting all the way in the grove or do they need to come up more?

My friend fitted them but he did not hammer them in or screw them in, just hand pushed upwards. It was my undertstanding that they either need to be hammered in or threated in by some other means to lock proplery and then you fit the nut. The nut was hand tightened and a split pin fitted.

Left side.

Right side.

Here I put a jack under it to see if they can be further pressed in. I jacked it up a bit with a plank of wood but it didnt move. I did not put much force on the back but it was enough to move the suspension up about 5cm.

Do they need to be greased up with a grease gun or do they come pre greased? When I looked inside them I saw some clear red grease so I assumed they came pre greased. The rubber looks kind of deflated, not sure if thats normal. They came with a hole in them for grease and a screw which I screwed in. Check out that rubber scrtech! Doesnt look like the boot will last long.

Edited August 25, 2014 by sonicz

[dyl33]

Thread them on to the tie rod, then tighten nut until you can get the split pin in then grease them. The rubber boot does it's own thing if you haven't twisted it just leave it.

Also be cautious of your toe alignment you may need a wheel alignment.

Edited August 25, 2014 by dyl33

[sonicz]

Didnt touch the alligment bolt and the allignment is fine. WHat do you mean by thread them on? With what? I tried to tighten the nut but it got pretty hard and the rod didnt move up anymore anyway.

So you are saying the do need to be greased up? Does the boot need to be swelled up with grease or not?

Edited August 25, 2014 by sonicz

[GTR_JOEY]

as above, they thread on

to check it get your mate to shake the steering back and fourth and see if the ball joint "pops".. if it does its fecked but I doubt you stuffed up installing it

that boot looks twisted in that last photo btw

[GTR_JOEY]

as in the nut pulls the tapper through the hole for a nice tight fit.. it does not need much grease

[sonicz]

as above, they thread on

to check it get your mate to shake the steering back and fourth and see if the ball joint "pops".. if it does its fecked but I doubt you stuffed up installing it

that boot looks twisted in that last photo btw

They are brand new so I doubt the ball joint is popping. I mean if the rod is inserted all the way up into the hole, not of the ball joint is loose. Cant anybody telll based on the pic if thats how high they need to come up?

Here they are out of the car

[sonicz]

Guys just to clarify I only doubt if they are sitting all the way up into the hole. And I dont understand what you guys mean they need to be threaded up. Using what? The nut provided? What sort of tool is required and how much torque etc. Once the thread went into the hole it was pushed in and the nut wasn't used to bring it any higher up.

[GTR_JOEY]

Mate, if you have the right part and the nut is tight, the hole in the thread is protruding enough past the nut to get the split pin in then its good to go..

If you put enough grease in that it looks like its going to explode the boot then that's too much

[sonicz]

Ok. I didnt put any grease in there. Ive heard its a good idea to put some moly grease in there, enough to swell the boot a bit. These look pretty deflated.

Edited August 25, 2014 by sonicz

[GTR_JOEY]

if there is no grease in them already.. just use a normal grease gun with normal grease

[GTSBoy]

From the photos I would say that they do not look like they have been pulled up enough. Take the split pins out, put a spanner on them and wind them in until they start to take some real force.

Then add some grease.

[Ben C34]

Isn't it a lot easier to just do as GTSBoy suggested and tighten them up more and then pump some grease into them rather than worrying about it?

Then you know that it is done right.

Does your mate have any idea what he was doing? Why do you doubt him?

[dyl33]

Also the red grease you can see is a assembly grease to stop the joints going bad and rusting , you still have to grease them.

[sonicz]

From the photos I would say that they do not look like they have been pulled up enough. Take the split pins out, put a spanner on them and wind them in until they start to take some real force.

Then add some grease.

Thanks. I done that however the nut could not be tightened much further without me not feeling comfortable pushing the thread torque more. The tie rods did not move any further up just the force on the nut increased. I had to back out to fit the split pin again and relieve that amount of torque.

However that said I tried to dislodged them downwards too as in the way you would remove them and I could not either. I did not want to hammer then outs with a massive amount of force in case something was not right. Its possible if the did not sit up all the way originally, from the force of driving around there was a groove dug into the metal.

Anyway guess have to take it to a shop to have it checked out unless anybody from here is willing to have a look at it very very soon?

Edited August 26, 2014 by sonicz

[sonicz]

Also the red grease you can see is a assembly grease to stop the joints going bad and rusting , you still have to grease them.

Thanks for confirming that for me, thats exactly the type of answer I was after.

[dyl33]

This helped me my first time round

torque wrench isn't really needed. Edited August 26, 2014 by dyl33

[zoomzoom]

Didnt touch the alligment bolt and the allignment is fine. WHat do you mean by thread them on? With what? I tried to tighten the nut but it got pretty hard and the rod didnt move up anymore anyway.

So you are saying the do need to be greased up? Does the boot need to be swelled up with grease or not?

I can almost guarantee the alignment will be out. You will scrub your tyres and waste money.

In general its simple though, if the taper is the same on the pin and wheel assembly, it should go together by hand and shouldnt wobble about.

Putting a jack under the tie rod to provide force is helpful to hold the pin up while you tighten the bolt, however you should not be applying force to the grease fitting directly. A hole drilled into the wood would have put the force onto the body of the tie rod.