Female Track Rod Ends

Firstly, let me apologise for the poor pics. They were taken with the Mrs' phone and she never sorted out the settings, she took the pics though in the cold so we have to thank her for that.

The female track rod end is a terrible design. It's found on the later Renaults - Clios, Meganes and Lagunas etc. The earlier cars tend to have male track rod ends which are much better, by better I mean quicker and easier to swap!

Righty, first things first. Get the wheel off and the car properly supported.

Best thing to do now is grab the universal tool, yes the hammer. Thump the hub carrier where the track rod end goes into it, watch your eyes as rust flakes will come off, get as much rust as you can off at this point. Next a wee wire brushing is a good idea. WD-40 the bolt, the exposed thread, the pinch bolt and the nut at the hub carrier.

If the end's original then a 16mm nut is needed, unscrew it.



If its gets as far as it did in the picture then it breaks free and rotates that's a good thing. That way you don't need to bother belting the hell out of it and blowtorching it for hours to free the taper from the hub carrier.

You're left with the problem of the pin spinning and the nut not coming off. Use a jack and whack the pin back up into the hub carrier, you should now be able to unscrew it all the way. Do this then screw the nut back on a few threads.

In my case it unscrewed as shown in the above picture, but no matter where I tried it wouldn't budge either back or forward when it got there.



Now you need a 13mm spanner for the track rod arm and another 13mm socket/spanner to unscrew the pinch bolt, I used a tommy bar and socket as seen in the pic.

Remove the pinch bolt entirely. Next get a cold chisel or similar and open up the slot which the pinch bolt, well pinches. Get the wire brush in to clear as much crud out as poosible and douse with WD-40.

Hopefully you shall be able to unwind it with the spanner on the track rod arm.

In my case it didn't.

Eventually with 2 sessions from the blow torch, a WD-40 dousing and use of the Stilsons I managed to free the beast.



Me in action with the Stilsons.



Nice and shiny new end.

So with the track rod arm free, the threads on it were subjected to a thorough wire brushing.

The original track rod end was still stuck on the hub carrier due to the nut jamming, at least there was no worries about having to drill it out of the hub or anything. So the only thing for it was out with the hacksaw. I thought about getting the grinder out as usual but it was a lot of hassle for one thing, so I hacksawed the nut off.



That's it chopped.



That picture shows the taper, surprisingly rust free!

Anyway time to fit the new one.

Open the slot slightly with the chisel to ease fitting.

Coat the track rod in copper grease to prevent any further seizure, screw the track rod end back up to where the old one sat, then coat the pinch bolt in copper grease then fit it. Nip it up tight, but not too tight, its not holding a tank together!

Coat the taper pin with copper grease and insert it in the hub carrier, tighten the nut down, you may need to use the jack under it to get it fully tightened.



That's it done - a nice shiny new track rod end. It may be a good idea to go and get the steering alignment checked and adjusted as necessary.

Once again sorry for the pictures, I have since told her I ain't standing for that crap again and she's now in the cupboard as suitable punishment! Only kidding.