Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hey folks,

Need some advice......

I have a failed N/s steering arm / tie rod - from steering rack to track rod end

Looks like it just bolts to the rack??

Is there anything to beware of as i'm on a serious budget at the moment and garage fees i really want to avoid as may well need retracking after which will be about £35 around my way.

You can just remove the track rod end.

Simply measure the distance between the original rod end and a point on the tracking arm.

You will probably need plenty of release spray (plus gas or similar) working into the joint for a few hours, or spray the joint some time the day / evening before to give it chance to penetrate the joint.

Then remove the old joint and fit the new track rod end - setting it to the same dimension as the original rod end.

A new joint should be about £16.
And hopefully tracking will not be needed.

I just bought the whole steering arm online and replaced them. Getting the track rod end off can be a nightmare.

Yup it's the arm I have to change not the track rod end so hoping I won't have to even remove the Track rod end on the strut side and unbolt and wind out the arm.

Any issues with detaching / attaching to the rack itself?

No issues with the rack itself.
Just two big bolts - one on the end of each arm.

I've changed a pair of ends on my old V6 once. Nearly broke every single bone in my hands and wrists doing so... Not a fun job.

Usually require a lot of release fluid and or a butane torch or similar to get the track-rod adjuster to move.

Easier to buy the whole arm, adjuster rod and rod end joint as a set.



I think it came to about £60 for both complete arms from Febi.

A bit more expense, but so much easier and safer than trying to free off the adjuster bolt from the arm.

I changed track rod ends on my old Astra - took front wheels off and bolted 2 sections of angle iron to the hubs sticking out the front and then measured the distance between the ends.
Removed one joint, replaced with new and adjusted till the original dimension was achieved. Then repeat for the other side.
Reason I did it like that is because tracking was spot on with nice even wear to tyres and I didn't want it mucked up by a 'tracking expert'!

Alan

Quite clever there Alan, how exactly did you manage to do it with iron pieces? Did you fabricate them or were they a part of something?

Had a tie-rod end go on an old cavvy of mine, not an inner-arm, just took off the whole steering arm and took it to a garage to undo the tracking bolt (£2) then put the new ball joint on myself. went on a nice long drive, stopping to do fine adjustments with some spanners to get the steering back exactly straight on a flat surface and about 3 months later noticed the tyres were worn down on the inside treads to the wire.

Also, didn't have the impact driver to do the rod to strut bolt up tight, so packed up the gap with 14mm washers (only got the nyloc nut on 3 threads).......

You need to hold the ball joint into the suspension leg under a lot of pressure.

I use a 'G'clamp to compress the joint whilst I do up a new nyloc nut.

Cavalier342, I had some lengths (about 6ft) of 2 inch angle iron which I drilled one hole in to enable a wheel bolt with washers to fix it to the hub. One each side pointing out the front of the car, rested them on blocks of wood so they were parallel to ground.
Measured between the ends of the angle iron and found, with the new joint fitted I could return it exactly as it was.
Have used a similar idea to give a rough idea of tracking on my new Astra using inch square steel tube (must be straight!) held against the actual wheels with elastic bungees, once again measuring at the open end and also close to the vehicle to give an idea if things are looking about right - works!

Alan

All done guys, thanks for the input

Glad it is all sorted.
And hopefully it wasn't too expensive.

Interestingly enough, I managed to free off the tie rod end adjusters on my 1993 Cav V6 by using copious amounts of penetrating oil and some careful prising apart of the split sections around the pinch bolts. But then I had great trouble in getting them to tighten up again. If they're not tightened, suspension movement is not taken up by the ball joint as it should be, but rather by the threaded sections moving back and forth. I had to really lean on the spanner to tighten them up enough - so much so I was afraid of stripping the threads on the pinch bolts. So replacing the complete steering arm assembly is probably the best option but this will almost certainly require the tracking to be set up again.

Unless you carefully measure the old arm assembly,
and then set the new arm assembly as close as possible to the same dimension.

The book will always say have the tracking reset anyway, regardless of how much or how little you faff with the arm or any of the other suspension components.
Sadly most tracking agencies charge more for Cavaliers due to the likelihood of the adjusters being seized in the arms.
None of them enjoy the prospect of working on our trusty griffins.

A bit of common sense should prevail as to making the decision to have the tracking re-done or not.

However the sensible but boring comment is - if unsure, get it done.
Failure to do so could lead to impaired mpg and premature tyre wear.

Thought I'd covered this in a how2, 2x15 bolts hold the arms to the rack with a spring plate to keep things in place.
Use a blunt chizel to spread the pinched area after winding the 13mm bolts out of the adjusters.