bent Tie rods

so i take the bent tie rod out of my vehicle and stick it in the vice and bend it all nice and straight!!!

i thought to myself "it looks good, i'll install it, and go for a test drive"

so i did... and all was well!!! so i got ready to go drift practice. even arrived there early, dressed warmly and quite well prepared.

went out on the track slowly at first, just checking everything out. all seemed well.

so i went a little faster and initiated a few small slides. seemed ok.

so then i went at the normal pace, and on a longish supersideways slide, i felt something give, i then spun out, and then i realised that i couldnt steer.

that damn rod bent again.

i couldnt bend it straight at the track, so we adjusted it as close as possible to straight, and i drove home slowly.

so the technical question/comment is, is a bent tie rod not re-useable?

should i have used heat to treat it before straightening it???

and i've heard recently that the tie rod from a hilux bakkie fits, and is a lot thicker and stronger!!! and costs less than R100 bucks new!!! (i'll def find out about this).

veecee wrote:

so i take the bent tie rod out of my vehicle and stick it in the vice and bend it all nice and straight!!!

i thought to myself "it looks good, i'll install it, and go for a test drive"

so i did... and all was well!!! so i got ready to go drift practice. even arrived there early, dressed warmly and quite well prepared.

went out on the track slowly at first, just checking everything out. all seemed well.

so i went a little faster and initiated a few small slides. seemed ok.

so then i went at the normal pace, and on a longish supersideways slide, i felt something give, i then spun out, and then i realised that i couldnt steer.

that damn rod bent again.

i couldnt bend it straight at the track, so we adjusted it as close as possible to straight, and i drove home slowly.

so the technical question/comment is, is a bent tie rod not re-useable?

should i have used heat to treat it before straightening it???

and i've heard recently that the tie rod from a hilux bakkie fits, and is a lot thicker and stronger!!! and costs less than R100 bucks new!!! (i'll def find out about this).

Thats a wonderfull way to commit suicide.
Do you know how many bad death dealing accidents I have seen because a straightened tie rod snapped?
The worst one 6 people died when a construction bakkie left the r oad and rolled.

My friends family were thrown out of a Corsa at 120km/h when a straightened part snapped on a used car he was using.
So when I read shit like this I get the horrors and want to smack you upside the head with your tie rod for being stupid
I cannot begin to understand the urge to repair safety critical items

well, i lived.

and i learnt too!!!

so its not a good idea then???

Not if u want the vibrator to klap the living renoster out of u 😂

yeah it seems he doesnt approve.

i really like his subtle approach, hey!!!

oh well...

dont straighten those tie rods dudes!!!

i dont understand why those stupid things are so small and skinny though, makes me wonder about the real strength of the xtrail rear suspension???

try invest in a set of tein tie rods and end, much stronger, and more angle...as long as you dont hit nothing, no worries

jap spec wrote:

try invest

thats the problem though... i'm definitely one of those empoverished sx owners that calibrator keeps reminding us of!!!

i would love to have a set, and they cost only slightly more than the originals from nissan, but alas... got no mahoolah!!!

the increase angle, never understood that. common sense says that if you increase the length of your tie rods, then you will have increased toe out on the front wheels. am i wrong?

Have you tried , Bonus Spares.. .

Maybe you can get tie rods off that thing

Build your own, cant be hard, then you can at least use heavy duty materials.

BTW: If steel gets bend and you straighten it, it is never as strong as before it was bent. So if your seat rails bend fine straighten them, if the tie-rod bends buy new or even better make new ones 😂 .

Bonus's price will be close to Nissan's that guy is crazy with his prices...

So VC are you now OOA?

Ummm talk to engineering friends, maybe they can built you one, those stuff looks very simple to make...

it would be simple, except for that big ball joint on the inner side of the tie rod.

the ball is pressed into a socket, with 30mm outer edges (big hey?).

other than the ball - it would be simple!

and yeah - i'm OOA till i find rods!

The Nissan 1 Tonner suffers from weak ball joints at increased angles....

http://www.nissan4x4.co.za/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3791&KW=heim

Use chrome molly tubing, not water pipe!! You can get the Heim/Rose joints from bearing shops. Remember 1 thing, if it breaks, your insurance may repudiate your claim.

I would take my chances with the insurance... one have a very valid argument... "Unless they can prove, without any doubt that the modification was the cause of the accident/incident, they cannot void your claim"

If you get shit, go to the insurance Ombudsman

yeah stupid insurance poepols!

That is also if they know or find the mod....

they will have their "ASS-essors" check out the damage.

its likely then that they will find the mod. if they dont, then they need to hire competent people.

pics of the tie rod.

the big knuckle/ball joint is the part that screws onto the rack.

the other end screws onto the tie rod end ball joint at the spindle thingymajiggy!!!

so...

after half-hours of research, i have found that the s13 inner tie rods are skinny and weak (no surprise there).

but i've found that the s14 ones are beefy and strong (yay)!!!

the s14 ones will screw straight into place, but apparently you will then need s14 tie rod ends, or tie rod outers, because of the extra beefiness.

amazingly, the oem s14 ones are exactly the same as the tien hard tie rods advertised!!!

and the extra angle achieved by fitting the tein ones, comes from little spacers(washers) that are placed between the tie rod and the steering rack at the point of assembly!!!

hmmm... interesting.

here's a quote from wiki books at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nissan_240SX_Performance_Modification/Control_Arms#Tie_Rods

Tie Rods

[edit] Stock Replacements

It is worth replacing with stock if you are just trying to maintain the car because they do wear out and with that you will lose steering feel, but aftermarket has its advantages as usual.

[edit] Aftermarket Replacements

[edit] Inner Tie Rods

The inner tie rod can be equipped with a spacer to let you have more steering lock to lock. This is good for drifting because you can get more angle in your drift. Also on the S13 the inner tie rods are very small and tend to bend or to break. The S14/Z32 size is much bigger and a necessary upgrade for any real race car. The S14/Z32 inners thread right into the stock steering rack and align with no problems.

[edit] Outer Tie Rods

The OEM outer tie rods are ball joints filled with grease. They are great for longevity, not great for performance. Aftermarket tie rods are pillow ball joints which help with steering feel. They also allow bump steer adjustment which will make the car easier to control.

Maybe my approach was a bit too subtle but when you see dead bodies lying all over the place and then you look at the car see what caused it it kinda makes a strong impression.

At least I got the message across which was the point.