Frozen tie rod ends and alignments

[Dave C]

Craig asks...
"- I'm wondering what I need to order parts wise to remedy  the situation.
 - Am I to assume that the threaded rod portions that are screwed into the
tie rod end and tie rod are the portions seized?
 - If I order a tie rod end, what will I get? "


Craig,
The new ends will be just that ... only the ends ... no threaded rod, nuts
etc.  Some places reach for a torch to heat up the adjuster in an attempt
to loosen it.  This is not acceptable with the Audi tie rods because the
tie rod ends have rubber and plastic which the heat can damage.

Based on my recent experience...
The tie rod adjuster (threaded rod) can probably be freed but the tie rods
will need to be removed from the car to do it.  A combination of penetrant,
pipe wrench, abuse with a hammer, etc will probably get them loosened up.
Once loosened the threads can be cleaned up and the ends replaced.  It may
be possible to use the existing ends at this point, but if they are old
chances are the rubber boots are not in the best of shape and may have been
destroyed in the removal process.  At $15 apiece the economics dictate
replacing them.

The overall tie rod may look pretty ugly by the time you are done with the
pipe wrench, hammer, etc.  If cost is not prohibitive you may want to
replace the entire tie rod as this will be how you get new threaded rod,
adjuster locknuts, etc.

My experience has been that the locknuts are not siezed.  The part that
siezes is the threaded rod inside the tie rod and inside the tie rod end.
For this reason I used antisieze on the threaded rod, being careful n ot to
get it on the portion where the locknuts are in contact with it.  I'm aware
of the concerns people have voiced re: dry thread torque specs and
antisieze being unsafe, etc.  In this case however, I don't think the
threaded insert is subject to loosening as long as the lock nuts are
properly tightened and the antisieze isn't used on their threads.

HTH,
Dave C.