"Bad" tie rod ends may have explanation...

[". ." <cobram@juno.com>]

I have complained before about how the '84 5KS seems to go through front
suspension components with too much regularity.  I may have found the
answer (besides the wifes ability to bounce wheels off the curb while
parking) to why the 5KS has been going through tie rod ends at an
unnatural rate.  

Both sides had play in them, so I started on the left side first, put the
airgun on, and it just spun and spun...hmmmmm...MUST be the ball
rotating.  After an hour of peening and forking, and FORKING, I noticed
that the nut was spinning...stripped.  After an hour or so with the
whizzer, air chisel, vice grips and acetelene torch I got it out.

When I went to check the new one, it looked correct, but I tried to
finger tighten the nut while holding it, and the nut would only go on
about 1/4 of the way.  Hmmmm, it wasn't one of those crimped nuts, upon
closer inspection, I noticed that the THREADS were different on the nut
and the tie rod end! AhhHA.  The parts supplier was giving me the WRONG
nuts for the tie rod ends.  I called the parts supplier, but being
Saturday, they'd already gone home for the day, but I will let them know
what happened on Tuesday.  

What (I assume) had been happening is that once the tie rod is on the
car, and a few threads have caught, I was just driving them home with the
airgun...probably stripping either the nut or the tie rod a few threads
short of being correctly tightened, leading to pre-mature failure.   

Moral or the story, check your nuts to make sure they're the right ones
for the job....

BCNU,

Cobram@Juno.Com
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Flats/1469/

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