Inner Tie Rod End Replacement

[Spyglass]

Like it says in the tin, I need to replace in inner tie rod ends on my Flaming River rack, which is a surprise after less than 3,000 miles.

Does anyone have any experience removing the inner tie rods from the rack - they appear to just unscrew, any particular tricks?

Also I understand that I will have to cut off the threaded portion of the new inner tie rod (I've sourced them from FR) and weld on the connector from the existing ERA outer tie rod. Any trick to this?

Thanks in advance for any tips or pitfalls to avoid.

Kevin

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Spyglass

Like it says in the tin, I need to replace in inner tie rod ends on my Flaming River rack, which is a surprise after less than 3,000 miles.

Does anyone have any experience removing the inner tie rods from the rack - they appear to just unscrew, any particular tricks?

Also I understand that I will have to cut off the threaded portion of the new inner tie rod (I've sourced them from FR) and weld on the connector from the existing ERA outer tie rod. Any trick to this?

Thanks in advance for any tips or pitfalls to avoid.

Kevin

They should have lasted longer than 3,000 miles. Harbor Freight has a thirty dollar tool that makes removing the inner tie rod a bit easier. https://www.harborfreight.com/inner-...set-69619.html and I would just source the new ones from Bob P. They have them sitting right there in a box. Why do the cutting and welding yourself?

[Spyglass]

Originally Posted by patrickt

They should have lasted longer than 3,000 miles. Harbor Freight has a thirty dollar tool that makes removing the inner tie rod a bit easier. https://www.harborfreight.com/inner-...set-69619.html and I would just source the new ones from Bob P. They have them sitting right there in a box. Why do the cutting and welding yourself?

Yes 2,500 is pretty poor, it's 5 years old but that should make any difference. I spoke with Doug at ERA when I was in the process of diagnosing the steering problem and he said they didn't have any inner tie rods in stock and advised me to source them from Flaming River.

Agreed I'd much rather get them already modified from ERA, I'll contact Bob P (assume I just ring ERA?) and see if they have any in stock.

Thanks for your response.

[patrickt]

Well, if ERA is out, then they're out. But the nice thing about Flaming River is that they will make that part for you, custom, to the way you want it. Who knows, maybe ERA has FR make the tie rod for them. I Googled their custom form page, but I would call them up and chat with them. Here's that page: Service - Support - Warranty Info - Flaming River Industries Getting that inner tie rod cut and welded so that it's nice and straight would be a cinch for FR to do.

[FWB]

FYI, excessive angled geometry of the inner will cause premature failure.