Tie Rod vs. just the end

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Kubelwagen
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Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by Kubelwagen » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:50 pm

So, I see that Bus Depot sells both the ends as well as the whole tie rod. At first blush, it seems a better choice to get the Made in Germany whole meal deal. Anybody have any experience with this? Seems like getting them on and off the original equipment might be a trick.
Patience the 81 Adventurewagen

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SlowLane
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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by SlowLane » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:53 pm

Well, if you don't need the inner end, there's not much point in buying the entire rod.

Meyle brand? Not sure. I've heard they can be so-so on quality.
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ruckman101
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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:26 am

Didn't do the rods, just the ends, and still had to address the ball joints. Mehles. A task that takes a fortitude of aggression. Timidity only drags out the task. Ball joints? uh uh. I hired a professional. Along with the alignment after the fact.

Haven't tackled a bus yet, that was on Gretchen Ghia.



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SlowLane
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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by SlowLane » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:17 pm

Perhaps I should expand on this.

Vanagons have rack-and-pinion steering. The inner tie-rod ends for such systems are integral with the tie-rod itself. The rod terminates in a ball that is socketed into a swivel piece (can't think of a better term for it). The swivel piece has a threaded stud that screws into the end of the rack and is typically held in place by bending or peening over a tang.

The outer tie rod end is the same construction as what is used on earlier VWs.

So the short answer is: if your inner tie rod ends are not sloppy, then you should only need to replace the outers. If the inners are sloppy, then you need to buy either the tie rod itself or the whole assembly. Since outer tie-rod ends are more likely to wear out than inners, it's probably prudent to replace them both if the inners are worn.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

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Kubelwagen
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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by Kubelwagen » Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:54 am

Thanks that helps! The steering feels OK, I just put new tires on and it was feeling a little "light" coming home from Maupin, so I dropped 5 lbs out of each front tire (they were a little high), but I haven't had a chance to try for any distance since.

I'm thinking on doing both ends as the boots on the inner are torn on one side. It's only money, right? :)
Patience the 81 Adventurewagen

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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by vdubyah73 » Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:56 am

with tie rods, it will cost you whether you fix em or not. it can cost anything from a pair of new shorts to your life. i was riding in a 67 camaro when 1 let go. it let go with a noise/feeling that was obviously very wrong, foundation wrong. first thing driver did was hit brakes, also very wrong. hitting brakes makes front wheels go like this \←→/ the car then does something completely WTF wrong. it starts dodging right and left at a high frequency, lunging back and forth.....violently. we were approaching an underpass, semi was oncoming, 45 mph, 2 lane straight road.


it was the right tie rod, praise the Lord. the girl driving instictively turned right, away from the truck, no brakes on after violent ride, left wheel still steers, she wrestled it back and the car started scuffing right and we stopped. i remember it vividly. funny thing, after that poop yer pants scare, we figured we could limp a mile to k:@h's boneyard, operated by scary bikers, these guys were in the news kinda guys, if you know what i mean. they were good to kids with no money and old cars. anyway you can go forward as long as you don't hit the brakes, at all. broken side will follow good side. backing up takes a lot of tire kicking.
1/20/2013 end of an error
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SlowLane
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Re: Tie Rod vs. just the end

Post by SlowLane » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:21 pm

Kubelwagen wrote:I'm thinking on doing both ends as the boots on the inner are torn on one side. It's only money, right? :)
Avoid replacing parts needlessly. Torn boots simply means you should evaluate the condition of the inner ends scrupulously before deciding to replace them. It isn't an automatic fail. Odds are the quality of your OG tie-rod ends is superior to that of the Meyle items you're considering to replace them.

Replacing the boots (both) is a given, but you don't need to remove the tie-rods from the rack to do that.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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