Wednesday, February 26, 2014

New Track Rod/Center Link


Yesterday, in need of distraction, I drove to Midnight Motorsport where Patrick was kind enough to replace the track rod on the car. I had noticed for some time that the steering creaked when turning the wheel to the left and a quick examination under the car revealed that the driver side joint in the track rod had lost its rubber seal, allowing water to get into the joint.
The old rod didn't take too much persuasion to break off the ties rods. The castellated nuts came off easily, and then a few well-placed taps of a hammer completed the task. The old rod was found to have lost all its rubber.
The grease on the driver's side joint was our attempt to mitigate further damage last year while I waited for the right time to replace the piece. The new track rod looks great and the difference in steering is quite astonishing, the feel is so tight.
Now the wheels must be aligned, after taking the steering apart. A small price to pay for such vast improvement.