Inner TCA's

[karbonology]

I need an inner replacing due to excessive movement. Might as well replace both inners and offers with new droplinks to freshen her up a bit. Question I have is, are the inners a straightforward job or is there anything I need to know beforehand??

[Nick Mann]

It's okay, just awkward. The parts are common to the V6. I'm getting inner shoulder tyre wear so mine will need doing soon.

[TAR]

Pain in the butt unless you have a tool designed for the job. Not much space to get any purchase on the flats on the inner joint.
I used a special tool from a mate who works for Toyota. It was a very thin adjustable spanner with a 3/8" hole to fit a ratchet and extension bar.
:happy:

[Amonlym]

I had them done at a garage on my V6 and i'm pretty sure it wasn't over 1hr labour. I found the cheaper parts failed again pretty quickly however...

[karbonology]

I was wondering about the special tool element to it. I have a local garage that are very good, I was looking at purchasing through Viamoto.

[Davezj]

Special tool will help but all you actually need it a pair of mole grips and some ape hands.
Which I have both.
But the most important thing to remember is to turn the steering wheel to push the end of the rack out of the side you are working on.
Don't try it with the wheel point straight ahead, you will be fighting a loosing battle.
With the steering turned you can get a pair of mole grips on the inner rack end after you knock the lock washers back to make the rack end easy to screw off.
I have never had an issue doing it this way.
The only issue I have always had is bending the lock washers forward to secure the rack end so it does not work loose.
I ended up making a tool to do the bending.


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[Davezj]

I folded a bit of flat bar into an long S shape so I could get a hammer on to it to pull the washer forward.
Or you could just use a slide hammer.

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[Braddy40]

It's okay, just awkward. The parts are common to the V6. I'm getting inner shoulder tyre wear so mine will need doing soon.

I Have been looking for a solution to very uneven wear on the very inner shoulder of both front tyres first noticed last year . I got the 4 wheel tracking checked straight away but discovered it didn't require adjustment, the garage couldn't guess the fault and suggested adding some more air to balance out the wear and not to go around corners so quickly :)
I have now just had an advisory on my MOT for 'play on rack inner joints' and than noticed this thread.

Is bad wear on the inner shoulder of the tyre a common sign the inner track rods/inner joints need replacing?

All control arms are good and there is only a very very small amount of play in the steering compared to the noticeable inner tyre wear. Thanks.

[Nick Mann]

Yes, very common.

I think the rack end ball joint wear allows the wheels to toe out at speed. When you raise the car to check the wear moves out of contact and the joint feels good. In my experience hard cornering causes outside shoulders to wear, not inside. £20 for a rack end (aka track rod/tie rod) and another £20 for a boot and a track rod end. At £40 a side plus tracking it's a good place to start.

[Braddy40]

Yes, very common.

I think the rack end ball joint wear allows the wheels to toe out at speed. When you raise the car to check the wear moves out of contact and the joint feels good. In my experience hard cornering causes outside shoulders to wear, not inside. £20 for a rack end (aka track rod/tie rod) and another £20 for a boot and a track rod end. At £40 a side plus tracking it's a good place to start.

Many thanks for the help and reply Nick.
As you suggested , definitely worth adding a new boot and track rod end while I am at it.
I see that these are all available on Viamoto. Would I also need the 'tab washer for steering rack' ?

[Confused]

Depends on how heavy-handed you are when you take the old one off! (Or, more correctly, how heavy-handed the previous person to do the job was...) I was able to re-use mine.

[Nick Mann]

:iagree:

[Braddy40]

Hmm, I'd better get 2 of those as well :)
Yet again, Many thanks for the help and advice !

[andyp_fto]

I have the special tool for doing these if anyone in the North West needs to borrow it.....