Track rods and track rod ends replaced
Just had these replaced on my car. Total work £167, including tracking and new rubber boots.
Drove the car home and am amazed that the small amount of play in the knuckle joint on the track rods can have caused so much tramlining, instability, looseness and general malaise in the car.
The turn in to corners is now biting. You can really feel the car dig in on the outside wheel to the apex. It feels planted over all the bumps that used to unsettle it. The first 6 inches of wheel movement is stiff and the feedback is very nice. The car feels 100% better, i just cant beleive i never had this done before (knowing there was a very small amount of movement in the joint). The 7 year old SXGT's that i assumed were pants now feel as good as the 10 year old Pilot HX'son 0002. If this car had new tyres on its i am assuming the turn in and sharpness at the front would be even tighter.
Looking at the knucke joint on the track rod that came off my car, its difficult to tell they are worn. the horizontal movement is less than 1mm (which goes to show just how sensitive the set up is on these cars), and is the reason i havnt had this done before now. Lateral movement is loose, but would be impossible to pick up with the rod on the car.
Anyone with a medium to high mileage car i would highly recommend looking into your track rods to assess the wear on them. I have zero tramlining now (and it wasnt the tracking as it was only recently done to try to cure this very problem). If you can do the work yourselves i think the track rods and ends are £55 quid for both from Eurocar parts.
Feels like warm apple pie. Needless to say i took the country lanes home. :D
