86 civic tie rod ends- help needed

Discussion in 'Civic' started by K7JOE, May 31, 2006.

  1. K7JOE

    K7JOE Guest

    Hi, Recently replaced the tie rod ends in my 86 civic with new ones.
    Alignment is good (car tracks good, and i used some spray paint to mark
    the tie rods before removing the old ones to get the new tie rod ends
    back to the same location on the tie rods). problem that i'm having is
    that when i hit a bump or a slick man-hole cover, the car and steering
    wheel jerk to the right or left sharply. never did this before that I
    noticed. Tire pressure checked OK at 28 PSI.

    1) Wonder if the tie rod end is loose or wiggling when ever I hit a
    bump in the road causing the jerky steering and wiggling wheel. I
    used a tie rod separator (long bar with u-shaped end) to remove the old
    tie rod. It popped out. Presume just a compression fit, and torquing
    the bolt will press the new tie rod end into the shackle properly.

    2) I wonder if i did not torque the tie-rod ends to the wheel properly.
    I tightened the bolt and used a cotter pin, but can re-torque if
    someone can give me the torque value. The tie-rod ends were
    pre-greased, with a "cup" oil seal betweent the top of the tie rod and
    bottom of the wheel shackle. Maybe that oil seal is in the way?

    What else might cause this wiggly handling? I note some wheel/tire
    squeal too when cornering.
    Checked tire pressure, all looks good at 28PSI front and rear.
     
    K7JOE, May 31, 2006
    #1
  2. K7JOE

    Eric Johnson Guest

    Assuming all the basics are OK then your alignment is probably off. Get it
    inspected. Some shops have a computerized alignment tester which enables
    them to check the basic toe settings by just driving the car over it. It
    will indicate the sideslip in ft/mile. Sideslip is the number of feet that
    your tire is effectively dragging sideways for each mile driven.

    Eric
     
    Eric Johnson, Jun 1, 2006
    #2
  3. K7JOE

    TeGGeR® Guest

    wrote in


    <snip other clues to bad alignment>


    Toe is wrong. Yes, I know you marked for same location, but your alignment
    is still off.
     
    TeGGeR®, Jun 1, 2006
    #3
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