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Started By
Message
Car guys/(gals?/trannies?): question about tie rod ends
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:17 pm
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:17 pm
I had some front end work done on my truck the other day, and it drove great when I got it back. Drove smooth, no noise, everything seemed fine. But the next day (last night), I turned into a parking lot and heard a noise (good size curb going in but nothing too drastic). I thought "oh shite", and proceeded to try to get to a parking space, but I didn't make it. I turned right, then when I straightened up the truck stopped. I got out and my front wheels were pigeon-toed.
The nut was missing from the tie rod end, and it had popped out of the hole. It goes in from the top with nut on the bottom, so it is kinda-sorta operational without the nut (though obviously not drivable). It's a regular hex nut, NOT a castle nut with cotter pin. I couldn't find the nut, but I did find the grease zerk that had come off after the tie rod end rubbed on the wheel.
They came out and put a new nut on this morning, and the guy says he is absolutely certain that he didn't forget the nut when doing the work initially. He also said he had never seen this happen before.
So, IF he actually didn't put the nut on in the first place (or if it was loose), what are the chances that I would have been able to drive the truck 20 miles on sub-par roads (I even drove off a curb yesterday, on purpose) without incident? No obvious alignment issues, no noise, etc.
Or would it be more likely that the nut was on and tight, but possibly cracked. And then maybe when I turned into that driveway I hit the bump just right and the nut split in two and fell off?
The nut was missing from the tie rod end, and it had popped out of the hole. It goes in from the top with nut on the bottom, so it is kinda-sorta operational without the nut (though obviously not drivable). It's a regular hex nut, NOT a castle nut with cotter pin. I couldn't find the nut, but I did find the grease zerk that had come off after the tie rod end rubbed on the wheel.
They came out and put a new nut on this morning, and the guy says he is absolutely certain that he didn't forget the nut when doing the work initially. He also said he had never seen this happen before.
So, IF he actually didn't put the nut on in the first place (or if it was loose), what are the chances that I would have been able to drive the truck 20 miles on sub-par roads (I even drove off a curb yesterday, on purpose) without incident? No obvious alignment issues, no noise, etc.
Or would it be more likely that the nut was on and tight, but possibly cracked. And then maybe when I turned into that driveway I hit the bump just right and the nut split in two and fell off?
This post was edited on 1/28/16 at 2:36 pm
8
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:17 pm to Korkstand
quote:
Car guys/(gals?):
It's tranny day on the OT, so you might want to change the thread title.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:20 pm to Korkstand
quote:
NOT a castle nut with cotter pin.
Isn't that what's supposed to be on there?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:20 pm to Korkstand
quote:
I had some front end work done
Oh, boy! That is one heck of a start....
quote:
The nut was missing
And it just keeps getting better....
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:23 pm to Korkstand
if he replaced the bushing with a new one the fit is pretty tight, you could drive for a while without it fastened
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:23 pm to Korkstand
Honest answer? He forgot.
He knows he forgot and that's why he drove out to you.
He knows he forgot and that's why he drove out to you.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:27 pm to upgrayedd
quote:Apparently my truck doesn't have castle nuts stock. There's no hole for a cotter pin.
Isn't that what's supposed to be on there?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:29 pm to cgrand
quote:It's the stock parts. But even so, wouldn't he have had to tighten the nut in order for it to get that tight?
if he replaced the bushing with a new one the fit is pretty tight, you could drive for a while without it fastened
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:34 pm to X123F45
quote:That was obviously my first thought. And maybe I tend to believe people too much, but the guy says he knows he tightened them because he first used an impact, but it turned so he used two wrenches (the end is hex).
Honest answer? He forgot.
quote:He drove out to me because I was already pissed about the motherfricking RAT that they allowed inside my truck, which chewed holes in my back seat and baby seat.
He knows he forgot and that's why he drove out to you.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:36 pm to jrodLSUke
quote:Thanks, fixed.
It's tranny day on the OT, so you might want to change the thread title.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:49 pm to Korkstand
He either didn't put it on, or didn't put it on tight. When they are new, the nuts usually don't spin very freely, but who knows what brand he used. If he did put it on, he didn't tighten it, and the knuckle vibrated it loose and the nut started backing down.
I've never had one come loose, and I've done probably 50
The castleated/regular nut thing only depends on the brand. Some use them, some use a regular nut. They're not vehicle manufacturer specific
*When you tighten the nut down, it pulls the shaft of the joint into the knuckle. That's why people use presses or sledgehammers to get them out
Eta: He could've put the nut on and didn't tighten it enough to seat the shaft of the joint. Only he knows
I've never had one come loose, and I've done probably 50
The castleated/regular nut thing only depends on the brand. Some use them, some use a regular nut. They're not vehicle manufacturer specific
*When you tighten the nut down, it pulls the shaft of the joint into the knuckle. That's why people use presses or sledgehammers to get them out
Eta: He could've put the nut on and didn't tighten it enough to seat the shaft of the joint. Only he knows
This post was edited on 1/28/16 at 2:55 pm
Posted on 1/28/16 at 3:01 pm to Korkstand
quote:
Apparently my truck doesn't have castle nuts stock. There's no hole for a cotter pin.
Weird
Posted on 1/28/16 at 3:06 pm to upgrayedd
No, it actually isn't
Posted on 1/28/16 at 3:26 pm to Korkstand
He forgot to torque it to 288ft-lbs.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 3:49 pm to tokenasian37
It's all ball bearings these days
Posted on 1/28/16 at 3:52 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
It's all ball bearings these days
whatever...sounds like the "mechanic" did a shite job and would not use again.front end work is nothing to play around with...what if you would have been going 55-60 around a curve?Posted on 1/28/16 at 4:18 pm to bigrob385series
quote:I know. And it's not in my nature to raise hell until someone loses their job, but I could have lost my family.
front end work is nothing to play around with...what if you would have been going 55-60 around a curve?
I "joked" with the guy that this is obviously a critical nut, and surely it's on half a dozen checklists. I want to believe his story that the nut may have been cracked. But I have tightened thousands of nuts in my day, and broken a few. You know when a nut fails, especially if he was using wrenches as claimed.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 6:22 pm to Korkstand
glad you didn't die in a car crash. it could have been bad if it separated on the highway.
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