Track Rod Ends

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Thu May 21, 2009 6:51 pm

Right - long story short:

Had my TRE replaced as I had wear in them and therefore I had play in the steering - an MOT fail. Got the garage to replace them which nailed the play but now my tracking is out - basically the toe is incorrect so I'm wearing down my front tyres.

I've been told that Honda do 2 types of TRE, one longer then the other (about a 2mm difference) and that I have the smaller one on the car, and I need the large one to rectify my incorrect toe. My garage thought this was a fairly good assumption.

Is this true, anyone else experienced this? My other thought is the rack is knackered but I find that hard to believe.

Had this problem for a couple of months now and its starting to f**k me right off.

Thanks in advance

example91 · Post by **example91** » Thu May 21, 2009 10:56 pm

yeh vt do use different TRE's from say the 16v. although i have been told that if you take a 16v TRE's and shave 6mm off the end then it would fit a vt just right? can anyone confirm?

although you have said you have a shorter TRE than you should and so i am wondering what TRE's do you have then if not VT or 16v? possibly gl?

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:36 pm

example91 wrote:although you have said you have a shorter TRE than you should and so i am wondering what TRE's do you have then if not VT or 16v? possibly gl?

I have no idea mate as my garage sourced the part.

It would've been a civic part but they said they got delivered the wrong one first time round and had to re-order which took a week. I reckon the first part may have been right but they wanted an exact match to the part on the car, which i think was wrong in the first place hence the play i used to have in the steering etc...

All I know is the bolt is as far as it can go and my tracking is still out well bad like.

do vts have shorter TREs? From my understanding of this problem i need longer ones?

Post by **dida4g** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:20 am

VT TRE's are dealer only, £65 ish each. AFAIK no other motor factor sells VT versions.

91civic_VT · Post by **91civic_VT** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:56 am

The CRX guys just chop 6-10mm off the cheap 16v versions to make them fit, i'd try that first.

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:53 pm

91civic_VT wrote:The CRX guys just chop 6-10mm off the cheap 16v versions to make them fit, i'd try that first.

I would try that but I have no idea what TREs my garage have mistakenly put on. By the sounds of it they are too short so chopping isn't an option.

dida4g wrote:VT TRE's are dealer only, £65 ish each. AFAIK no other motor factor sells VT versions.

Thanks Dida, thats cleared that up. I'll get my garage to just charge me the difference seeing as they've put the wrong part on in the first place.

Sorry to show my naivity, but what does AFAIK stand for?

Post by **widowmaker** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:13 pm

As Far As I Know

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Sat May 23, 2009 6:59 pm

had a look at the TREs on the car today to try and clarify what is on the car.

this is the one the garage fitted on the drivers side:

the steering rack end was showing less thread than the passenger side which makes me think that the TRE was at the limit of its inward adjustment.

Also, I did a rough tracking test and it looked like it was 'toe in'.

Can anyone confirm if the steering rack end is the culprit or if the TRE has a different inner thread -- thus restricting the adjustability ?

91civic_VT · Post by **91civic_VT** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:50 pm

It's not the steering rack, assuming you have a VT, they probably put on the 16v versions which are longer, meaning they will wind right up to the locknut and still be miles out. Thats why people chop 10mm or so off the end, just make sure the steering rack thread doesn't bottom out on the chopped TRE.

If you still had the old ones you could offer it up to compare.

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:38 pm

Cheers mate,

I have heard this before but can you clarify for me - would I chop the TRE area highlighted in pink?

AFAIK the steering rack end fits into the TRE where ive shown the blue dashed line... will there be enough clearance inside the TRE after the chop to bring my toe-in to neutral ?

Its only this side thats been fiddled with...i believe the passenger side is standard.

CRXScoobs · Post by **CRXScoobs** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:52 am

The picture you've made is correct.

You need to chop the pink area off so that TRE screw's further onto the rack, which will Toe the wheel OUT.

That is providing there is enough depth inside the TRE for the thread.(blue part) If not you'll need to start chopping a little from the thread part of your rack.

When they fitted new ones and done the wheel alignment, they should have got your tracking sorted, and not send it out with major issues, that's just pathetic on the garages behalf.

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Sun May 24, 2009 12:56 pm

CRXScoobs wrote:The picture you've made is correct.

You need to chop the pink area off so that TRE screw's further onto the rack, which will Toe the wheel OUT.

That is providing there is enough depth inside the TRE for the thread.(blue part) If not you'll need to start chopping a little from the thread part of your rack.

When they fitted new ones and done the wheel alignment, they should have got your tracking sorted, and not send it out with major issues, that's just pathetic on the garages behalf.

Thanks mate - just needed some clarification before i start messing with this. Not sure what the garage thought they were doing - they are normally very good.

Cheers for all the help, hopefully I can now put this problem to bed

91civic_VT · Post by **91civic_VT** » Sun May 24, 2009 4:15 pm

Just one thing before you go cut them up, some people were saying they only needed to shave 2mm off the end.

Rich4thGen · Post by **Rich4thGen** » Sun May 24, 2009 4:34 pm

91civic_VT wrote:Just one thing before you go cut them up, some people were saying they only needed to shave 2mm off the end.

Thanks. My tracking is out in the extreme, and in 2/3 weeks my tyres have feathered badly so I'm thinking about the 6mm - 10mm chop. The correct TRE on the other side has a good 10mm left of thread so I'll try to match that.

But thanks for the word of caution - I'll make sure I measure it all up first.

sandman · Post by **sandman** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:50 am

what was the outcome of this?