Re: inner & outer tie rod ends bent


"MTED" wrote:

I have a Volvo C70 that I bought, used, 1 year ago.

I sure wish posters would include the year of their car.
Makes searching for parts pictures a lot easier.

They did the wheel balance part. But they did not do the alignement
part because they found the inner and outer rod ends bent, and I need
to fix this before the alignment.

Technically, it doesn't matter how bent the tie rods are. They can look
like a piece of spaghetti, as long as the swivelling joints end up at the
proper location, the wheels can be aligned. Not safe, not recommended,
and not the right way to do things, but technically possible.

Kinda hard to bend the inner tie rod, unless the car was towed by a
real moron, and he threw a hook around it, or used it to lash the car
down on a flat bed, or the car was run into a curb sideways (does it
snow where you are?). You might also look at the steering knuckle
where the tie rod attaches. If there was enough force to bend one part,
the other is likely bent too.

Here's an inner from a 94, nice and straight...
http://info.rockauto.com/Spicer/DetailRed.html?4011668B-1.jpg

As for the outers, they look sort of bent from the factory...
http://info.rockauto.com/Spicer/Detail.html?4011666-4.jpg&4011666-5.jpg
unless it's also bent in a downward direction.

I'm driving the car after the wheel balance and I think it is
improved, but I can still feel the same vibration I had before, maybe
a little less.

Bent wheel from the snow-covered curb?


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