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Gti Tie Rods - a study in how not to get ripped off


LR5V
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VW want £100 a side for complete tie rods - How can they justify charging so much?

I thought I had found a way of getting pukker quality items for £25 a side

The tie rod I removed form my Gti is 324mm long - this is assuming it is Gti one - can anyone confirm bare length of inner tie rod?

Looking at the part it is marked TRW, so scurried off to their E-catalogue

Under Lupo Gti it lists 2 sizes, delighted to find JAR546 had the length corresponded with mine:

image.thumb.png.cf7a4de77f11e536eb5d4dca0b77ab6a.png

Ordered a pair of genuine TRW inner tie rods, £36  - meaning a pair of complete tie rods for around £50 is great.

when they arrived the first thing I did was measure them, still in the plastic bag they were 312mm long - so no good

I am going to look into this a bit more, currently the 2 people in technical support at TRW are on leave, will try calling in a few weeks. maybe they can find something with the same thread sizes at close to the correct length.

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1 hour ago, yeha said:

Febi 38859 is quoted as 332mm long.

Thanks - Will look into these, happy to grind down the extra - but considering both my old tie rod ends only used 35% of the thread I could live with the extra as is.

11 minutes ago, mk2 said:

Aren't they the same as mk4 golfs, where you simply chop the ends off? £6 each ish. Haven't done one for ages though, so could be wrong.

Well ahead of you! - 2 weekends ago I bought a pair of Lemforder ones, same spec as my Mk4, very big difference in length -so big I didn't bother to measure! + the thread that goes into the rack is a M14, when the Lupo one is M12, one size bigger  - in all too much to mess around with to get to work and were returned to euro's

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Got the Febi tie rods - My thanks to @yeha they are a touch longer - about 4mm longer, but if that is an issue it can easily be ground down

YUfMsx.jpg

The rubber dough-nut slips off with a bit of oil. Have to admit I am not the biggest fan of Febi stuff, but at less thn £24 for a pair I can live with them!

Rod ends - I got these as complete tie rods, was happy till I found they were short, but the ends match the one I have taken off.  Just for information they were Lemforder Steering Rod Assembly 25060 02 from the fitment in the ebay listing they appear to be standard across the Lupo range

TPS were going to charge over £200 for a pair of complete tie-rods, so the good news is decent branded set up can be had for around £50 to £60 - even cheaper if you are not as fussy with brand, good news for keeping our Gti's on the road

 

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I thiught that they use low friction coefficient nylon 66 type compounds. It has a naturally low surface friction, similar to teflon (ptfe), but tougher. I does make me ponder why there is some grease on the surface of the sphere. Nylon combined with steel doesn't need lube. @mscherryviolet is right though. It is most important.

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I too could have used the word nylon but I'm keeping things simple.

And to keep it on topic if you fail an MOT on a ball joint or track rod and you feel pikey, a quick hard tap or two from a ball pein hammer on the flat cap of the failing part will usually stop the movement and get you through.

Edited by Rich
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I once race tuned a Lada for a laugh (yeah it is possible), and i remember doing exactly that- wherever there is too much movement in a joint, you can whack it to close it up. I didn't think anyone knew that old trick...! Sounds like @Rich went to the same school as me.

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4 hours ago, Rich said:

I too could have used the word nylon but I'm keeping things simple.

And to keep it on topic if you fail an MOT on a ball joint or track rod and you feel pikey, a quick hard tap or two from a ball pein hammer on the flat cap of the failing part will usually stop the movement and get you through.

haha, I have been known to do this myself on drop links and ball joints if i feel a bit of play. 😁

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VW and Febi part numbers for complete tie rods etc:

 

NS= 6E0 422 803

Febi 45009

OS= 6E0 422 804

Febi 45010

 

Steering rack boots= 6N0 422 831

Febi 10849

 

Small rack boot clip= N102 077 01

Large rack boot clip= N103 123 01

 

These are what were fitted to my GTi approximately this time last year along with Febi anti roll bar bushes and drop links, all good to dateB)

 

Martin :)

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