Who ever said Tie Rod Ends are a 40 min job was either lying or.....
01-01-2006, 07:27 AM
#1
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Who ever said Tie Rod Ends are a 40 min job was either lying or.....
It was raining antiseize in Germany the day their car was built.
I think Dieter was having a bad day in the factory and decided not to put any antiseize on my right tie rod assembly.
I worked on this for about 6 hours (Even after pre-PB blasting the day before.)
The top bolt and nut came off easy but the pinch bolt was rust welded in there and needed mass amounts of heat, pb, and a$$ kicking to get out.
My left side came off like cake, and everything was fine. However my right side was a royal PIA and i COULD NOT get out the TRE from the inner.
I had an enginner and an Airplane mechanic helping me out and we couldnt work it loose.
So long story short. 6 hours, job not done, old beat to sh*t parts back on the car, and now i have to take it to an indy shop to see what they can do.
40 min......yeah right.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/4.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/1.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/3.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/2.jpg">
I think Dieter was having a bad day in the factory and decided not to put any antiseize on my right tie rod assembly.
I worked on this for about 6 hours (Even after pre-PB blasting the day before.)
The top bolt and nut came off easy but the pinch bolt was rust welded in there and needed mass amounts of heat, pb, and a$$ kicking to get out.
My left side came off like cake, and everything was fine. However my right side was a royal PIA and i COULD NOT get out the TRE from the inner.
I had an enginner and an Airplane mechanic helping me out and we couldnt work it loose.
So long story short. 6 hours, job not done, old beat to sh*t parts back on the car, and now i have to take it to an indy shop to see what they can do.
40 min......yeah right.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/4.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/1.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/3.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/65771/2.jpg">
01-01-2006, 07:57 AM
#6
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That sucks. The longest part of replacing mine was lifting the car and measuring the ...
old tie rod ends. I could not understand why the dealer wanted $400 just to do the work.
01-01-2006, 08:03 AM
#7
AudiWorld Expert
On relatively new cars..it "can" be a quick job...I have BTDT with your situation...
I was getting paid to do tie rod ends on a 2000 A6 Avant..we couldn't get them off either..and we were using sledge hammers for a short period of time..we finally gave up after about 2.5 hours..the owner was so pissed at his car that he left my house and went and bought a brand new GTI from the dealer. TRUE STORY.
That being said...a friend of mine and I did a set on a newer B5 S4 (california car) and it took about 30 minutes. Its all the luck of the draw..and the time is extended exponentially if you live in the northeast where salt is used on the roads during the winter.
That being said...a friend of mine and I did a set on a newer B5 S4 (california car) and it took about 30 minutes. Its all the luck of the draw..and the time is extended exponentially if you live in the northeast where salt is used on the roads during the winter.
