Hello everyone, I was replacing my outer tie rods this weekend and noticed on the right side that there was some "wiggle" for the old one as I threaded it off (counting the turns, of course).

I said to myself, "well, good thing I'm replacing this one as it seems a little worn!" Trouble is when I threaded the new one on, it also had the same wiggle...like the bolt for the inner tie rod wasn't quite large enough. The "wiggle" didn't change as I threaded it on (18 turns), and the locknut seems to spin and move about just fine (it didn't wiggle).

When I got to the driver's side, that tie rod threaded off and on just fine, no wiggle at all. I tightened everything down, which felt secure, but thought I better check with the experts.

Is this an expected/predictable/common thing, or should I go hunting for another inner tie rod (which I see now are rather hard to find) for the passenger side?

Edited March 18, 20186 yr by z boy mn

I measured the OEM inner tie rod ends I have here and both sides came in at .545  (13.84mm) major diameter on the threads. So using that as a data set of three, it sounds like your left side is original and your right side has been replaced.

The hard part is doing this with just words. A "little bit" of wiggle to one person can be a whole lot to another. Depends on how much wiggle you can tolerate.  

Z-Boy-MN : Are you buying or exchanging the Inner Tie Rod ends from the same source every time ? If so you may be getting the same aftermarket manufacturer parts every time.  Do the inner toe rods come in a box with any type of manufacturer name on them? 

The problem seems to be the inner Tie rod end being too small. But you could have a Clearance " Stacking " problem.  You could try ordering a new Right outer Tie Rod end from Rock Auto. Bech Arnley is usually really good. Most of the time OEM Japanese parts. Moog Premium part is also good. You are only looking at $22 to $24. RA is also very good with returns. 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1972,240z,2.4l+l6,1209169,steering,tie+rod+end,7428

TT3 outer Tie Rod ends aren't going to help if the Inner tie rod threads are undersized. Which at 13.65imm t sounds like it is. 

 

I'd be trying to find a source for a different supplier of new  Nissan Tie rod end. Or even A good used one. Nissan part number for Rt Inner tie-rod is 48511-E8725.

Interesting that I found a mention from TT3 that the only manufacturer of Inner Tie Rod ends is Rare Parts Inc in North Carolina. And they only make the RIGHT hand side.  If the Z-Car Depot is suppling new parts from this Manufacturer... then you could have your answer.

Quote

Originally the inner tie rods on the  Z used a right hand thread on one side, and a left hand thread on the other side. Some time in the 80's Nissan discontinued the left handed thread inner tie rod, so any replacements were made by changing the inner and outer tie rod to right hand thread.

Currently the only manufacturer of Z inner tie rods is Rare Parts INC. and they only make the right hand threaded inner tie rods as well.

https://technotoytuning.com/nissan/240z/outer-tie-rods-datsun-240z-260z-and-280z

Now..I don't know how true the above statement is ( About Rare Parts inc )  I'm betting if you look hard enough you can find a NOS  OEM right inner Tie Rod end or a good used one. 

Edited March 28, 20186 yr by Chickenman

It may be an idea to contact Rare Parts Inc directly and see if they are aware of this issue.  They could have have a Batch of parts that were machined wrong. 

Hey Chickenman, I've been using various sources and various brands... The parts I have now are labeled from "Rare Parts," but a set of the outer tie rods were from Moog. I'll dig around for an original/used set in MN--there may be some around here that I could at least  measure. But, as you found out, the inner tie rods are getting hard to find and I think that must be the issue as the outer ones all seem consistent.

The specs do seem to explain the wiggle -- I was also thinking about getting a standard 14mm bolt and see how that feels threaded in just for comparison.

As for availability overall, ZCarDepot reported the same thing: that only the right inner tie rods are available. MSA just took them all of them off its website. I'll run some searches on the part number you supplied and see if there's anything that pops up.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

The 14mm bolt idea would be a good check. Does seem to be a machining issue on the inner Tie Rods. 

Interesting update. I work at a college with a strong automotive program, and they often help me with the Z for custom alignments, tricky installations, advice, etc. So, I brought in the inner tie rod and outer tie rod and asked them to check out the fitment. Both instructors handed the kit back to me with a question mark on their faces, like "what's the problem?" I told them the story and they wiggled everything around some more (this was the new inner tie rod, so it had the most slack), and they said they had seen far worse and that I shouldn't worry about it.  I reminded them that the car spends time on the track, and they didn't even blink. Hmmm. Makes me wonder about all the other cars on the road!

I'm still going to try the 14mm bolt and see how that fits. I'll be curious if others have every experienced this kind of thing before, of if the Captain comes back with wildly different measurements for his inner tie rod threads.

Not sure what your last sentence means, but it sounds like you may have missed my measurements at the top of this page?

In case that's what happened... I measured the OEM inner tie rod ends I have here and both sides came in at .545  (13.84mm) major diameter on the threads. So using that as a data set of three, it sounds like your left side is original and your right side has been replaced.

Hey again, Captain, I did miss the measurements you reported at the top of the page...must be I scrolled past them by accident. Interesting. I'm going to check mine again as I remember that I also got a reading of 13.84 a number of times, but I wasn't sure if my meter was zeroed out properly and I thought maybe it wasn't perfectly square with the tie rod. I'll take some more and see how they compare. Maybe I'll also borrow a better caliper set. Mine are the $19.99 Harbor Freight variety.

 

Problem with trying to diagnose something like this is that we aren't there. How much " wiggle is too much ".  Without actually feeling things in our grubby little hands it becomes a perception issue. 

1 hour ago, Chickenman said:

Problem with trying to diagnose something like this is that we aren't there. How much " wiggle is too much ".  Without actually feeling things in our grubby little hands it becomes a perception issue. 

Maybe a video would help???

Yeah, that's the point of my comment about a "little bit" of wiggle to one person can be a whole lot to another.

I could maybe wiggle the parts and think it's nothing extraordinary, but without actually seeing them it's all relative and subject to perception.

I can try to make a video and see if it comes out well enough to see the wiggle. It's more a feel thing. I might be able put the inner rod in a vice though, and show the wiggle by just moving the out tie rod.

UPDATE: I didn't get the video made, but I did manage to measure out the inner tie rods again. They seem to spec out at the same as Captain's...so I'm going to assume they're both original. Unfortunately, we've gotten more snow in MN (with more on the way), so it's going to be a while before I can get it into an alignment shop to see what they think. I'll update if there are any suggestions/changes. Thanks again everyone for your help!

Edited April 7, 20186 yr by z boy mn