Hi Scott,
Thank you for sharing your experience, I appreciate it. Sounds like  
were on the same page on the if it ain't broke don't fix it.  I sold  
my 70 bug recently because  the replacement parts were making the car  
unreliable.  Looks like I need to check the rack first, great idea I  
would have never thought to check that.

Thanks Again

Kevin

On Mar 5, 2008, at 7:51 PM, Scott Daniel - Shazam wrote:

> They�re not weak or usually failing on vanagons in my experience.
> I tend to leave good working parts in service.
> Depending on what you get as a replacement, the replacement ones may  
> not even be as well made as originals from �the fatherland.�
>
> It�s not a full alignment of course, but you can adjust toe just  
> fine yourself without getting a whole official alignment,
> You can even center the steering wheel  ( besides just re-spline-ing  
> it where it attaches to the steer shaft ) by figuring out which tie  
> rod to lengthen or shorten while you dial in the toe.
>
> However a full real alignment of course is much better.
> I would say tie rods only fail from jillioins of miles, or out of  
> round tires, or out of balance tires, or tires feathered from not  
> having it alignment, or worn shocks.
>  �by themselves� they don�t just wear out really, or not that  
> easily.   It�s all the other factors.
> I see a hundred different vanagon tie rods a year, and barely find  
> one or two bad, if that.  Vanagon front ends are really good,
> You keep good smooth balanced tires on there, and good shocks,
> And drive it nice � vanagon front ends last really well.
>
> Tips � don�t wrench of the rack itself undoing the inner ends if you  
> can help it.
> Count threads when you unscrew the outer end, so you can get back  
> close.
> If it�s just the outer �ball pivot� at the wheel that�s bad, you can  
> just replace that. They are ALL, fortunately, right hand thread  
> where they screw on the tie rod. That helps a lot. Some cars have  
> left threads on one end, right on the other, and some people mix �em  
> up, or you forget which way to turn it to adjust toe, it�s a mess,  
> but another GREAT things about vanagons is the tie rod ends both  
> have right hand threads.
> Have fun !
> Do good work.  And just to be clear, the �right thing� is a full  
> complete alignment afterwards.   The tie rods are so reliable, that  
> I think I�d take good original ones over aftermarket ones many times.
> Check tires for out of roundness and trueness while it�s up.
> Tire balance has to be decent too, otherwise it beats the tie rods  
> and rack.
> Oh ! � make sure your play at the wheel is really tie rods and not  
> the bushing in the end of the rack being shot, allowing up down  
> movement there, which shows up as what appears to be tie rod play  
> out at the wheel.
> And gotta have medium decent shocks at least too of course.
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On  
> Behalf Of Kevin Carrubba
> Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:32 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Tie Rods
>
> HI Folks,
> I'm back in lurker mode as my van is finally starting to dry off after
> another wet winter.  I'm noticing my right tie rod has some play in it
> and I"m sure needs replacing as it has not been replaced since I have
> owned the van.  So is it recommended to do both sides? The other side
> seems tight but I would hate to do this and need another alignment a
> week later. I've never done these before any things to watch out for?
>
> Thanks
> Kevin
> 87 Westy EJ22
> Vashon WA
>
>
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