Kurtis,
I didn't quite get your question until I read others reponse to it so my
reply was more about steering rack boots instead of tie-rod ends..
oops,
Carl '63 TR4
-------
I had a heck of a time postitioning and securing my brand new TR4 steering
rack boots and I had the entire rack assembly up on the workbench! With your
rack in the car I don't envy your task.
It might be better not to undo anything and just focus on getting the large
open ends back onto the rack tube ends - use a securing wire (baling wire or
similar) on pinion gear casting side (see manual photos) and a hose clamp on
plain tube side.
Part of my difficulty was I greased the innards pretty well and ended up
wrestling with what seemed like two fully greased piglets! and very stubborn
ones at that. The room for error 'fit-wise' is minimal and it took me several
frustrating attempts over a couple days to finally get them fitted so that I
could turn the rack from end-to-end with perfect accordianing and no bunching
or kinking.
I found the boots are very important - my right one had beeb torn open for
several years and that tie-rod ball-joint was wasted (1/8 inch of sloppy
play) whereas the other side with intact boot was in excellent condition and
still very close to original factory tolerance).
Ps; if you firmly pull back and forth on tie rods and feel movement more than
the thickness of a piece of xerox paper (about 3 thousandths of an inch) -
your ball joints have more free play than factory specs and may need shims
added to take up the wear (a bit of a job in itself - but then again, I drove
my car for years with 1/8" slop and didn't even have a clue!)
Good luck with it,
Carl
'63 TR4 since '74 - CT22326L
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