Zerk Question

[wilson]

I recently replaced every ball joint and rod end in the front end of my pathfinder. they all came with a bolt in place of the zerk as well as an uninstalled zerk. do you think it is advantageous to leave the bolt in place to protect the joint from mud and crap? or does the zerk provide adequite protection. or am I thinking too much.

[Precise1]

Either is fine. Zerks will keep most crap out, but you need to clean them well when you lube up. The flip side of replacing the bolts with zerks just to lube is how much crap and you getting in that way? Threads are hard to clean...

 

B

[ahardb0dy]

"Generally a spring-loaded steel ball is fitted to the internal side of the nipple inlet passageway to exclude dirt intrusion and function as a shutoff valve to prevent grease escaping back out of the nipple."

[wilson]

all right heres another question. while tightening the driver side inner rod end I noticed something odd. lets see if I can explain this.

when it works correctly you reach proper torque and the whole in the bolt lines up with a slot in the castle nut, thus you can slot the cotter pin through.

my replacement pulled through thus the nut bottomed out on the threads too low for the whole/nut/cotter pin engagement to work out. I then stripped the hell out of the threads lower on the threaded portion.

this was a raybestos professional grade tie rod end.

 

so I figured it was, perhaps, a faulty part. I then went to auto zone a picked up a MUCH lower quality part to see if it would fit. again the same thing.

 

so what gives? is my center link beat?

[Precise1]

I think I have the answer. There is a difference between the tie rod end tapers. One is larger and one is smaller, but not by much. It sounds like you are putting a smaller in the larger hole; that is why it seems to deep and you are stripping the threads. I think the large taper is 93+ so make sure that is what you are getting. When in doubt, measure the part you removed (top and bottom, remember, it is a taper) with calipers and compare it to the replacement part. If you don't have calipers, why the hell not?? You can get a set for $20 or less and they solve 100+ problems!!

 

is my center link beat?

Possibly, but if it was that bad, it should be obvious, even before you replaced parts.

 

B

[RedPath88]

I recently replaced every ball joint and rod end in the front end of my pathfinder. they all came with a bolt in place of the zerk as well as an uninstalled zerk. do you think it is advantageous to leave the bolt in place to protect the joint from mud and crap? or does the zerk provide adequite protection. or am I thinking too much.

I replaced all the bolts in my TRE's and BJ's, and spend the extra $2-3 for rubber caps, which keep the end of the zerks clean

[wilson]

I think I have the answer. There is a difference between the tie rod end tapers. One is larger and one is smaller, but not by much. It sounds like you are putting a smaller in the larger hole; that is why it seems to deep and you are stripping the threads. I think the large taper is 93+ so make sure that is what you are getting. When in doubt, measure the part you removed (top and bottom, remember, it is a taper) with calipers and compare it to the replacement part. If you don't have calipers, why the hell not?? You can get a set for $20 or less and they solve 100+ problems!!

 

 

 

 

BRILLIANT! I knew there was two different tapers but I just didn't crosss my mind! thanks again B! and I just recently became a caliper owner.

[wilson]

are the taper on the center link and the taper on the spindle the same? perhaps I had the TREs reversed?