Man-A-Fre Tie Rod Kit installation (1 Viewer)

[Tim Collier]

Hello all! I have a bad tie rod end, so I am going to toss all 4 TREs, and the bent steering rod behind the front axle (tracking link?) and install the Man-a-fre kit. MAF does not have much in the way of instructions, so hence the following questions-
Torque values on Castle nuts/ clamps?
Any tips on removal of TREs? ( I have a SOR pickle fork already)
Obviously, going to do one rod at a time to preserve the front end alignment- any other tips on this?
Happily for me, I’m going to a self service \ auto craft shop, so I will have a lift, impact wrench, etc.
Thanks for any help!

 

[jonheld]

Hello all! I have a bad tie rod end, so I am going to toss all 4 TREs, and the bent steering rod behind the front axle (tracking link?) and install the Man-a-fre kit. MAF does not have much in the way of instructions, so hence the following questions-
Torque values on Castle nuts/ clamps?
Any tips on removal of TREs? ( I have a SOR pickle fork already)
Obviously, going to do one rod at a time to preserve the front end alignment- any other tips on this?
Happily for me, I’m going to a self service \ auto craft shop, so I will have a lift, impact wrench, etc.
Thanks for any help!

Throw the pickle fork in the recycling pile. They're good for destroying things.
The OTC 7315A tie rod removal tool is compact, elegant, and works exceedingly well.

Amazon product ASIN B000F5LJ3M
There are 2 steering rods. The one in front of the axle is called the relay rod or drag link. It runs from the pitman arm of the steering box to the opposite steering knuckle.
The one behind the axle is the tie rod as it "ties" both steering knuckles together.

Torque values and standard lengths can be found in the Toyota FSM that you can download from the "resources" section.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Throw the pickle fork in the recycling pile. They're good for destroying things.
The OTC 7315A tie rod removal tool is compact, elegant, and works exceedingly well.

x2

 

[Tim Collier]

x2

And, the job was done last Sunday afternoon at the base Auto Craft Shop. Thanks for the brush up on the terminology! I had access to a screw puller, and yes it works well. The fork worked quite well too- only modest hammering necessary and the rod ends popped off. I assume time and nature has made permanent attachment to most bolts on the bottom side of the 80, hence wanting the more forcible option.

Regarding the MAF’s kit, it was a snap. The only thing I should have done was double check the length of the new rods going on vs the length of the old rods. Especially as the tie rod was bent about two inches out of true. it was an easy affair to loosen clamps, spin rod to adjust to specification, and then go forth. I would have saved a test drive or two, and another hour in the bay, but oh well!

one question: the TREs fit on to the arms coming off the hubs without much problem, and the castle nuts snugged on just fine, Cotter pins and all. There did not seem to be a need to mechanically press them on. Truck drives fine- even on the autobahn, 120kms / 74mph- am I missing anything?

 

[shack]

I smacked a guard rail last weekend here in NC on a road with some loose snow and now have a bent relay rod & tie rod. During impact the steering wheel shifted about 45 degrees to the left. It drives straight this way but is clearly not ideal. Toyota can't do an alignment because of the bent rods, seized ends and rust. They quoted me $1800 for the relay rod kit and tie rod kit replacement. That would have to include labor right?

Anyway, I immediately thought hell no to that $1800 and started looking on Partsouq and then here and found this thread with the MAF kit(which I like). I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this same kit and also snag that little tool off Amazon.

If I follow the FSM and spec out these rods to the lengths mentioned will that straighten out the position of my steering wheel? The FSM says:

Tie rod assembly should be approximately 1,233 mm (48.54 in.). Relay rod assembly should be approximately 1,090 mm (42.91 in.)

The hardest part here will be getting the old stuff off and I'm also thinking about just buying the MAF kit and see if Toyota will install that for me.

 

[Squeegee]

Replace it yourself. There’s lots of videos on YouTube that can help. I use an alignment tool like the one that TMR has. Doing an alignment on solid axle cars is super easy if you have tools to make it easy. Once your toe is set, twist the drag link ( goes from the knuckle to the pitman arm on the steering box) until it centers the steering wheel. It usually takes a bunch of tries to get the steering wheel centered.

DIY Toe Alignment Tool

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