Is tracking part of the MOT

paddedjohn

What bush's on the track rod ends? Track rod ends are ball joints

Rossy.

paddedjohn wrote: »

What bush's on the track rod ends? Track rod ends are ball joints

the ball joint on mine are wrapped in a rubber bush too.

Gene_Hunt_2

Rossy. wrote: »

the ball joint on mine are wrapped in a rubber bush too.

We know.

puddy

the man at nissan said the bushings or bushes whatever are on the arms of the wheels???

vaio

Jackinbox99 wrote: »

Struggling to think what bushes could cause the tracking to be out. Normally bushes are in the wishbones and cause movement of the suspension - possible MOT failure. Also bushes could be in the link bars or anti roll bars. If its any of those, they dont cost anywhere near £290.

Id be tempted to go to one of these tyre places and ask for them to check your tracking. Usually only costs 20quid and they can sort it out.

Excessive wear in any bush that helps locates the wheel can throw tracking out, wishbone, TCA, any one of 10 if it's a complicated multi link set up.

Rossy.

puddy wrote: »

the man at nissan said the bushings or bushes whatever are on the arms of the wheels???

Track rod ends

Hammyman

What is it with people who think its perfectly acceptable to knowingly drive a car down the road with the bits that stop or steer it basically shagged or not far off and in need of replacing?

If your bushes are worn to the point they're affecting tracking, they're also affecting your ability to steer the thing.

puddy

i was not told that the bushes are affecting the tracking, i was advised that the bushes needed changing in the future as an advisory. after receiving my documents about the service, i said, 'oh, did someone look at the tracking for me?' the answer was no as that would be a separate investigation not part of my service and that in his opinion if the bushes were worn to a large extent, it would affect the tracking and i would hear knocking. i said ive never heard any knocking and he said, well when you do thats when to get them changed. he then said that the bushes could affect tracking so no point fixing the tracking unless i want to get the bushes done.

im not going to take that advice at present, i will get the tracking done, the service was done before christmas, apart from one local trip the car hasnt been moved apart from yesterday when it was towed away. but i wont get any bushes done until i have got more quotes from various places and understand exactly what is needed and why. for the entire time i have owned the car, the tracking goes about every 6 months. i was told its because of pot holes and my method of parking. the tracking was fine until this recent cold weather and we have extremely bad pot holes down here.

colino

Please don't bother getting the tracking done until you have someone else investigate what the problem is. Any play in a bearing, balljoint or bush (or slight play in all of them) will mean that a fitter can set your tracking, reverse the car off the ramp, put it back on and the alignment will be out again! Remember too that any vagueness in the steering that you will have automatically compensated for, will be slowly wearing out the edges of your tyres unnecessarily.

Jackinbox99

Rossy. wrote: »

the ball joint on mine are wrapped in a rubber bush too.

Ive never seen that, but that might be what they are talking about. The track rod ends ive seen (and replaced for £12 each) are just a ball joint. The ball joint if worn will allow a little movement, maybe 1cm, certainly not a staggering amount. But its the trackrod ends which garages usually adjust to alter the tracking or toe in / toe out.

Easy job to replace. Just use a ball joint splitter on the steering arm bit which comes off the wheel hub, and undo the track rod end from the steering rack.