Steering refurb!

i have exactly the same age R26 and also have encountered a loss of sharpness.
I replaced both sets of droplinks(mega cheap,and OEM from Mr Auto).
and the steering bush,which tightened up the rack(TFD)
Followed by a full geometry re-alignment,which was found to be miles out,even though the tyres were wearing even.

This has restored the car to almost as good as new,i think i will replace the TRE`s to this year to try and gain that last %5 back that i still feel is missing.

When we had a good look at the bushes all round,they seemed to all look in good condition.

Really is a minefield with the steering on these cars as they get older,most people just replace everything including the shocks.

 

Would agree with the above, drop link and stabiliser links (TRW are OEM) made the biggest difference I felt

 

the weblinks to the upper and lower suspension links are a sticky in the suspension section.
I found the knuckles were beefier than what was fitted to my car..so hopefully they are stronger to.

 

got lost with the acronyms! TRE?

 

Tie rod ends, at a guess

 

I’ve literally just been through this with my car (‘08 r26 65k)

Wandering around with ruts in the road, slack steering feel, knocking and under steering.

Mine had recently had swivel bearings too.

I purchased the rack bush first (just before Christmas) and when I got it up in the air to change that, I checked everything else over(between Christmas and new year).

I found that both track rod ends (TRE) were shot but everything else checked out ok.

Ordered both trw track rod ends from mr auto, using the links on here. £30 ish for the pair with free postage - That’s the cheapest I could fine and they arrived the next day! I was gobsmacked when they arrived, especially considering it was Christmas/new year.

I did the good ol’ piece of string alignment to get me up and running and it’s like a different car already and I’ve still not had a proper alignment yet.

Only things worth noting are that I made a tool to remove the inner tie rod (to change the rack bush) and the rack bush was a bit fiddly, especially not having a helper to manipulate the steering wheel.

Well worth doing.

 

Track rod ends - thankyou!

Yes, I'm reading through the right stuff to do for a suspension refresh, nothing wrong with mine (38k) AFAIK but will have a closer inspection before deciding what to buy. As i'm a bit limited for space I'll do some of it myself but might need the garage to do the rest

 

What type of tool do you need for the inner tie rod? Can you get around not having to make or buy a tool?

 

I doubt you can get around it. I’m pretty sure you’d struggle to get any Stinson in.

You can buy the tools relatively cheap, you could maybe borrow a tool from a friendly garage or make one yourself?

You can borrow mine if you’re nearby? (East Midlands)

 

If you google ‘inner tie rod tool’ there are a few variations on the style.

 

That’s the tool I made. It uses a 1/2” drive extension bar.

 

That photo is very helpful - can see the problem now! Appreciate the offer but I'm a bit far, SE London, will look up some tools

 

done tie rod end on 2 cars now and I just used a curve jaw self grip plier and it was fine, to be fair they are tighten to a fairly low torque anyway.

 

I think the type of tool that actually goes over the tie rod are better than the ones that come from the side.

Although with the ones from the side - you wouldn’t have to remove the track rod end, therefore not upsetting the tracking, to remove the inner tie rod.

Although, the track rod ends are, in my experience, ALWAYS shot.

 

If you have to remove the track rod end or not you are putting the tracking out either way. You'll never get it back in the same place.

 

How?

 

You still have to unscrew the thread of the tie rod from the track rod end...

 

Not if you use a tool that approaches from the side rather than fitting over the end of the tie rod.

 

But then how do you get the old track rod end on to a new inner tie rod...

 

My advise was only for changing the rack bush and ‘assuming’ nothing else needs replacing, you shouldn’t need the tracking doing.

 

Ahh that makes sense now.

 

Edit, just noticed the OP mentioned he needs a track rod end.

Obviously In that case it’ll need tracking.

 

I was only planning on changing my rack bush (hence why I chose a tool from the side) but when it was up in the air I found it needed track rod ends too.

 

Is this on mk2 meganes?

Space looked pretty tight in there for stilson/pliers/grips but this could mean the op doesn’t have to buy a tool after all.

 

To be fair the tools are available for about £30 or less on ebay and it does allow you to torque them afterwards if you're picky about torquing things to spec.

 

That’s why I think (if you’re going to buy a tool) the ones that go over the tie rod are probably better as they operate concentric to the thread. The ones that are off to the side must throw torque wrenches off?
As you say, if you’re being picky that is.

Lots of people recommended putting a bit of thread lock on a tie rod too (the thread that goes in the rack, not the track rod end)

 

what were you symptoms with your steering?
Even though mine is much better..i still feel its not 100%..sometimes it feels nervous without the ultra sharp turn in it used to have.

 

I’ve only had my meg just under a year so I didn’t really know how well it should handle. I was never really impressed though, considering the good reviews the r26 always had/has.

The steering felt like it had lots of slack. When going from say a left hander to a right, the transition was slightly delayed and it would almost make my heart skip a beat ha ha.
It followed ruts in the road and I was constantly correcting the steering. The same would happen under braking.
I also was worried I’d got an r26 without its lsd because it would understeer like my 1.2 Clio beast!

I think you summed it up with a nervous feeling.

Mine is waaay better than it was before and I still haven’t sorted my tracking properly yet.
It still may not be 100%, for all I know, but the symptoms that were annoying/concerning me have gone. I don’t have anything to compare it to though, to be fair, and don’t push it that hard either.

 

on my Megane GT and a laguna 2 ph2

 

My R26 used to be incredibly sure footed,
with instant strong turn in ,that gave you massive confidence to push on.
Understeer was virtually non existent on the road,unless driving like a loon.

Like you say..its nearly there again..but not quite.
What else to change though.
Could end up chucking loads of money at it,and still not getting it right.

 

Hmmmmm.....you’ve got me questioning mine again now! Ha ha.

Mine doesn’t feel as good as you describe so I bet you’d drive mine and think it feels sloppy! It’s all relative, I suppose.

I can’t really be too critical until I’ve sorted the tracking though.

I’ll report back.


One thing that I doubt the alignment will sort is a feeling of lightness to the steering as you start to turn. It feels like 5-10 deg either side of tdc is quite light and it doesn’t feel better until there’s load on the steering, if that makes sense.

 

Tyres and/or tracking could make that final difference for you Andrew? Or if the car is relatively new to you could be you're just driving faster now ;-)

 

had the car for 11 years.
tracking was the last thing done,
after it had the steering bush ,and drop links replaced on a main dealer system(my mate is a renault tech).
tyres are PS4.

Tracking was way out..even though its never been knocked about,and the tyres wear perfectly flat across the tyre,
So i just cant understand what this vague feel can be.
It certainly much better than before..but i still question its grip level now,where a couple of years ago,you knew it had more grip than i had talent.

This year i will change everything else in the rack,and put on new dampers all round.

 

I had a look at the car today to see what - if anything - needs replacing. I removed the track rod ends from the hub, came out quite easily which was a relief! Car is on 38k

Both hubs swivel freely from lock to lock, no resistance or tight spots so looks like swivel bearings are good
Both track rod end ball joints were stiff with no obvious play
Absolutely no movement/play in the steering arms when I pulled them in and out etc. No play in the N/S arm up or down so also looks like the bush is OK as well.

From this i'm concluding the inner steering arms and rack bush are OK and no need to replace. Swivel bearings are OK. Will probably replace the TREs as they're cheap and easy

Fair conclusion?

 

if its still turning in sharp,with no roll i would leave it alone.

 

The car is still fairly new to me but there're no specific issues I'm having - it's more a refresh as everything is now 10 years old so some bits must be past their best! Need to stay in budget though so will leave the rack for now