Hey guys, I just bought tie rod ends from rockauto.com…yeah, they were cheap. Anyway, the passenger side part seems fine, but the driver’s side part does not have a hole in the stud for the cotter pin, nor does it come with a cotter pin. I know that the tie rod ends that are currently installed both have a cotter pin through the stud. Does anyone have any experience with this? Would it be ok to install the new TRE with now cotter pin?
thanks guys,
dave
Yes, Altho I would suggest putting on a second nut on the Stud without the hole for the pin.
I don’t think that sounds like a good idea. Its one of those safety features that I don’t think should be skipped. I would say just get a hole drilled through the stud and put a cotter key… that’s just me…
it’s fine as long as it has a jam nut which is usually the case. my ball joints and tie rods have no holes for a cotter pin either but they come supplied with a jam nut. in case you don’t know what a jam nut is it’s one of those nuts that have teflon in them or it’s a nut that has one side of it squeezed so that it goes on tight as hell and doesn’t come off.
I had the same thing happen recently when I was installing a shitload of suspension parts. Went to Pepboys and bought both outer tie rods, their more expensive ones. Left side had the usual cotter pin setup and the right side had the jam nut like the poster before mentioned. I thought the parts guy got me the wrong one, but when I double checked their part #'s on the site, they were correct. Also, both were the same brand, but different design in that aspect. It’s been about 1000 miles & no issues. I might throw on another nut like someone stated, not too worried about it though.
Yeah it looks like the nut it came with is indeed a jam nut…it has a bluish plastic-looking lining. A buddy suggested putting some loc-tite on the stud for a little insurance so i may do that too.
yeah you can put loctite if you want. but the lock nut alone will be fine. that’s what it’s designed for.
The nuts that have colored plastic inserted in one end are called Ny-Lock nuts, as it is actually nylon inserted in the end.
I wouldn’t trust just that though, id find a second nut that fit the stud and tighten them down together, making it basically impossible to just fall off. While Ny-Lock nuts do kick ass, id take more precaution than solely that.
i wouldn’t use thread locker on there. it’ll be a real bitch to remove the next time. the ny-lock nut will do, otherwise they wouldn’t sell it. although they shouldn’t really be reused. but if you really don’t feel it’s safe, just use a second locking nut, as mentioned
They make the aftermarket tie rod ends that way so that you don’t confuse them. The nut your talking about are called castle nuts. Either one is quite safe and reliable. the one without the castle nut has the plastic or nylon type of insert to keep the nut from loosening.