damaged track rod

[JimSuperSix]

At my recent MOT it was noted that the front pass.-side track rod was "damaged but serviceable".

I've just been putting some Hammerite on the really rusty bits and noticed that the rod appears to have been rubbing or has hit the steering arm (RED arrow in photo) and also has a suspicious bend in it (BLUE arrow).

Should it be like this? It's been this way since I bought it 3 years ago, but I thought nothing of it since the MOT.

Photo here :
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/SurfTrackRod.jpg

Also, was there some safety recall concerned with the steering system - what was it, how do I tell if it's been done, and if not, will Toyota still do it for free, or can I do it easily?

thanks
James

[stormforce]

At my recent MOT it was noted that the front pass.-side track rod was "damaged but serviceable".

I've just been putting some Hammerite on the really rusty bits and noticed that the rod appears to have been rubbing or has hit the steering arm (RED arrow in photo) and also has a suspicious bend in it (BLUE arrow).

Should it be like this? It's been this way since I bought it 3 years ago, but I thought nothing of it since the MOT.

Photo here :
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/SurfTrackRod.jpg

Also, was there some safety recall concerned with the steering system - what was it, how do I tell if it's been done, and if not, will Toyota still do it for free, or can I do it easily?

thanks
James

hi james.it looks like your inner track rod is bent so i would get another
from here http://www.toyotahilux.com/ or here www.milneroffroad.com


the recall was for the steering relay rod which the inner track rod fixes to
if you do a search for surf recall/recall notice you will find a tel.no. for toyota u.k give them a ring and you will need to give them your vehicles details vin.no.etc and they will give you a ref.no and tell you whether or not yours is included.

[JimSuperSix]

Thanks, I've just searched through the posts and sounds like people have found Toyota Europe more helpful than Toyota UK, so I've just sent them an email and I'll wait and see what they have to say.

As far as the trackrod goes, so long as it's just bent slightly and not seriously damaged I'll leave it until the weather turns better next spring or summer I think - I did the cylinder head in the snow 2 years ago and I don't fancy doing that sort of thing again

[stormforce]

Thanks, I've just searched through the posts and sounds like people have found Toyota Europe more helpful than Toyota UK, so I've just sent them an email and I'll wait and see what they have to say.

As far as the trackrod goes, so long as it's just bent slightly and not seriously damaged I'll leave it until the weather turns better next spring or summer I think - I did the cylinder head in the snow 2 years ago and I don't fancy doing that sort of thing again

i done my inners and outers and the adjuster tube and with a ball joint splitter it took about 20mins a side.
i did the whole lot as i couldn't undo the adjuster which seems to sieze on most vehicles so i bought the lot for both sides and got it all done in no time

[JimSuperSix]

Did you have the tracking setup or did you just check/measure the old parts and set the new ones the same?

[MattF]

Did you have the tracking setup or did you just check/measure the old parts and set the new ones the same?

Measure and set the same. The odd 1/8" or so won't make any difference.

[stormforce]

Did you have the tracking setup or did you just check/measure the old parts and set the new ones the same?

like Matt said