Tracking on Neon

Get spanner, put on nut on steering arm end of track road end. Turn.

No.

The nut is /very/ tight. Are you sure there is no danger of damaging the ball joint?

Are you turning it the right way? tracking rods often have a left-hand thread on one side of the car.

Thanks - I'll check that. But is it safe to exert force??

It should be. I'm not familiar with the car, so I don't know exactly what you're describing. But suspension nuts are always difficult to undo as they get covered in road dirt.

My local tyre depot wanted to charge me £25 to track my Omega because "They're difficult to do". When they tried they decided they weren't able to adjust it anyway because the threads were all seized.

I took the car home, separated the balljoints, stripped it all down, cleaned and greased the threads, welded grip ridges onto the tubes, put it back together and took it in for adjustment.

The tyre depot was so impressed they only charged me £15!

Different cars have different designs. Exactly what are you trying to undo?

So am I!! All I am trying to do is undo the locking nut on the tie-rod (wheel end) so that I can adjust the toe-in. Turning it exterts force on the tie-rod end, and I am worried about damaging it. Thread is normal way round, by the way. Clockwise screws away from you.

Now I can see what you're concerned about. There should normally be a flat on the threaded section, near the locking nut, so that you can get a second spanner on it. Failing that, I usually get a big adjustable wrench like a Stilson to hold the body of the ball joint.

Yes, that was my inclination. It is damned tight. No flat. So wrench when I can get hold of one. Thanks.

At garages, it isn't uncommon to have to get the gas bottles out to heat it up to free the nut. They seize alot.

I could free it by jacking the entire car up on it, but that might damage the ball joint!

Come to think of it, I might have a little butane can somewhere.

"The Enforcer ]:o[" wrote in news:JIr_f.2221$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe3-win.ntli.net:

Molegrips are your friend in this case