Steering joints are a safety item. A worn or loose joint is dangerous, and one owner called the rear tie rod "a weak point" where failure "could be tragic". If you replace any of these, have the tracking checked afterwards. See Wheel alignment (geometry) settings.
Which joint is which
Owners use "track rod end" and "tie rod" loosely, and the three joints below are different parts.
| Part | Where | See |
|---|---|---|
| Track rod end (front) | Joins the threaded end of the steering rack to the steering arm on the hub | This guide |
| Inner joint and cup (front) | Inside the rubber gaiter at each end of the rack | Steering rack types, refurbishing and replacements |
| Tie rod or toe link (rear) | Joins the rear hub to the lower rear wishbone mount on the subframe. It sets the rear toe | This guide, and Rear toe links |
Choosing front track rod ends
The prices below are from 2010 and 2011, so treat them as a guide to the difference between suppliers, not today's cost.
- Genuine Vauxhall ones were "silly money". Elise Parts or Elise-shop were about £20 cheaper than AutoVaux, Lotus or Vauxhall. One owner said to buy from Elise-shop but be sure to pick the more expensive option.
- On Elise Parts, choose the VX220/Speedster option before you add the part to your basket.
- Seriously Lotus was named as selling ends that fit the VX220 and the Lotus S2.
- S1 Elise ends: opinions differ. One owner fitted S1 ends bought for under £10 each from a local motor factor, and says they are the same size as the originals. Another said S1 ends will fit but are 10 mm shorter and don't engage enough on the thread. A third has cheap ends that use plenty of thread. If you try them, check how much thread engages before you rely on them.
- One owner's local motor factor didn't list any for the VX220 or the Elise S2.
Fitting
- Nut: the TIS torque is 30 Nm. No thread lock, and use a new Nyloc nut, which comes with the new end.
- Getting the old one off: the owner who had trouble says to wire-brush the thread at the bottom and soak it in penetrating oil for 20 to 30 minutes before you try to undo it. If all else fails, have a hacksaw ready. The steel of the threaded section that goes through the steering arm is easy to cut, and you can then twist the rest off the rack.
- Afterwards: the tracking needs checking. Changing a track rod end alters the toe unless it is fitted to exactly the same length.
Checking for wear
- Front: give each wheel a tug, then do the same at the steering rack, to see which is moving. Look at the rubber boots as well. One owner replaced his at 40,000 miles because the rubber was perishing before an MOT. Another said his passed an MOT with a very tired and cracked one, so it depends on the tester.
- Rear: jack up the rear, and pull the wheel to and fro as if trying to make it steer. Any play at all means you should either replace the complete tie rod (about £60 in 2010) or a ball joint if you can find one, or tighten the ball joint bolt if it is loose, which is usually the outer one. One owner found about 15 degrees of flex in the ball joint on the chassis end of a rear tie rod.
- A creak or clunk behind the steering wheel is more likely to be the universal joints than the track rod ends, especially if it is worst when you turn the wheel stationary. See Steering column universal joints and Steering rack types, refurbishing and replacements.
Rear tie rods
- They are completely different from the front ends. In 2010 owners said to buy the whole assembly (two joints and a threaded bar) from AutoVaux, about £60 each side, and a good deal less than from Vauxhall or Lotus. The Elise Parts one is an "upgrade".
- Get the right ones for early or later cars. You will also need new fine-pitch nuts.
- In 2011 an owner said both rear tie rod ball joints are available separately from Lotus, at about £12 each.
- Matching the length: make sure the new rods are the same length as the old, centre of the ball joint to centre. Make sure the joints are screwed in equally at both ends. If you need to shorten the rod by 10 mm, for example, screw each end in 5 mm. That should do until you can have the alignment done. One owner suggested fitting the new unit and matching the lengths as closely as you can, then having the geometry checked.
- See Rear toe links for the job itself.
Aftermarket steering arms and ball joint tapers (2017)
In July 2017 owners raised a safety concern about the taper fit of some aftermarket steering arms and ball joints. It was not settled in the thread, several owners had no problem, and the supplier named didn't reply there. If you have aftermarket arms or ball joints, check them as described below.
A Facebook post said some Elise Parts steering arms had the wrong taper. An owner who runs their anti-bump-steer kit asked which arms, which joints and which taper were affected. The thread sorted out two kinds of arm:
- The anti-bump-steer arm kit is made for rose-jointed (bolt-through) track rod ends. Its end has a simple parallel hole, with no taper there. The kit comes with the rose-jointed ends, bolts, spacers and nuts.
- The other arm takes standard tapered track rod ends, so it has a taper for the track rod end as well as a taper for the upper wishbone ball joint.
What was reported:
- A poster from Spitfire Engineering said they have an arm where the track rod end taper was supplied with the wrong angle and the wrong depth, so the ball joint "cut a new taper" into the soft material and kept working loose until retightened. The wishbone ball joint taper was also set 4 mm too shallow, leaving much of the ball joint taper outside the arm and unsupported. Under hard braking the same forces can shear the two bolts, which he linked to the Lotus bulletin upgrading them to 10.9 grade. He said most of the expanding taper, up to the widest part of the ball joint, should be inside the arm and not visible. He noted that the original arms are steel, with a section 11.8 mm thick at the rack pick-up.
- An owner posted a video of an original (tapered) track rod end moving about in one of these arms. He said it isn't the bolt-through version, so the arm is the tapered type. He added that a separate problem is ball joints sold with the wrong taper, which he has seen on old ones and been supplied: they have a bigger diameter at the small and large ends, so the angle is wrong as well.
- Other owners had no trouble. One fitted the standard version of these arms with Elise Parts ball joints and original arms, and had no problem. One with the bolt-through kit found his ball joints needed a splitter to remove, so they weren't loose, and the originals hadn't pulled out, though the ball joint sat 1 to 2 mm proud of the arm. Another found his wishbone ball joint looked seated but the thread barely showed beyond the Nyloc nut, though he had done several track days with no play.
- One owner thought the Elise Parts joints are original spec. Nobody in the thread had measured the taper dimensions.
What owners said to check:
- Which arm you have. Rose-joint arms use a bolt through a plain hole. Only the other arm has a taper for the track rod end.
- How much thread shows. One owner said to look at how much thread sticks out of the bottom, whether any taper shows at the top, and, with the nut off, whether there is crushing damage on the top of the arm or hub carrier where the taper has been pressed in.
- How far in the taper sits. Push the rubber boot back and look between the joint and the arm. The widest part of the taper should be close to the surface of the arm, as on the original. On the arms the Spitfire poster had, it was several millimetres away.
- Check the rest of the ball joints too, including that they sit correctly in the original hub carriers, if you have any with a wrong taper.
- Undo the nut and see whether the ball joint simply falls out, if you want to be sure. Fit new Nyloc nuts when you reassemble.
- One owner fitted new bolts as a precaution when he checked his. See Front wishbone removal for the wishbone side.
Help wanted
The thread doesn't say which part numbers had the wrong taper, no measurements were posted, and nobody reported a response from the supplier. We have no current prices, no torque for the rear tie rod joints, and don't know which S1 ends fit. If you have checked your arms and ball joints, please tell us what you found and send photos.