Tie Rod problems

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Originally Posted by yt110

HI I've got a straight one in my shed,give me a call if you nead to use it.Kym had some H/D blanks that you just weld the end bits of the bent rod into,thats what I did to mine.Now all the talk about welded steering rods can begin.
Jim.

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Ok, about 6 weeks ago on the Bruce Hwy a holden ute came flying (yes it was airbourne) across the dual lanes of the oposite direction traffic. It had lost control sending it right into the centre strip which dipped down and gained air on exit into the oncoming traffic. Then smashed into the far bank landing on its roof.

I pulled over and to my suprise the dude was 'ok' - physically only most of his bottom lip hanging off. Chatting to him he says to me 'I knew I should of fixed the steering' :eek:

If the car in front of me had of been 2 seconds quicker, this dude would of had the fan blades of his car in the face of its driver he got that much air.

Go ahead and weld your steering.... and live with it. :D

I agree with The Grubb and CHT (G'day), call MD or whoever they are now and see how many $$$ you're worth:D. They make a good, no great product, but don't forget if you do bend it, you've got two chances of straightening it.

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Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Edit- from Qld. Transport "Modifications" handbook. "The welding, chrome plating, heating or bending of axles, suspension or steering components, as a method of repair or alteration is not permitted."

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I don't live or drive in Qld or even Aussie for that matter.
But surely a new fabricated part doesn't count as a repair or alteration? Of course that new fabricated part would have to have the appropriate engineers inspection and certs.

After all, most axle suspension and steering parts do contain welds straight from the factory.

Over here it's quite simple, modification needs certification. The certification is done by mechanics rather than engineers but they do have good guidelines to follow. If you can satisfy the certifier, then you're good to go.

AHH, well did some hunting around today and it apears that YT110 is correct.

there is a tie rod with the LR ends glued in as is used by the ADF and is Legal. unfortunatly not avalable today ( when i need one)

i think i am back to Blu ute's post of getting a good one and sliping a pipe over it. theres some 430 ss at work uuummm

I bent mine in much the same way. Straightened it with a high-lift which allowed me to drive home and buy a QT one.

QT don't have the best reputation these days, but I am happy with their tie rod (4 years and plenty of offroading later). They are also a fraction of the cost of other billet tie rods. I even bought the taps from Brian Hjelm to make my own, but the cost of a QT rod wasn't much more than a billet 4XXX blank at the height of the mining boom in WA.

Dougal - I think Brian was talking about home-made welded tie rods, rather than billet tie rods with threads drilled and tapped. They should be 100% legal, even in QLD. It is possible to get welded parts approved by engineers in most states of AU, though NDT may be needed.

Not necessarily home made. Few automotive tradesmen have the relevant skills and training to be welding alloy steels like 4140 or 4340 to the required standard. They simply were not instructed or tested in these skills. Most have little or no knowledge of pre-heating, annealing, tempering, hardening, normalising etc. Smash repairers took to GMAW welding from gas welding like ducks to water because of the low skill requirement and convenience. Whilst they can stitch HSLA panels together, I would not like to let them loose on steering and suspension components. Boilermakers should be the trade to do this work. Some fitters have welding qualifications but in most big shops fitters do not weld so really don't get the practice.

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Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Not necessarily home made. Few automotive tradesmen have the relevant skills and training to be welding alloy steels like 4140 or 4340 to the required standard. They simply were not instructed or tested in these skills. Most have little or no knowledge of pre-heating, annealing, tempering, hardening etc. Smash repairers took to GMAW welding from gas welding like ducks to water because of the low skill requirement and convenience. Whilst they can stitch HSLA panels together, I would not like to let them loose on steering and suspension components. Boilermakers should be the trade to do this work. Some fitters have welding qualifications but in most big shops fitters do not weld so really don't get the practice.

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A fair post. but looking at the quality of aussie boilermakers the agencies send out I doubt they many of them can, or care.
But every thing is in the bible (black book)

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Originally Posted by 85 county

A fair post. but looking at the quality of aussie boilermakers the agencies send out I doubt they many of them can, or care.
But every thing is in the bible (black book)

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Just ask to see their welding tickets.

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Originally Posted by Dougal

Just ask to see their welding tickets.

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over here G7 is about the same as 4711. ticket or not there seems not to be much class around. But on the other hand you sort of cant blame them because most of there work seems to be though agencies ( temping) and many companies treat them like crap.
but then again the factory environment is a bit like NZ back in the 70s.


As we know some people have the touch and many don’t regardless of tickets or not.

Ah yes, temping. I missed that bit in your earlier post.
I did some temp work in Aussie 10 years ago, on the second day the boss asked me if I wanted a permanent position. I declined but asked him how many temps he got that were no good. He said about 90%.

I was doing it to fill a gap while looking for the job I wanted, seems most of them do it because they can't hold down a full time job.:(

The 4711's are basically gone now (April 2011 expiry), replaced with 2980 which ties proceedures and certification to the workshops rather than individuals. I wonder how that'll work with temporary labour. I guess either the agency needs to own the certs or get the guys recertified at each new job.

It'll take 2 years for the last 4711 certs to expire though.