Forgot to stake inner tie rod lock washer

[My Nameis]

Replaced inner tie rod on my 98 civic the other day. New part included new lock washer but I had no idea it needed to be staked into place after tightening.

I only later discovered so as indicated in service manual. Is it safe to drive until I get a chance to?

Also I don’t see how I can stake all four points as shown?

[IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160118/60bfd30435f6ccad90bb626f451a2c81.jpg[/IMG]

Topic

[Erin]

To stake all four points, it looks like the rack would have to be out of the car. I am guessing there is hardly enough room to do this on all four surfaces when the rack/tie rods are already installed. So if you do not want to remove the rack, you might have to settle for staking 2 or 3 points. Something is better than nothing. Do your best to support the rods on the opposite side of where you stake so the impact is not absorbed 100% by the steering system. Maybe like have some wood pieces ready to wedge in against something solid. Get a cheap 2 X 4 or piece of scrap wood and be ready to cut it into pieces.

As far as being safe to drive, it is probably not going to fall apart overnight assuming you got things tight. Just try to avoid real hard turns, hitting potholes when turning, and other things that are hard on the front end.

It looks like staking that part is basically extra assurance of it not coming loose. Eventually after enough miles it could work itself loose but for the time being, just be careful with it.

[My Nameis]

Think it’ll be fine for a week/hounded miles or so? It just snowed here and I won’t be able to get under the car for a while

[Erin]

Just give that tie rod connection an extra snugging where it should be staked. Not like stripping it but just make real sure it is plenty tight because tie rods do tend to twist a little during turns (hince the ball joint on the tie rod end).
Maybe after a couple days of driving check it again to make sure it is still tight. If by some act of God it DOES get loose, park it until you can stake.

If I had to guess, I would say it will be fine for some time but no one can really guarantee that.

Staking is kind of like putting a cotter pin into a crown nut – just a little extra assurance. That extra “10%” as they say.
I personally have a hard time imagining the fate of a fastener rests on a forcefully distorted piece of metal.

EDIT – not that you are using one for the tie rods but the above does not apply to snap rings Those things are a MUST where they are used like the installation of some upper or lower ball joints.

[My Nameis]

Thanks for your responses. If anything I’ll have to attend to it by the weekend and I’m doing a good amount of driving till then.

Do you think I could crimp the areas with pliers rather than trying to stake them?

[Erin]

The pliers thing might work unless the metal is too thick. As we can see from the diagram, the “staked” parts of the lock washer need to be recessed into the indents of the tie rod. What you could try is to get a couple really small bolts or maybe roller bearings, line them up where the indentations of the tie rods are, put a LARGE pair of slip joint pliers on, and squeeze enough to create the “staked” effect.

It might be awkward trying to situate the pliers and the tiny bolts/bearings/whatever but yeah, it would be worth a go. Lay the small bolts along the sides. They will be ruined either way but for 10 cents each, who cars? Get bolts with smaller diameter than the width of the indents on the tie rod.

the end result is the lock washer is indented into those grooves. Keep in mind the really small bolts are JUST for creating the indent and are not gonna be permanent…

Also if the tabs of the lock washer (for the “rack end”) bend out of place, take a small screwdriver that you do not mind using as a chisel and tap them back into place into their own indents.

The reason they say to use a roll pin punch and hammer is it would be way easier but if everything is already together then it would be MORE work to remove stuff just to stake with a hammer and roll pin punch. Well that and we notice snap-on product placement. $20 for ONE. Hmmm….

[My Nameis]

Hmm ok I’ll see what I can do. I forgot to mention the new inner tie rod came with a blue-ish residue on the threads. I’m not sure if it’s loctite and maybe for helping assure doesn’t undo itself?

[My Nameis]

I was able to get under there today and stake two points 90 degrees from each other. It’s impossible to get two 180 degrees apart without dropping the rack. Would that be ok?

[EricTheCarGuy]

Don’t sweat it. I usually just crimp them with a pair of pliers. I’ve never had an issue up to this point. Sounds like you got it sorted. Thanks for the updates.

[Author]

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