National Tyres Track rod replacement horror

[elwyn]

I had a anti-skid service required come up on my xc70 on Thursday evening and on Friday morning I took it to my independent Volvo garage to be checked. On the way the steering wheel took on an ever increasing angle from the horizontal so much so that when I reached the garage it was at 45 degrees when going straight. I also noticed that it was pulling to the right when accelerating anf to the left when decelerating.

The garage quickly diagnosed the fault. I had had the track rod ends replaced by National Tyres late December and the off- side one had worked loose with the nut just about to fall away. The nut had a serrated collar and no other locking mechanism. I was told that this kind of nut was used on exhaust brackets and NOT on track rods!!!

Once made safe I took the car back to National Tyres and they agreed to replace the "defective" track rod and told me that they might meet the £70 cost of diagnostics and repair by the Volvo people.

This track rod degenerated over a distance of less than 10 miles an if I'd driven it for longer I shudder to think of the consequences. I have no faith in National Tyres and certainly have no confidence in the security of the near side. I would warn all members to be careful when using these people!!!

Elwyn

[cheshired5]

Too much of what you're describing is either ambiguous, open to misinterpretation or simply sounds untrue so to avoid confusion, do you have photos of exactly what part you're talking about?

P2 Volvo track rod end nuts don't have additional locking on them for example.

[harveys]

The nut holding track rod to the hub i guess as it should be a Nylok nut.

[elwyn]

Yes I have a photograph taken on my phone. Given the constraints of forum posts I aimed to be as concise as I could be and I can assure Cheshired5 that I'm not a liar

[harveys]

Looks like a simple, I lost the nut but this one will do....

[kenny]

In the old days there would have been a castle nut and a split pin on there but now you normally have a nylock nut. It is possible they lost the nut that came with the new track rod end and fitted one like it they had kicking around. they have bought a the cheapest track rod ends they could find and this is they type of nut that came with them and that they simply didn't tighten it properly. I would check the nut on the other side.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by elwyn

Yes I have a photograph taken on my phone. Given the constraints of forum posts I aimed to be as concise as I could be and I can assure Cheshired5 that I'm not a liar

.... and I can assure you that I didn't say you were a liar.
A liar wilfully tells untruths.

It was the interchange of the terms track rod and track rod end which was confusing as the overall track rod is made up of a track rod inner and a track rod end.
Your issue was with the track rod end only.

I'm sure it isn't National Tyres policy to poorly fit a track rod end so tarring a nationwide company with the same brush over one incident seems a little unfair.
It currently looks like the poor workmanship of one employee or he fitted whatever came in the box and that part wasn't up to scratch but a few things could be the real reason.

Glad you're sorted though and barring soiled underwear, no further harm done.

[Dancake]

Those serrated nuts are terrible. The design of them means the surface area in contact with the opposing mating face is about half that of a standard nut. They are perhaps one of the worst fixings you could use on a track rod end, considering the nature of the steering movement.

I would imagine whoever fitted the track rod ends has assumed the nuts would be fine. Afterall, they are generally refeŕred to as locking nuts. They are ok for applications where movement or excessive vibration isn't present. If National Tyres were to pay for two new track rod ends and didn't charge for the labour to fit them, and they paid for the Volvo garage diagnostics etc, it would be a cheap lesson for them.

[john f]

I think that track rod is on a locking taper a morse type taper if there are engineers out there
If this is a taper set up the nut does no work it just retains the position under shock
Why the steering wheel position went out I don't understand
if this detached the road wheel would go floppy for want of a better word

John F

[john f]

Originally Posted by Dancake

Those serrated nuts are terrible. The design of them means the surface area in contact with the opposing mating face is about half that of a standard nut. They are perhaps one of the worst fixings you could use on a track rod end, considering the nature of the steering movement.

I would imagine whoever fitted the track rod ends has assumed the nuts would be fine. Afterall, they are generally refeŕred to as locking nuts. They are ok for applications where movement or excessive vibration isn't present. If National Tyres were to pay for two new track rod ends and didn't charge for the labour to fit them, and they paid for the Volvo garage diagnostics etc, it would be a cheap lesson for them.

The serration is not on the locking face

John F