08 M8 bent steering rod

line8 · Apr 21, 2012

bent the rod that goes from the post to the steering linkage. the one above the engine. I feel like and idiot for 1. doing it but 2. I can't for the life of me get the thing off to staighten it or replace it. Anyone want to give me a quick removal of 2 bolts 101 lesson on this? Or is there a trick to this? just looking at it is appears very easy, both sides do not budge.

Thanks

SaberKitty · Apr 22, 2012

1. Place a wrench on the flats machined into the tie rod near where #14 is pointing at in the parts diagram
2. Loosen nut #13 in a normal clockwise direction
3. With wrench still on the flats near #14, loosen nut #15. Nut #15 is left-hand thread which means you'll need to turn it backwards of normal to loosen it. Or in otherwords, as you're standing on that side of the sled, place the wrench on the nut with the wrench horizontal towards the silencer side and rotate the wrench up and around towards the engine
4. With the nuts loose on both ends, grab the tie rod and rotate it by hand to unthread it from the ball joints
5. After bending multiple tie rods on my '08 M8, got smart and ordered the 2009+ HCR tie rod as a replacement as it is a stronger, larger diameter design. Part number 0605-994 and is ~$30.

scrapmaster · Apr 22, 2012

Also if ur in a pinch once u have it off u can usually straighten it enough to slide a piece of 5/16" cold roll in which will finish straightening the rod and keeps it from bending, I also did that to the new one I put on 4yrs and many trees later it's still going strong

line8 · Apr 22, 2012

SaberKitty said:
1. Place a wrench on the flats machined into the tie rod near where #14 is pointing at in the parts diagram
2. Loosen nut #13 in a normal clockwise direction
3. With wrench still on the flats near #14, loosen nut #15. Nut #15 is left-hand thread which means you'll need to turn it backwards of normal to loosen it. Or in otherwords, as you're standing on that side of the sled, place the wrench on the nut with the wrench horizontal towards the silencer side and rotate the wrench up and around towards the engine
4. With the nuts loose on both ends, grab the tie rod and rotate it by hand to unthread it from the ball joints
5. After bending multiple tie rods on my '08 M8, got smart and ordered the 2009+ HCR tie rod as a replacement as it is a stronger, larger diameter design. Part number 0605-994 and is ~$30.

Wow.....Thank you for this.

line8 · Apr 22, 2012

It's off. Took all of 5 minutes after the excellent instructions. It was such a challenge for me because of the bend. I ended up having to take the pipe off, and still couldn't unscew it because it would bump into the oil tank. I cut it off and I will order the new one tomorrow.

Thanks again.

SaberKitty · Apr 22, 2012

scrapmaster said:
Also if ur in a pinch once u have it off u can usually straighten it enough to slide a piece of 5/16" cold roll in which will finish straightening the rod and keeps it from bending, I also did that to the new one I put on 4yrs and many trees later it's still going strong

Another trick is to cut a piece of 5/8" I.D. steel tubing that fits snugly over the stock tie rod once it is bent back mostly straight or as a preemptive fix.

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08 M8 bent steering rod

line8

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SaberKitty

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scrapmaster

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line8

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line8

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SaberKitty

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