Personally I don’t like teasers and switch channels when the news programs do it, like “stay tuned to find out what happened on I35 today, any guesses?”.
At any rate my vote would be for the Chinese to have marked them wrong. It makes no sense to mark then as you stand in front of the car looking at it. In that case all my TPMS indicators are wrong. The left is clearly the driver’s side.
Seems like a simple mistake a diy’er person could easily make. Especially with those unusual L/R markings. I’d expect a part with an L on it to mean the drivers side too. I mean if it could only go on the drivers or passenger side.
I’ve made similar mistakes when working on mechanical gadgets, especially about not paying enough careful att’n to how the parts come off. Even now, if I’m working on my lawnmower or leaf blower I’ll think “hmm, maybe I should make a sketch or take a photo first.” Then I don’t and suffer the consequences … lol … Oh well, I get to see what happens with all the possible combinations.
We see here on a not infrequent basis replacement brake calipers are installed on the wrong side, right/left reversed. The complaint is usually that after replacing the calipers the OP can’t bleed the brakes. We later find out it’s b/c the bleeder screws are on the bottom of the calipers and pointing down instead of up. So it isn’t just tie rods.
Sounds like you got it under control OP… Best of luck.
Thanks all, I certainly learned to just slow down a bit and make sure next time to compare parts as they come apar as some have pointed out. First time I ever dealt with curved tie rod ends and first time ever replacing them myself. Chalk it up to a learning experience. Again thanks to everyone for thier valuable input. As I said before I dont think i would have figured it out without everyone’s help. I probably would have thrown in the towel and paid a shop to figure out. Saved me of that embarrassing situation. Thanks to all.
To learn a bit more here, if I have both tie rods disconnected, how would I go about finding exact center, or Zero in the steering. Would I count turns of the wheel, left and then right. Say just for example 1.5 turns left and 1.5 right. Or are they uneven numbers?
Don’t listen to me but at this point you need to have an alignment done. You’ve done the heavy lifting so I’d just use the string and get the wheels as straight as you can so you don’t wreck the tires on the way to the alignment shop. No matter how careful I’ve been with struts or tie rods, I always have had to have an alignment done.
I’m in agreement with Bing. The car really should go on the alignment rack.
Don’t beat yourself up over this mistake. I can assure you without hesitation that even the best mechanics make what the hxxx was I thinking type mistakes far worse than yours.
Tester nailed it… Happens a lot… The problem lies there somewhere…or in its adjustment.
Blackbird
The problem may be more $erious than toe adjustment. If the inner tie rod was twisted off the rack without properly securing the rack from twisting in the housing the rack and pinion may have been damaged.
It sounds like after the repairs…that his rack or more importantly what is attached to it… is reaching its endpoint…early…earlier than before. At least thats how I am thinking about it.
Blackbird
Yes, you just count the turns of the wheel, most steering wheels have an orientation when facing correctly that gives you a clear view of the instruments and is symmetrical. You are just trying to get it close enough to drive it to an alignment shop. Ask them to look and see if everything is installed right.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the front wheel hit a limit point and stop the steering wheel from turning? If the tie rods are disconnected, the steering wheel can be tuned too far and damage the clock spring.
Some vehicles DO have a mechanism to enable a positive lock stop for wheel turning…some dont and will go till the wheel rubs…
Blackbird
The steering limit is the pinion coming to the end of the teeth on the rack: