19 replies to this topic

[midridge2]

not daft comments, the truth.
a track rod end is a lump of metal with a threaded hole that is screwed onto a thread on the end of the steering rack, to remove unscrew, not rocket science.
if it does not unscrew then some one had bodged it up when fitting it, there fore making it dangerous to the driver or other road users.
yes we all have to learn, but if you want to be a mechanic learn from a mechanic not from people who have heard from some one who has heard from a friend who plays at being a mechanic.
cars are a large lump of dangerous metal that can kill people and when not repaired correctly become more dangerous.
sure it sounds harsh having a go at people who want to learn how to repair their own cars but learn the correct way eg become a trained mechanic or go to a collage course, not listen to people on forums who are not trained mechanics.
i served my apprenteship sp as a mechanic many years ago but changed to being a panel beater but dont give advice on things that i have never worked on and understand eg abs, because it would be dangerous to tell people how to fix it if i have never done it.

[Ro8bieg]

not daft comments, the truth.
a track rod end is a lump of metal with a threaded hole that is screwed onto a thread on the end of the steering rack, to remove unscrew, not rocket science.
if it does not unscrew then some one had bodged it up when fitting it, there fore making it dangerous to the driver or other road users.
yes we all have to learn, but if you want to be a mechanic learn from a mechanic not from people who have heard from some one who has heard from a friend who plays at being a mechanic.
cars are a large lump of dangerous metal that can kill people and when not repaired correctly become more dangerous.
sure it sounds harsh having a go at people who want to learn how to repair their own cars but learn the correct way eg become a trained mechanic or go to a collage course, not listen to people on forums who are not trained mechanics.
i served my apprenteship sp as a mechanic many years ago but changed to being a panel beater but dont give advice on things that i have never worked on and understand eg abs, because it would be dangerous to tell people how to fix it if i have never done it.

In that case, whats the point of having this forum?!

I was asking this question because the person before me has screwed it on so tight I cany get it off, were not all bodybuilders u know. Just because I simply asked a question doesn't mean its dangerous if I do it. I am quite capable of changing a track rod end safely. I have taken on bigger jobs than this for example removing engines and welding new panels and I have done all these safely just from help on tmf and pure common sense, and I can assure you all of the work I have done is perfectly safe and I know a mechanic that has been in the trade for over 30 years and he regularly comes and checks i'm doing it properly and safely. So before you start saying my work isn't safe got the facts right first.

[midridge2]

calm down and read my postings again.
were have i said your work isnt safe? ive never seen any of your work.
you said you know how the track rod end is fitted but was tight to unscrew, so why ask how to get it off, you were told "2 pairs of good old mole grips and a blow torch will do the job" your reply was "eh, i dont understand what you do to get it off" well what do most people use mole grips for??

maybe you should have asked how do i loosen a very tight track rod end.

just because you friend comes and checks you work some times does not mean the bits that are done before hand are correct, eg a young apprentice put a new rear wheel bearing in a car, the mechanic came and spun the wheel and said yea thats ok, 5 mile down the road the rear wheel came off the car and the driver was killed, cause, the stub axle snapped off because the bearing was to tight and not greased up and heated the stub axle up and it snapped. i had to recover the car.



i have seen first hand many jobs done wrong and accidents caused because of it, i am not having a go at you, just trying to make people understand that there is many answers given to a question so what is the correct one, they will all say theirs is.

some answers are dangerous, some stupid, some made up, some correct but as a novice how do you know what is the correct one??
forums have a purpose but when it comes to advice from non qualified people thats when it becomes dangerous.

[HARBER07]

quick easy answer. take it to some one who knows and stop pretending to be a mechanic. if you dont know how to do these easy jobs dont repair your car as you will make it a danger to you and other road users.

well thats a good way of trying to help ! i think if your going to make comments like that then its not worth making them to be honest. Ive had a go at trying to help get the track rod end off and i couldn't do it either. so we "youngens" who are coming into the mini family don't need these kind of comments to help us get on our way with trying to fix our cars ourselves! i admit that i have taken my mini to get fixed by someone when im not confident enough to do the job myself. i admire Robbie for his commitment to his project as a lot of it has been him on his own, i know i wouldn't like to do it on my own with my mini!

still we all have to learn somewhere i hope you have a better day tomorrow and try not to make daft comments that quite frankly have nothing to do with the inital question asked. if Robbie had asked " best garage to take mini , to have track rod ends done" then maybe your comment may have been valid.

Im a "youngen" - The best age to learn (hence you go to school when you are 10 not 75.) I really dont think anyone on here is "pretending" to be a mechanic as you either know how to do something or you dont - if you dont you then ask someone on here how to do it, And most will reply with a valid comment as they themselves have done it sucessfully. The fact that he knew it was called a trackrod end (not "a big lump of metal with a thread on the end") means he must have some idea on what he is doing.

But i hope you solve your trackrod problem

[midridge2]

sorry to disagre again, many answers are pure bulls*it, made up.
just off the top of my head a good time back some one was asking about matt black paint and i got into a argument with retro10s about it, he deleated all his posts when he asked a painter and found out it was totally wrong what he was saying.
many answers are totally incorrect.