So on Sat I got the new tires. I opted to go with 195/70/14 which according to both the tire interchange and NTB said was a good size tire. The car drives great and no longer feels like I am riding on square tires.(Oh the spare tire well on the wagon accommodates a full size spare with no issue(I have a 195/70/14 tire there)


When they went to do the alignment they said the tie rods and tie rod ends were bad and needed to be replaced(I really was not surprised with this as the car is 23 yrs old and does have a slight wobble at about 60 mph) they wanted $600 for the job but I declined as I know it will be less then $100 worth of parts and about a couple of hours of my time to change them out and then an alignment.

My question is regarding parts. I read there are two types of possible racks in this car, a ZF rack or Cam rack. I also know about the plaque telling me what was in the car at the factory. BUT that was 23 years ago and lots change. What does a ZF and a CAM tie rod look like? I want to avoid getting the wrong parts due to somebody changing out the rack with the other style in the years before.

Thanks

 

Those parts should be the same.

 

no, the inner tie rods are NOT the same, you need to know what you got. one type has 'inner' threads on the end that threads onto the steering rack, and the other type has outer threads.

I believe the key is SUPPOSED to be the boot, the one kind has a big rubber disk on the outer side that the boot tiewraps to, while the other kind has a skinny end on the boot that tiewraps directly to the tie rod. except, on my daughters 240, I found the wrong tierod end under the other kind of boot. hah.

ok, this is one end type...

 

fcpeuro and ipdusa.com have images to look at just compare to what you have now...

 

ZF racks have the large rubber disks where the inter tie rod exits the boot while the cam racks have the small hole where the inner tie rod exits the boot. As analogies states, check out FCP or EEuroparts. They have pictures.

Also, if you need to replace the boot at some time, there are different variations of cam racks. One variation has a small tube that goes from one boot to the other and requires a different boot.

 

and as I said, my daughter's 87 240 had the cam style boots but needed the zf style rods. figured this out after her car was up in the air on stands with the tierods all taken apart. luckily, it took less than a week for the parts exchange, they cross shipped when I phoned and explained, and I had a spare car for her to drive.

btw, I was surprised how close my tape measure toe-in adjust was when all was said and done. really didn't need a pro alignment at all