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REAR TRACK CONTROL ARMS

GJHV6

New Member
Guys
My Clio been in for timing belt and service (self employed ex-Renault specialist, still works part time for Renault dealer, (whom I trust more than the full time experts) and he has a concern over the rear track control arm ends, these are ball joints similar to front steering track rod ends, also used on Laguna 2. There is no play in them, which would be an indication they are wearing, but there is some movement suggesting they might be spring loaded. My chap contacted Renault UK Technical 'Specialists' and they said "Dunno" (no surprise there!!!). I think I may have seen a few owners on here who have Renault Tech skills and may have come across this question before, any ideas?
 
There are a few mentions of worn ball joints, but nothing about spring loaded. One of the more technical guys might offer some help.

01005777_1.png
 
Mk1 or 2?

The rear track control arms on MK1 are quite spindly things which are actually quite long and do deflect under load and are secured to the subrame in a different way to later Mk1s and MK2s which use a studier design.

There are ball joints at both ends i.e. at the hub and the sub-frame if you've got movement then it could be wear in either joint.
 
The movement in the ball joint can be seen when not connected, to prevent damage to the ball and socket when tightening the nut it should NOT be zipped up by air gun, which would cause the ball to rotate in the socket, not what it should do, my mechanic would clamp the joint and then tighten, this is when the movement can be seen, when fully secured there is no movement which, if there were, would be a MOT failure. Both sides are the same, only covered 23K so worn joints would be premature. We are both happy with the state but he wants to know the answer to the question for future reference. He did ask the parts manager to order one in to compare but as it is not a fast moving item the request was declined.
 
Ok which plane is the movement in - vertical, side to side? I have the track control arms from a Mk1 sitting at home so it's a quick check I can do a little later.
 
James":2u9cin2j said:
GJHV6 » on 05 Feb 2008, 16:02
Had the car for 1 year (just under 4 years old)

So I'll guess it's a MK 2

Renault changed the track control arm design during the Mk1 - I found mine had the later Mk2 type style for example.
 
v6Max":9ro29gen said:
Ok which plane is the movement in - vertical, side to side? I have the track control arms from a Mk1 sitting at home so it's a quick check I can do a little later.

OK, difficult to explain but using the diagram James posted the movement would be vertical, imagine holding the Track Control End and trying to push the thread into the main body (ball end), our view is the ball is pressed outwards to maintain a zero tolerence joint, compensating for any small amount of wear/manufacturing tolerence. I haven't tried it but my guess is the spring is pretty strong, you won't press in by hand, it was done using grips with enough force to stop the pin spinning when tightening the nylock. If you know the type of joint they spin very easily as soon as any force is taken off
 
There is a rosejoint on the inner end of the TCA. It is a standard motorsport spec M14x1.5 LH item. Merlin motorsport can supply them. I'd imagine that this has worn and has allowed a small amount of play to build up....
 
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