Freelander Track Rod End Replacement

This winter has already taken its toll on my girlfriend's Freelander. Lots of clunking and a wobbly wheel led to the discovery of a borked track rod end. I got a replacement today so took a few pics whilst changing it.

Unfortunately my girlfriend is in Brazil and I could NOT find the locking wheel nut key ANYWHERE! So, I had to leave the wheel on and fumble about like a cock!

Here's the old one:


Removed the bottom nut, and used my trusty ball joint splitter to make a lovely clunk noise.


Once loose, I had to remove the clamping bolt - an unusual feature that I've not seen on a track rod end before. Using a screwdriver to loosen the assembly. Once loose, it simply unscrewed. Well, it was damn tight but it came eventually! I counted the number of turns it took to come off.


Here's the obligatory old vs new shot.


Clean up the hub and track rod.


Fit the new one turning it the same number of turns that the old one had.


Got the car booked in to get the tracking done now. I'm concerned there's something else wrong with it as it's still making funny noises, but these cars are notoriously unreliable and this is a 12 yr old example....