410D track rod

[rockbeer]

So I'm doing the track rod ends on my 410D van. Have the rod off the vehicle and something looks strange about it to me...

Firstly, according to both WIS and the EPC the track rod itself should be dead straight. Mine isn't, it has a dog-leg at each end. Can any owner of a pre-sprinter light transporter confirm whether their track rod is in fact straight?

Secondly, one end is different to the other. The o/s end has a locking retainer and a slot cut longways through the track rod into the threads. The n/s end looks entirely different - no retainer, no lock nut of any kind, no slot, the end of the track rod looks like it's been crimped onto the track rod end joint, and the joint has been wound so far into the bar that no thread is showing at all. Again, according to WIS and the EPC both ends of the rod should look the same.



None of this would be a problem, perhaps, except that nothing I can do will shift the n/s joint. It's truly stuck fast.

I'm starting to wonder whether somebody somewhere bodged up this track rod at some point. Any opinions gratefully received before I just go out and buy a new rod to go with my nice new (and currently useless) ends.

 

[rockbeer]

Update

Just in case someone other than me might be interested in the bizarre tale of the 410D track rod:
I got a new rod today. It's exactly the same as the one that came off i.e. the near side end joint is fixed. By design.

When I remarked on the strangeness of this arrangement, the guy in the parts department said "most Mercedes track rods are like that". Can anyone confirm or deny this? And if it's so common, how come nobody in there thought to mention it over the last week or so when I've been in and out looking for both left and right threaded ends?

And it obviously has certain implications that I find intriguing. Namely:

1. Most obviously, if the n/s/ joint fails the entire rod must be replaced.

2. Once assembled, the tracking effectively can't be adjusted without splitting the ball joint from the taper. Can this be right? Why would anyone design a system this way?

3. Why does the parts catalogue (see attachment above) show a straight rod with two replaceable ends when the actual fitted rod is bent with one replaceable end? And why does the part number in the catalogue match the one on the rod I've just bought, even though they are in fact totally different in both appearance and function?

4. Why is a left-hand threaded track rod end listed as an available replacement part for the vehicle when in fact only the right-hand threaded end is replaceable?

It's baffling. Am I missing something?

Are all Mercs this strange or is it just mine?

 

[brandwooddixon]

No they are not all this strange.

I think that people have only kept quiet becuase they didn't honestly know. That was certainly the case for me.

 

[rockbeer]

I think that people have only kept quiet becuase they didn't honestly know. That was certainly the case for me.

Think you may have misread me - I wasn't having a go at anybody here. I was just wondering aloud why none of the mechanics in the Merc parts place thought to mention the fixed end since it's supposedly such a common arrangement.