I went in for a wheel alignment and the mechanic told me, because the front arm is frozen from rust, the wheels cannot be adjusted.
He says I will need an inner and outer control arms. Did I hear him incorrectly, and what I really need is tie rods - inner & outer?

 

Probably not the arms, they have no moving or adjustable parts and are pretty stout. I'm sure it's the ball joints and the rear bushing. These things do wear out and probably need to be replaced. The rubber boots fail and dirt and water get in and the ball joint seizes up.

There are 3 joints on each side. An inner ball joint, a lower ball joint, and a bushing at the back of the arm just inside the wheel well in front of the door. There is also a ball joint at the end of the steering tie rod but that seems to hold up better.

I had to pull the front sub-frame on my 03 R50 at 100K for a transmission fix and all but the rear bushing were toast. So I replaced them all while it was all out and accessible.

 

JWH: I think you are mistaken; I think it is the tie rods that need to be replaced.

 

Possibly but the OP said "inner and outer" and there is only the tie-rod end, no inner or outer there. These are also easily replaced though.

 

Most likely the tie rod which has that outer ball joint. It has a small rubber boot. I have linked all the parts and ball joints to inspect below. The tie rod also has that adjustable nut for the alignment which sometimes sticks.

For the tie rod there is a split year on the r50 / r53 in 5/2003.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ll-joints.html




Thanks

 

Its the tie rods, inner and outer, because one shop tried to free them up and couldn't. You can look at the adjusting rod and see where there almost rounded off. So replacement is needed

 

I understand now what they were talking about. The tie rod comes in two pieces and is called tie rod assemblies. Some people replace just the tie rod itself - the inner section that houses the boot and the alignment shop makes their adjustments on this section.

 

If there is a split year, how do I know I am getting the right one? My vehicle is a 2004.
Also there is quite a variance in prices, going from $65 for OEMs to $129 from B & A, do you know why?

 

Check you manufacturer build date, its on the Vin sticker in the door jam. Like " month/year " .

You will see on the full Assembly ( that way you can easily align your car with a new one , vs. double pipe wrenching the old one off and hen damaging the threads ) that the hardware and the nut can very from manufacturer to manufacturer , but for these there are all about the same. Other then the adjustment nut.
Best to have the right month/ year. We recommend replacing them in pairs. Did mine then had it aligned and everything is tight and smooth.

Thanks

 

I agree about replacing both. The date stamp for my car is: 05/04

 

Great ,


Follow the 5/2003 + production on the tie rods. ~521 & ~522 for the last 3 digits of the MINI OEM Part number ( its 11 digits long) .

 

.

 

We see frozen tie rods all the time so it's not uncommon. We just update them all to the latest complete assemblies. This way we have no fitment or production date issues. If you need em let me know we stock them

http://www.waymotorworks.com/inner-a...0-r52-r53.html