Tie rods

[oscar]

I got a pair of tie rods delivered yesterday and to my surprise I was given two different brands.  Maybe no biggie bit they were also differently coloured.  One green, one black.  Despite them being hidden when fitted I was a bit bemused that I'd have to paint one to match the other.  A few enquiries offline and I've reports of others being given the same colour difference and it's been suggested that the colours are to identify which side of the car they go on.  On closer inspection of the boxes I see the black Vaico brand is for the left hand side, the green Febi is for the right hand side.   I had no idea there was such a thing as a left and right hand tie rod. 

Physically, the only difference I can tell between them is that the clamping bolts face different directions when the tie rod end threads are postioned to turn the same direction.

Anyone else ever get this colour difference? 

It's an interesting nit pic for concours judges.  What was original, green or black or one of each.  I've seen old green and black ones before but they've been hammered by stones and covered in grime I've never taken note on what side of the car they came off or if both sides were the same colour which I assumed they were or should be.

As far as fitment is concerned I'd assume the clamping bolts' heads face forwards whilst the nuts face the rear of the car to avoid getting grit in the threads.  Sound correct??

[TJ 450]

I'm not sure about the difference in colour, but I'm quite certain that the originals on my 450 were both green. I just replaced the ends.

The replacements I got for the 6.9 were both black.

On the 126, one is green and one is black from memory. They are original genuine MB parts.

It looks like they just sprayed over it with green paint?

That sounds reasonable, regarding the nuts facing rearwards.

Tim