I have a 91 TII that I bought a manual steering rack for. After using it for a few thousand miles I noticed the steering was very vague. With the car parked if I moved the steering wheel left/right I heard a clunk from the front end.

I removed the outer tie rod and then pulled/pushed the inner tie rod in and out. There was play in it. Turns out the inner tie rod simply screws into the steering rack and it is a ball joint. Turns out the ball joint had no grease and was shot. I started to replace the passengers side but I inspected the drivers side. It was also shot. I would recommend replacing both if you do this.

Here are the parts you will replace:



The parts can be seen here also. http://www.mazdatrix.com/hsteer2.htm
I got my parts from Mazda Motor Sports. Talking with them this part is commonly replaced.

The fix is easy and this can be done with the steering rack still in the car and might be easier that way if you do not have a vice.

First - This is your steering system! If you mess something up it could hurt you / others.

1. Jack up the car and use jack stands.
2. Remove the front wheels and the undertray.
3. Remove both outer tie rods and then remove both steering rack boots. They can be diffcult but just pull hard. They will come off

Your going to see this (Passengers side):


Notice how close the hex nut is to the round portion of the steering rack? That is going to be a problem. I had to buy a 15/16th wrench and mod it to work. I am not sure what metric size it is (prob 24MM) but it worked fine. The camfer I created on the wrench slips around the round portion on the steering rack.

 

Next you need to remove the inner tie rods. You are going to want to put a backup wrench on the rack so it does not twist when you are removing the inner tie rods.

They are really on there and the stock torque is 80 FT lbs I believe. I was working solo so here is what I did to brace the rack.

Notice on the drivers side of the steering rack there is a flat part that does not have any teeth? If for some reason you have to put your backup on the teeth of the rack protect them! With wood or soft metal. You do not want to hurt those teeth!


That is where I put my vice grips. Now since I was by my self I could not loosen the passenger side rod and hold my vice grips. So, when you are loosening the passenger's side the vice grips want to move down. So, I took my jack and blocks of wood and put them against the handle of the vice grips so it would not move down.

Just make sure you do something to prevent the rack from turning. I would imagine it would not be good for the rack if you didn't.

Also, in the diagram you might notice a little pin that goes into the rack. When you remove the old rods this pin will get pushed up. Just push the pin back in when you thread in the new rods. However, make sure the pin is up enough to allow you to install the new rod ends with out hurting the threads.

Here is the new rod installed. Notice the nice and new packed grease



4. Next you want to clean the inside of the old boots and slip them back on. Before you slide on the drivers side clean the teeth and apply some new grease.

5. I used a hose clamp to secure the boot to the rack. Since the stock wire broke.

6. Thread your outer tie rods back on and torque the castellated nut back on to spec and install the cotter pin.

7. Next get an alignment because it should be rather jacked up now. I guess you could mark the old inner tie rods and the outer tie rods position on them. Then translate that mark to the new inner tie rods. But I have lifetime alignment at Firestone so I didn't care.

This was kinda pricey and I guess I could have found another manual rack. However, they are old and will have the same problem mine did. This is cheaper than getting a rebuilt rack. Those go for $215 plus the $100 core if you do not have a manual rack to begin with. So, it is cheaper to get a manual rack used for a 100. Then fix it up if needed.

James

Edit - These pics are in my photo bucket account. They are not going anywhere

 

not bad great pics im sure if someone needs it this will come in handy

 

You can rent a tierod puller from Autozone that will take it off no problem, and its free (well upfront deposit, but you get it back) makes the job alot easier.

 

Tie rod puller? You are going to have to show me a picture because I thought those tie rod pullers were pickle forks for the outer tie rods not the inner.

James

 

archive!

 

werd, this definately needs an archive

 

great write-up but damn i can NOT get the damn inner tie rod off. Im gonna try to modify the wrench like Wankel7 did and see if that works.


Archive?

 

What had you been using that would fit on the hex head?

James

 

I'll archive the thread when it dies down. Also, if the thread is to be archied then the images need to remain.