I have removed tie rods before with a hammer but that does NOT seem to working for me this time around. Well, im trying to replace both inner tie rods. I do not want to replace the outer tie rods, because I already replaced them last year.

Whats the best tool to use to get the outer tie rods out without damaging them, maby I can rent a certain tool?

 

Hopefully you are working on the front steering. There is an outer tie-rod on each side of the front. Procedure :

1. Remove cotter key
2. Remove castle nut
3. Spray Blaster down in around ball shaft/threads
4. Retain two 20oz ball peen hammers
5. Place one hammer face on opposite side of the steering knuckle as backup, using the other hammer rap the hell out of the flange where the tie-rod is attached.
6. This procedure will loosen it up and the tie-rod will fall out into your waiting hands !!


Go Ernesto !!


later

 

Ok , I got the tie rods out of the steering knuckle on both sides, and next is the removal of the inner tie rods. Ive heard this is somewhat complicated. Whats the best way to remove the inner tie rods without a SST? Also, I would like to reuse both accordion boots on both sides because they are still in great shape, How do I remove the inner tie rod without damaging the boots?

 

there are a few threads re: depowering the steering rack that have good instructions on how to take the tie rods off and reassemble.. i did it last year w/o any special tools so you should be okay

and i was able to save the 1 good boot i had

 

does anybody know what size the wrench has to be to remove the Inner tie rod?

 

I finally finished this yesterday, and I ended up using an adjustable wrench to turn the large square end of the inner tie rod. Man it was a nightmare trying to save the old boots!! but I did end up saving both of them. Both clamps broke for the boots so I used zip ties and they are holding together quite well. Thanks for all the help

 

Im about to change my outer tie rod ends (because im getting steering wheel shimmy, hopefully this is the cause?) and i want to be prepared when i tackle the job.

My question is, should i mark the threads where the outer tie rod screws into the inner rod threading before i remove them??

So when i install the new outer tie rod, ill screw it to where i marked it off where the previous one was??

 

Absolutely - this will safely get you to the alignment shop after the install.



Later

 

I thought outer tie rods have no effect on your camber/caster??

Thats why i wanted to mark the threadings, so i know the new rods go EXACTLY in the same place.

I was gonna go get an alignment after i get coilovers which wont be for another couple of months.

 

outer tie rods set the toe.

check them by lifting the wheel off the ground and gripping the tire at 3 and 9 o'clock. this is easier if you have a helper. try to shift the wheel from side to side. put your hand on the outer rod end if it is loose you will feel it. you can put your hand on the rod close to the to the rack side to feel the inner. wheel shimmy is caused by bad/unbalanced tires most often

 

The only was I was successfully able to remove my outer tie rods, was by removing the cotter pin and castle nut, and hitting it from the top part until it fell down.

BUT counting the threads before you remove the outer tie rod DOES work! when I finished mine, my car drove straight up to 80 mph as I drove to get an alignment done

 

Yeah but the thing is that my car always had drove straight. I could be cruising at 100mph and its all good. Besides the steering wheel shimmy, i dont believe theres an alignment problem. Not that i wont do it because of that, just that i dont think its totally necessary to do it just after outer tie rods?

I just hate taking my car to unknown places.

 

It might sound "ghetto" but I didn't bother to mark my outers at all. I just kind of eyeballed it and I took the car around the block to make sure it wasn't too out of whack. I drove about 20 miles to an alignment shop w/o incident. I had some s/w shimmy too and that was gone after my suspension arm and outer tie rod replacement job... FWIW, the alignment guy I went to says that 9/10 times marking your stuff really doesn't help if you completely replace old with new parts... he said it may help you get in the ballpark and to get to alignment shop safely, but he didn't really think it was that big of a deal unless you were driving 100+ miles somewhere

Just drive slow and pay attention and you'll be OK! BTW, I love the wheels/tires I got from you Rob, they rock

 

Well hopefully this will cure my problem. Im gonna black tape it so it rides against the nut (thats what she said lol) before i take it off. So when i install new part, i will screw it until it touches the black tape. Then i will know its in the exact place as the older part.

I wont worry about alignment until i install coilovers.

 

Ok i finally installed the outer tie rods this afternoon.

One thing.

What a P.I.T.A!!!!!!!

This is my first time attempting this in my car, and 2nd time in total. I did this about 6 years ago at tech school on a taurus or something. I dont remember it being this hard.

Anyway, it would be recommended to whoever does this on their own to jack up both wheels.

For some reason, im not sure if im right or not but if one wheel is in the air and the other one isnt, its not aligned properly??

I had to jack up the control arm so the tie rod can pop out. Otherwise it sits there at an angle and hammering it free is near IMPOSSIBLE. I destroyed the threaded head on the driver tie rod. Then i did the jack trick and it was easier to set it free.

For the result?

Car definitely improved. I wouldnt say it cured my wheel shimmying but it DEFINITELY lessen it.

Although now my alignment is all messed up lol. Which wasnt the case before the tie rod installation. Now if i center my steering wheel, it will go slightly to the right.

So i guess off i go to the alignment shop after all.

Im starting to guess the steering wheel shimmy wasnt from the outer tie rods.

We'll see after the alignment.

 

BUMP incase any one is having trouble

Just got my passenger side tierodend/ball joint off, i had to remove the strut assembly to allow me to jack up the hub/control arms enough to get the tie rod parallell with the ground, i then tapped shank the ball joint goes into with a custom ball-peen hammer (12" cresent wrench) this finally removed them, infact after two or three hits it just fell out. this was after i hammered a pickle fork into it, and tried a ball joint remover tool from autozone with no success.

I can finally replace the ball joint boots, and replace the rack boot that was leaking.