i converted my p/s rack to manual recently and noticed the driverside bust boot was torn, the joint on this inner is hard to rotate.. the other side, the grease was still clean.. and the joint moves freely.

just wondering, how to inspect the tie rod inners? how do i know if they should be replaced?

also are the retaining/bent washers reuseable?

 

How hard is the joint to turn? If you can turn it with a wrench and it's not binding then it's probably fine. Tie rods should be very tight but still move smoothly. Loose and easy to move is not necessarily a good thing.

The only time you need to replace them is if there is play.

Dave

 

thanks dave i guess mine are fine yay

any idea about the retainers that are bent to keep the rods from screwing out from the rack? can i hammer those flat and reuse or is it crucial to have a new set of them when reinstalling the inners.

 

I would buy new ones if I had the choice. I've changed inners before and the confined space prevented me from crimping them again, so I just used permanent loc-tite. If one of those comes loose you WILL be in a life-threatening situation.

Dave

 

do you mean the loctite red 266/271 type threadlockers that need to be heat treated etc to remove? similar to this permatex red? http://www.permatex.com/products/aut...locker_RED.htm

how long have you been running the car like this and through what driving conditions? and how involved/difficult is the process of changing inners that are installed with this type of adhesive?

 

Good thing you asked, since it was not as simple of a choice as I let on.

Removing with the red or green loctite requires heat. On the car where I did it, a used rack with tie rods costs under $200, so I figured the odds of needing to change the inners again was very low. If you turn the rack to it's extreme and push back the boots I'll bet you can break the threadlocker with heat and not damage the rack, but I would not rely on it. But inner tie rods easily last 100k on average. It's your choice.

The FD is not as tight around the inner tie rods as that car, so if you think you have enough access to crimp new pantleg washers (lock tab washers) then I'd buy those and do that.

Dave

 

i did my best to save the $8 for other fd parts but i guess it didn't work out lol. i'll go with new locking washers. thanks for the help dave

alex

 

To check the tie rods, you jack up the car. Grab the wheel at 3 and 9 oclock and slowly shake it back and forth. If you have any movement the its either the inner or out tie rod end. When you shake it have someone grab and inner and outher tie rod end to see which one is worn. The tie rod ends should not have any play at all.

You can reuse the washer, and use loctite when you install it. If you want to reuse the washer you have to unbend the washer before your remove it. Or you might break the little tab off the washer. Unbending the washer was a little tricky. I could not get a straight shot at the washer.

I have the special tool to remove innver tie rods. but i did not have an adapter small enough for the fd. So i used a pipe wrench to remove and install the inner tie rod.