The ones on mine have broken boots, so I think they are dead. It also makes a clunk in the front end sometimes. What is the difficulty involved in removing and replacing these? Are any special tools necessary? And how much is the part from Malloy? The manual says that it requires a special tool, but I think I might be able to borrow one from AutoZone or PepBoys.

 

I do not know of the prices from Malloy, but you have to options for remving the tie rod from the spindle.

1. Use a gear puller/pusher (pretty akward to use in that situation)
2. remove the nut almost all the way, then lightly hit the nut and the tie rod will drop down (alot eaisier).

The to put them back in all you need to do is tighten the nut.

 

I've done both the inners and outers on the front of my car and it's pretty easy. The inners require removal of the boot and turning the steering wheel all the way to one side. There is a flat washer crimped around the side of the tie rod end to lock it. Uncrimp it with a hammer and chisel and the tie rod will unscrew right off the rack. The outers are the same as every other car. I just used a forked splitter and a hammer to seperate them since I was replacing them. It's normally better to actually borrow a screw type splitter from the auto parts store as they are less prone to hurt something if you're not careful.

 

You must replace that little washer on the inner Tie Rod. Trust me, that little thing prevents a lot of noises.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. I will be sure to rent that special tool then. About the washer, should I just get the washer from the hardware store or should I order the part from Mazda? I should also follow this job up with an alignment, correct?

 

Ideally the washer should be replaced but I reused mine. You'll need a factory part as you won't find the correct item at a hardware store.

You'll neen an alignment. When you remove the outers from the inners count how many turns it takes to unscrew them and join the new ones with the same number of turns. This should get you in the ballpark but I would still plan a visit to an alignment rack.

It's not a hard job. I did all of them in about an hour, fitting new boots as well.

 

Thanks for the help Damon! I am only replacing the two outer ones at the moment, so hopefully it won't be half as difficult.