inner tie rod/end replacement, what to expect?

[White93z34]

as the one part of this cars front end i haven't messed with, i'm not sure how to go about changeing the inner tie rod/end, now its my understand thing that the tie rod and end are one in the same? essentially, hows it done?

[DaveFromColorado]

well, you've got your inner tie rod, and your outter tie rod. the outter is the part that connects to the knuckle ... the inner is attached to the Rack itself, and you need special tools to replace it with ease ... otherwise you're gonna hafta pull the rack to do the replacement - if you need to replace the inner, it's usually suggested that you just replace the whole rack as a single unit ...

 

you'll need an alignment after you're done ... no matter what.

 

--Dave.

[White93z34]

i was figgureing on the alignment, my one tie rod is still bent prety bad from my wreck, however the steering rack works fine so i see no reason to replace it.

 

are you doubly certin that i have to pull the rack to replace this? because thats a huge pain in the ass. i just want to get rid of this horrendious clunk and noise i have when turning the wheel.

[mfewtrail]

http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28871&highlight=inner+tie+rod

[DaveFromColorado]

i was figgureing on the alignment, my one tie rod is still bent prety bad from my wreck, however the steering rack works fine so i see no reason to replace it.

 

are you doubly certin that i have to pull the rack to replace this? because thats a huge pain in the ass. i just want to get rid of this horrendious clunk and noise i have when turning the wheel.

 

well, you don't HAVE to pull the rack, I was just stating that if you didn't have the speciality tools that it'd be easiest to do it that way.

 

I'd look 'round to see if you can find those speciality tools to do the inners, if you get those, it'll be a cake job.

 

--Dave.

[White93z34]

ok, so i bought the parts to do it today, and the little instruction sheet said something about crimping it like shawn said, now what in the world am i supposed to crimp, it looks like it screws on and thats it??

[joey b]

carefully examine the one you removed. It is on the end where it threads to the rack. Looks like someone smashed it up a bit.

[5speedz34]

What are these special tools you speak of?

[White93z34]

i just finished this, theres a special tool i rented from pep-boys to do it, it basically just goes down the length of the tie rod and allows you to turn it on and off the steering rack. and WOW my old tie rods and ends were totally hammared. now to just replace this damn strut tower....

[DaveFromColorado]

the thing to crimp is for the rubber boot that goes over the end of the rack, and seals dirt from getting to it. You can use a hose-clamp for this.

 

should've recomended you taking pic's of the procedure - it'd have been awesome to have a step-by-step writeup of it.

 

--Dave.

[5speedz34]

now to just replace this damn strut tower....

 

Why do you want to replace the strut tower?

[White93z34]

i actually have to replace BOTH strut towers, as both of the spring seats on mine are completely broken.

 

and dave i have some pictures, just not any step by step instructions.

[DaveFromColorado]

Chris ...

 

you should post them pic's - it'd be cool to see!

 

Oh, and BTW, you'd be replacing the whole strut assembly, not the strut tower. The tower is part of the body, the strut assembly is what has the spring on it, has the bearing plates, and bolts between the body and the knuckle, and holds the strut cartridge itself ...

 

--Dave.

[White93z34]

ok, as for the strut assembly, i was junkyarding today and i looked over several w-body strut assemblys, and i'm thinking i just need a new strut bearing.

[GnatGoSplat]

the thing to crimp is for the rubber boot that goes over the end of the rack, and seals dirt from getting to it. You can use a hose-clamp for this.

 

Not just the boot clamp, but the inner tierod needs to be crimped as well. The inner tierod has a flange that extends over the rack a bit. You crimp the flange so that it's pushed into the flats of the rack so that it can't back off. To crimp the inner tierod on the car, you pretty much need an inner tierod crimping tool. Either that or you can pull the entire rack out and use a punch. I've also heard of people just getting by with Loctite on the threads. I bought the tool, I figured it was worth $75 not to have to pull the rack, and also not to ever worry about the possibility of the inner tierod working itself loose. That would be pretty bad!

 

[5speedz34]

the thing to crimp is for the rubber boot that goes over the end of the rack, and seals dirt from getting to it. You can use a hose-clamp for this.

 

Not just the boot clamp, but the inner tierod needs to be crimped as well. The inner tierod has a flange that extends over the rack a bit. You crimp the flange so that it's pushed into the flats of the rack so that it can't back off. To crimp the inner tierod on the car, you pretty much need an inner tierod crimping tool. Either that or you can pull the entire rack out and use a punch. I've also heard of people just getting by with Loctite on the threads. I bought the tool, I figured it was worth $75 not to have to pull the rack, and also not to ever worry about the possibility of the inner tierod working itself loose. That would be pretty bad!

 

 

Shawn what tool was it? It wasn't the Kent-Moore tool was it?

[GnatGoSplat]

Shawn what tool was it? It wasn't the Kent-Moore tool was it?

 

Nope, it wasn't a Kent-Moore tool. I honestly don't remember who made it, I'll post a pic by tomorrow.

 

[DaveFromColorado]

 

Nope, it wasn't a Kent-Moore tool. I honestly don't remember who made it, I'll post a pic by tomorrow.

 

 

Ahh, I know the tool you speak of ... but I totally forgot about that one (duh!)

 

--Dave.

[GnatGoSplat]

Shawn what tool was it? It wasn't the Kent-Moore tool was it?

 

Here it is, it's a MOOG T498 and cost me $75.

Well worth the cost not to have to pull the rack though, not to mention it makes way prettier stakes than a punch would have!

 

 

[White93z34]

thats odd, my old ones certinally weren't crimped on, and i just screwed my new ones on and used a special tool that i had to rent from the parts store to get them on tight. mabie they changed the racks over the years?

[GnatGoSplat]

Nope, service manual for my 89 says to crimp 'em (actually they use the word "stake") and so does the service manual for the 01 Chevy Lumina.

 

4. Stake both sides of the inner tie rod assembly to the flats on the rack (1).

5. Insert a 0.25 mm gauge (1) between the rack (2) and the inner tie rod housing (3) in order to check both stakes. The feeler gauge (1) must not pass between the rack and the housing stake.

 

Could be your car has had steering work done before? Or maybe you just didn't notice it?

 

[White93z34]

no idea shawn, the old ones never had a problem coming loose, so i doubt these ones will too, and its not like there was ANY room to get that tool back there anyhow.

[5speedz34]

Well, either way thanks for posting pics shawn!

[GnatGoSplat]

Sure no prob.

 

[ns87]

Bump with an appology.

 

I will be undertaking this next week (hopefully). I've read the vehicle repair guide on autozone, have a FSM, and every w-body thread on the subject. I have only one question. Can anyone take a picture of where the inner tierod meets the steering rack (the boot where you cut the clamps)? I don't understand why it has to be crimped on when it screws into the steering rack.

 

Thank you!