Inner Tie Rod

[Guest]

Hey guys,

 

I'm trying to figure out the vibration in my car. It starts up at 60mph. Sometimes it gets worse then it dies off, sometimes it doesnt even happen unless i go up to 70mph. sometimes it only starts to vibrate if i get off the gas pedal and dont touch the brake pedal.

Weird, isnt it?

Well, just for info, i changed virtually everything on the front suspension and steering. struts, tie-rod ends, bearing, axles, balljoints.

I have fairly new tires on (less than a year old) and i just had an aligment and a wheel balance done.

The vibration(shaking) remains.

Now, someone told me, he had the same problem and he recommended me to check the inner tie rods. I know how to remove the tie rod ends, but i've never did the inner rods.

How do i know if that's the problem with my car? is there anyway to confirm that?

Is it hard? time consuming? do i have to remove the whole steering assembly ? (as my manual suggest)

Do i have to cut open the tie rod boots? Any of you done that before or had the same problem?

 

by the way: 93 Pontiac Grand Prix SE 3.1 105,000 miles

:x

[GnatGoSplat]

You can test inner tierods by jack up the car, grabbing the tire with both hands in the 9:00 and 3:00 positions, and then quickly shake back and forth. It should feel solid. If there is any play, look at the inner tierod shaft and see if that's where the play is located.

 

Inner tierods are pretty easy with the proper tools.

I used:

- Pitman arm puller to remove the outer tierod from the knuckle.

- Dremel tool with cutting attachment to cut the boot clamp.

- Special inner tierod socket (very long tube) to remove the inner tierod.

- Special inner tierod crimping tool.

- Boot clamp tool.

 

Those special tools will allow you to remove the inner tierod without pulling the rack from the car. The inner tierod crimping tool was pretty expensive at $75, it's required to stake the inner tierod to the rack as recommended without pulling the rack. I've heard some people skip the staking the tierod and just use threadlock on it. I personally wouldn't recommend it. You do not have to cut open the boots, you DO have to cut open the clamps, so make sure you buy new clamps before starting. You cut the larger inner clamps, and the one in the front is a reusable spring clamp. The whole boot will pull off intact once you have the outer tierod and clamps removed.

 

It's pretty easy, about a 1hr job with hand tools. However, the expense of specialty tools you need will probably equal labor cost. I personally think it's worth spending 1hr to do, and even though it costs the same as paying someone, at least this way ya end up with some useful tools you can use in the future. Or if you can borrow/rent them from an auto parts store, that's even better.

[Lee]

Hey shawn, I have an outer tie rod question. One year ago I had my car aligned. They did their "we will be checking it over to see if it can be aligned" deal, then aligned it.

 

Recently when I got new rear struts under warranty, the same shop, different guy, said I needed new outer tie rods and left ball joint. My car's steering has seemed a little looser but I'd atribbuted that to worn out front struts. With the car up on jacks, there is no play in the wheels.

 

What do you think?

[GnatGoSplat]

If there's absolutely ZERO play in the wheel, then you shouldn't need any new parts. However, checking a balljoint is different... you grasp the tire at the 12:00 and 6:00 position. Checking the outer tierod should be the same as the inner tierod, but you can also grasp the outer tierod itself and see if it has any up & down play.

 

Balljoints need replaced if their boots are torn or broken. Unfortunately, you can't buy the boots alone (which is kinda silly IMO, I have seen good balljoints with nothing else wrong but a torn rubber boot).

[Brian P]

Wake up thread!!!!!!

 

Just a question. Did you hold the steering rack shaft with a wrench when you went to remove the inner tie rod, like the book says? Also I would appreciate any more info on the staking tool.

[GnatGoSplat]

Nah, I didn't hold it with the wrench. It's impossible to do since my bad tierod was on the passenger side and there are no flats on that side. I was pretty worried about it, but I just turned it slowly and it actually came right of without a lot of resistance.

 

The staking tool is a MOOG T498. It's a lot of money, but sure made things a lot easier than it looked in the service manual.

[Brian P]

ok, I'm concerned since GM wants it at 74 lb-ft. Was there room for anything, like for vise grips?

[GnatGoSplat]

I really can't remember, but I didn't even try. It's kinda tight in there! The rack was actually real solid so I didn't see any need to try holding it with anything. The rack easily took the 74ft-lbs without any problems. I just torqued it slowly. I think it's more durable than the service manual lets on.