Inner Tie Rod Question

[Danspeed1]

Over the past couple of months I have noticed when driving on the highway between 70-80MPH A rattle/loose sound coming from the right front of the vehicle. I can't feel it through the steering wheel but I can hear it loud and clear. Today i had the car jacked up and decided give a left to right tug on the wheel. It wasn't really as loose as I was expecting it to be but when I tugged really hard it did move very slightly. I visually looked at the outer tie rod and it looks tight. I am thinking the play must be caused by the inner. Still yet, I am not even sure that this is in the unacceptable range of play.... what do you guys think???

 

DG

[Crazy K]

i test tie rods by getting as friend to jerk the wheel left and right about 1/4 of a turn waith a 1 second pause between movements. i then get under the car and feel for movement and clunking of the tie-rods. I just did an inner and outer on a 95 GP, and I rented two tools from Autozone and was able to do the job in under an hour, minus goofing off.

 

IIRC tools were 27074 and 27047. Other supplies needed were a CV boot strap repair kit to reinstall the accordionated dust cover, a vice grip, a big hammer, jack, jack stand, 18 mm wrench.....

[White93z34]

there is no acceptable amount of play, any is too much.

[Danspeed1]

there is no acceptable amount of play, any is too much.

Ok... well that pretty much answers the question...

 

I am used to working on older cars.... pre-1970... in those cars play is expected.

 

In this car it is really noticable...

 

DG

[xtremerevolution]

Man, this thread got me thinking. I've never replaced my inner tie rods. How often do these things go bad? I've checked the wheels by tugging on them and they don't really move at all. Outer tie rods are very recent, and the car doesn't pull to any direction, but the steering wheel does point to the left. I can let the wheel go on the highway and the car will go perfectly straight, but the wheel isn't straightened. Its kind of annoying.

Edited May 14, 2010 by xtremerevolution

[White93z34]

its hard to say some cars they seem to last a lifetime other ones can be toast in under 60k. really depends on how the car was driven. ALL of my w-bodys have needed inner tie rods before 150k miles. Your regal also lived in rust free LA most of its life so i'm sure that helps. If you want to check pup the outer tie rod end off the knuckle and see how much movement you can find by hand.

[xtremerevolution]

its hard to say some cars they seem to last a lifetime other ones can be toast in under 60k. really depends on how the car was driven. ALL of my w-bodys have needed inner tie rods before 150k miles. Your regal also lived in rust free LA most of its life so i'm sure that helps. If you want to check pup the outer tie rod end off the knuckle and see how much movement you can find by hand.

 

Thanks! I'll try that next time I change my oil.

[GnatGoSplat]

I have only ever needed to change one inner on all my W-bodies, and I think that may have been because I hit a curb once in my teen years. If you scrub curbs a lot, you may have to replace them more often.

[Danspeed1]

Its likely if your steering wheel is not straight, when the did your alignment they did not park the wheel with the "tool" when they set the alignment. I would go back and complain, maybe they could throw it back up and re-align it.

 

 

I have 215K+ on my car now,... the last owner abused it, and I take care of it but do alot of mileage. I love this car but i have to be honest... I am spending about $200-400 a month... that's a nice payment on a CTS-V. It really makes you think....

 

DG

[xtremerevolution]

I also had them do an alignment, and then realized a week later that I had a worn tie rod. That probably didn't help. I did that alignment in California, and I'm in Illinois now. Guess I'll just fork over the cash for alignment when I get winter tires put on the car later this year. It doesn't bother me quite as much considering the car goes completely straight for as much as 15 seconds after you let go of the steering wheel, on the highway.

Edited May 14, 2010 by xtremerevolution

[Danspeed1]

I also had them do an alignment, and then realized a week later that I had a worn tie rod. That probably didn't help. I did that alignment in California, and I'm in Illinois now. Guess I'll just fork over the cash for alignment when I get winter tires put on the car later this year. It doesn't bother me quite as much considering the car goes completely straight for as much as 15 seconds after you let go of the steering wheel, on the highway.

 

I cycle between daily driving my 95 Monte Carlo and my original 1946 Chevy Stylemaster... just try and imagine for a second how far off my steering wheel is and how loose the steering is... Getting back into the Monte is nice, but I don't always realize when there is a problem. After being back in the Monte this week after the alternator installing, and switching to the 46 this weekend, I couldn't stop reaching for the turn signal stalk which isn't there when making a turn... back to rolling down the window and hand signaling...

 

thought you guys would get a kick out of that.

 

DG