Inner tie-rod... How hard?

[99Mystique ATX]

My passenger side inner tie-rod is worn and i'm debating whether to do it myself or take it to a shop to fix... I looked on the autozone site at their repair article and they say you have to drop the subframe and remove the sterring rack, is this true?

I've done suspension and im wondering if maybe I should just take this one to a shop to have done...

Also, I looked for a how to and found nothing, is there one??


Thanks in advance!

[m4gician]

I watched the guy replace mine, assuming you have the tools (not too hard or special) and you can actually pry the thing off (wd-40 or some jig-a-loo) you should be okay doing it yourself, keep it on jackstands, and be able to take apart the ti-rod end and replace it, you MIGHT have to do an alignment, I would ask Tony or even look up the autozone repair or repair manual on how to. Im sure one of the guys on here can provide you with the repair manual so you can see exactly what a lot of mechanics see.

[99Mystique ATX]

I've done the outers and was fine with doing the inners but everything everyone has said is that inners are a pain to do...

[m4gician]

edited for ignorance.

[CSVT1214]

sorry, my fault I misunderstood and thought you meant the outers? Yes they are easy just pop em in. Uh, I think what I said about the manual still holds true, although from where the inners are, you're probably best off to get an alignment guy to do it. If you're lucky only $50 for that and maybe another $20 for an alignment.

You really have no clue do you?

If subframe dropping is needed, please post and tell me where this shop is that does it for an additional $50.

[bensenvill]

is this proceedure covered in the chilton manual?

[I'm still waiting for my inner tie rods to get out of backorder from BAT and I'll be attempting this myself].

Any advice for keeping a decent alignment while doing this [yes it will get realigned afterwards but I dont want to botch it up so bad I cant drive it to the place]

[striker2]

the only thing i can think of is to leave the outer tie-rod on the inner, remove the inner and then measure the total length. install the outer to the inner and make sure its the same length as when removed. then install the inner rod. that should keep it close enough that you can drive it to get it aligned.

[99Mystique ATX]

I don't see why you couldn't just count the threads when you take off the outer tie-rod end, like you would when replacing the outers... The new inner-tie-rod should be the same length as the old one so I don't see why this wouldn't work to at least get it close...

Im going out on a limb on that one but I don't see why it wouldn't work...

[striker2]

i find measuring to be way more accurate. espically since you will have the both ends out of the car. i have actually seen people take a measurment to the 32nd of an inch (i would stop at 16th but whatever). they put it on the alignment rack afterwards to check it and it was perfect. if im gonna pull the inner tie-rods im gonna be as accurate as i can. the less work i have to do on the alignment rack the better. of course i would be the one doing all the work but i have access to an alignment rack for free so if your gonna pay someone to align it then you could probably just count threads and be close enough.

[BK4293]

I agree with Dan, And don't gorget the Loc-Tite either!!!