Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Help! Need to get inner tie rod ends off fast!

Since I drive 50 miles round trip between work and home, I need to find out how to get these bloody thing off and the new ones on before Monday. I pulled the passenger bellows off and found a smooth end, rather than a hex end like I expected. What do I do about it?

I haven�t had the pleasure of doing the inner rods on my Mystq yet (I need to) but I have changed a lot of them on other cars. It�s important to hold the rack gear (so that it doesn�t twist when you break the inner rod loose) without gouging it up so that you don�t damage the yoke or cause a leak. You can use a pipe wrench or a large pair of locking pliers to remove the inner rod. The new rod should come with a roll pin to lock it in place, make sure you use it.

jeff

Unfortunately, on my Contour, the auto shop I took it to had to use an air hammer to remove it. The OEM part is smooth round, and the new one has to be installed with an inner tie rod tool. But with pipe wrench wasn't gonna budge. If you have an air chisel/hammer, give that a try, just keep in mind the righty tighty/lefty loosey rule.

Before breaking out the air hammer I would try some heat on the nut.

I�m nut looking forward to doing mine.

jeff