Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Replacing Inner tie rod

I'm new here so go easy !

I going to replace the outer tie rods on my '99 V6 Contour today and I will be checking the inners also (Actually I just recently found out that there was an inner, not part of the rack). Outer replacement is easy, but I've been told the inner are "tricky". I've searched this board but haven't found "details" on what the "tick" is on the inners.

Anyone with first hand knowledge on replacing innner tie rods ?

p.s. autopartsgiant.com has Moog parts (with zerks !) for $30 less than I could find them locally, even with shippping.

No firsthand knowledge, but Ford manual says you have to remove the rack to replace inners, not normally a DIY job.

Relacing the ends on a '99 seems premature, what were the symptoms, 'cause it's usually wheel play on the horizontal plane around the vertical axis that indicates worn tie-rod ends?

p.s. I presume "tick" was typo, or else I'm out-of-date with MI slang.

I have recently picked up a steering wheel "shimmy" (small left-right oscillation) that is most notable on new/smooth asphalt. New Michelins all around. Also noted that there was a small amount of play in the rod ends themselves. Low tire pressure from a rim leak (now fixed) made it worse.

Yes, '99 is very early for tie rod ends, especially considering it has <40K. I'll "feel better" with new Moog end, with zerks !

P.S. Yep, no deer ticks in my backyard !

The easiest way to test the inner TREs is after the outer TRE is removed from the steering knuckle.

If the TRE assemply flops under its own weight, it has failed the gross self test.

Particularly worn ones will actually move around when you push/pull on them.

Steve

Outers were a breeze. It took longer to drag the jack, stands, and compressor out, put 'er up in the air and get the wheels off than to actually replace the tie rod ends.

Inners passed the "no flop" test. No time for a test drive. If this doesn't help, I'm getting the tires rotated and balanced in a week or so.