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Tie-rod help


Sully

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I was told the tie-rod needs replaced. Is this in immediate need of replacement? This is new territory for me so I am clueless. As you can see there is a little movement when I wiggle the drum with my hands at the 3 and 9 position. I do not notice any slop or vibrations in the steering while I'm driving.

 

I'm posting from my iPad so if the link doesn't work look up my username osusully69. The video is titled crx tie-rod.

 

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=byVd4jGd52M

 

Thanks!

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Tie-rods are pretty simple to replace and it sucks when they actually let go. I was on 23 doing about 65 when one broke (right passenger wheel went completely sideways) and the front end felt like it literally jumped a foot up and down until I stopped. Ended up changing it on 23 then driving it to get it aligned.
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The only way to inspect loose suspension is with the wheel on, sometimes its much easier with a second person to shake the wheel so you can check the parts for looseness. Inners aren't nearly as common as outers, but they do go bad eventually. If you need a hand checking it out, let me know. Those shouldn't be too bad to replace if they aren't all corroded. I bet you could do the inner with a pipe wrench on that car, but i do have the tool if you need it.
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If it's 'going out' on one side, the other side is probably not far behind, so I would do both if it were me. If you let this go it will also begin to wear your tires since there will be some 'play' in the steering. Typically you will have a bolt and a 'jam nut' that you need to loosen and it will un-thread off the inner tie rod.

 

http://www.300cforums.com/forums/attachments/suspension-handling-modifications/30289d1220305270-outer-tie-rod-failure-what-rim-size-you-running-outer-inner-tie-rod.jpg

 

You will need a tool similar to this to disconnect from the steering arm/spindle. You can rent from this tool from Autozone/Advanced/Etc.

 

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/data/articles/126/tie-rod-remove-hi.jpg

 

You WILL need an alignment immediately following as the nut and jam nut are where the adjustments are made for alignment, so make sure you 'match-mark' the threads when you take the outer tie rod off, so you can get it back to where it was before you took it off.

 

It's definitely something you can do yourself or with a buddy.

 

Good luck!

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When you start put your wrench on the 'nut' portion of the tie rod. Write this position down/remember it e.g. 270deg or 9 o'clock.

Count the number of turns it takes to come off.

Do the exact thing in reverse for the new one.

 

You might get lucky and be within spec. I think some tire places will do an alignment check for free. I would think the though is most cars will have something out of spec and they can sell someone an alignment that might not have otherwise asked for one. If this is still true and you put the new one back on and get a little luck you might not need to pay for an alignment. At the very least it will be close until you can get an alignment (hopefully very soon after you change the part). If you don't pay attention you might have to hold the wheel off center the entire way to the shop, which annoys the shit out of me.

 

Outers are super simple... as long as everything comes off easily. Just like every job under the car remember to spray with your favorite flavor of penetrating oil a few times the prior few days... and hope your car isn't like early B5 S4's and has steel tie rods with aluminium uprights which like to fuse together. :dumb:

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You will need a tool similar to this to disconnect from the steering arm/spindle. You can rent from this tool from Autozone/Advanced/Etc.

 

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/data/articles/126/tie-rod-remove-hi.jpg

 

You WILL need an alignment immediately following as the nut and jam nut are where the adjustments are made for alignment, so make sure you 'match-mark' the threads when you take the outer tie rod off, so you can get it back to where it was before you took it off.

 

It's definitely something you can do yourself or with a buddy.

 

Good luck!

 

LOL, at the tool to remove the tie rod. A couple wacks with a hammer where the tie rod goes in the knuckle and it will fall right out. I've never had to use one of those tools and I do a few tie rods a week at least. That looks like a pitman arm remover anyway.

 

You wil want to get it aligned right after replacement, you can try to get it close but the toe being off even a little will cause the most tire wear.

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LOL, at the tool to remove the tie rod. A couple wacks with a hammer where the tie rod goes in the knuckle and it will fall right out. I've never had to use one of those tools and I do a few tie rods a week at least. That looks like a pitman arm remover anyway.

 

You wil want to get it aligned right after replacement, you can try to get it close but the toe being off even a little will cause the most tire wear.

 

 

:lolguy: BFH always works too.....wasn't sure if OP would feel comfortable taking a hammer to it since he hasn't done it before.....

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I always heard when you take the outer loose from the spindle if the inner didn't support the outer it was worn out. (ie if you let go and both fall to the lower limit of the inners range.)

 

Never heard of that, they eventually will get a little play in them, thats when you can tell a customer its worn. I suppose that would show that it has wear to it, but I wouldn't want to go to a customer trying to explain that either.

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I'm planning on replacing both the inner and outer. Might as well while I'm in there, and I can get the full set on the cheap.

 

I need to replace the front shocks/springs on this thing too. However, I'm having a hard time finding OE spec parts that aren't ridiculously overpriced.

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I'm planning on replacing both the inner and outer. Might as well while I'm in there, and I can get the full set on the cheap.

 

I need to replace the front shocks/springs on this thing too. However, I'm having a hard time finding OE spec parts that aren't ridiculously overpriced.

 

If the inner isn't loose I wouldn't bother, just my honest opinion. They rarely go out and even when they get loose the chance of it coming apart is slim.

 

But like i said just my opinion, I can't fault you for wanting new parts there.

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I was quoted around $800 to do the job: Front inner and outer tie rods and both front shocks & springs, not counting the cost of the alignment, which I'll have NTB do. I got all the parts for $268.56 including tax and shipping, and will be doing the work in my garage after all the parts show up.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got all of the parts and started working on this today. I only had time to work on the passenger side today. I removed the outer tie rod with the trusty BFH. I was able to get the inner tie rod off with a crescent wrench. Removed strut and spring. Found the spring was broken where it seats on the bottom of the strut. The inner tie rod was definitely bad. The strut wouldn't rebound when I pressed the rod all the way in. So, it's definitely a good thing I'm doing all this now.

 

However, I have a bit of a problem. The old inner tie rod dust boots were in pretty bad shape and came apart very easily. I need new ones and am having problems finding them. Can someone here help me find some? Please?? I'm going to need 2 of them because I would bet the other one will fall apart as well when I remove it. O'Reillys can get them for $17.99 each plus shipping. Ouch!!!

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Finally got all of the parts and started working on this today. I only had time to work on the passenger side today. I removed the outer tie rod with the trusty BFH. I was able to get the inner tie rod off with a crescent wrench. Removed strut and spring. Found the spring was broken where it seats on the bottom of the strut. The inner tie rod was definitely bad. The strut wouldn't rebound when I pressed the rod all the way in. So, it's definitely a good thing I'm doing all this now.

 

However, I have a bit of a problem. The old inner tie rod dust boots were in pretty bad shape and came apart very easily. I need new ones and am having problems finding them. Can someone here help me find some? Please?? I'm going to need 2 of them because I would bet the other one will fall apart as well when I remove it. O'Reillys can get them for $17.99 each plus shipping. Ouch!!!

It didn't come with new ones!?

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Got the bellows from RockAuto for half the price the local stores wanted.

 

After removing all parts, I found out both inner tie rods were bad. Both outer tie rods were bad. Both front springs were broken. I don't know if the struts were bad or not, but it was worth it to replace them while I had the shit apart. The inner tie rods were not hard to remove at all. I was able to remove them with a pair of channel lock pliers.

 

All said and done, $292.32 in parts and dropped the car off for an $80 alignment (the front tires were squealing all the way there :lolguy:) this evening, for a grand total of about $372.32. The shop wanted around $800 to do it. Saved myself approximately $430.:fuckyeah:

 

Thanks to everyone in this thread who made suggestions on how to remove parts, offered up tools if I would have needed them, and recommended places to buy stuff.

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