rack and pinion/ inner tie rod

[restaman18]

Another day, another problem. So my most recent problem is my inner tie rods i believe inside the rack and pinion, b/c when i lift the car on the jack, i can wiggle my wheel a good 1/2 inch on both sides of the car. SO, that leads me to belive that the inner tie rod ends are bad. And my questions to anyone out there who may have done this before are as follows:

1. As anyone ever replaced just the inner tie rod ends and how difficult was it?? How long and how much of a nightmare was it.

2. Would it be easier if i bought a used rack and pinion and just replced the whole thing, and if so does anyone have one on a sho parts car lying around.

3. And does anyone knows if the rack and pinion is the same for a regular taurus as it is for the SHO.

Also, if anyone can sheed light of opinions on the subject, that'd be great.

Thanks everyone, Mike
1990 SHO w/92,000 and still tickin

 

[projectSHO89]

It's not terribly difficult, I just did this last month on fricker66's car. The hardes part was dealing with the inner boots, the clamps, and the small breather tube that runs between the two sides.

A regular remanufactured Taurus rack costs about $70-80 and includes new inner TREs. The only difference at your vintage is the travel limiters inside the inner boot. As long as you don't have too wide of tires, you'd probably never notice the difference. If you're going to replace a rack, get the remanufactured one.

New inner TREs will run you at least $40 in parts. If you do all the work yourself, replacing the rack is probably the better deal. If you have to pay someone, be advised that replacing the rack is a real PITA - dirty and messy.

Steve

 

[restaman18]

Well, does anyone have any instructions on exactly how and what tools are needed to replace the inner TRE's. B/c i don't want to replace anything i don't have to, and i'd imagine me doing it myself is much easier to do the inner TRE's than the whole rack. B/c the rack is smooth, it just has a bad wiggle inside the boot. You can email the instructions to me at [email protected] or post them here if anyone has them. thanks, Mike

P.S. Any i feel your pain about the money pit, it seems like one thing breaks after another

 

[sdpatt]

You would be well served to get a service manual, even a Chilton's. The inner tie rod end is actually part of the tie rod. They are all one part. To replace the tie rod you must remove the wheel and tire and outer tie rod end. You then turn the steering wheel until the rack is extended from the side being worked upon. Remove the rivet from the inner nut and fit the loaner tie rod tool over the inner nut and unscrew it with a socket wrench.

There should be instructions with the new tie rod on specific installation instructions: tiorque specs, lubrication and rivet installation. You will have to have the front end realigned after the install.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

FYI, the autozone inner tie rod loan a tool does not work for the Ford revised tie rods, which use red loctite instead of a rivet/set screw. You'll need to use the lisle inner tie rod end tool, or equivalent.