tie rods and LCA Pic's

[BenSwanson]

anyone got a thread on some tie rod and LCA pictures as i am about to attempt mine

 

[89 black SHO mtx]

i don't have any pics but they are easy to do. just make sure your innertie rod ends are good before you do this. if not and you don't have a tool for them you will be doing them again(the tie rod ends anyway). the inner tie rod end tool, I think you can rent it from a parts house that has a loan a tool program. jsut be sure you take it to a shop and have it aligned after you do it. you don't want to eat up tires.

 

[PanamaPat]

89 black SHO mtx:
i don't have any pics but they are easy to do. just make sure your innertie rod ends are good before you do this. if not and you don't have a tool for them you will be doing them again(the tie rod ends anyway). the inner tie rod end tool, I think you can rent it from a parts house that has a loan a tool program. jsut be sure you take it to a shop and have it aligned after you do it. you don't want to eat up tires.

I just replaced my inner tie-rod ends. It was not to difficult. The key was a) buying a special tool from Pep Boy's for $20 (a long socket essentially) and also loosening the front and rear sub-frame bolts to allow it to drop a couple of inches in the rear.

The old-tie rods had worn out pretty and developed quite a bit of play to the point they were getting noisy and also creating quite a steer wandering issue. The ball/sockets were pretty dry (never greased when installed?) and thus very worn.

The old tie-rods where pinned but luckily the pins were fairly easy to remove by using a flat tipped screwdriver to wedge the pin head up and pulled them out with a pair of long nose pliers. The new tie-rods where secured with an small allen head threaded set screw.

It has to go to the alignment shop this week.

 

[BenSwanson]

inners were bad. they are hanging loosely. i cant seem to get to the band holding the boot on the inner tie rod? any suggestions?

 

[PanamaPat]

BenSwanson:
inners were bad. they are hanging loosely. i cant seem to get to the band holding the boot on the inner tie rod? any suggestions?

I took a long screwdriver and just popped the band loose by wedging the screwdriver into the pinched portion of the clamp.

 

[BenSwanson]

gotcha, did u loosen the subframe bolt with the engine mount? or the one behind it?

 

[3.8Lwagon]

the local auto parts place quoted me like 109 for a rebuilt powerstearing rack. (with inner tie rod ends) it might just be eazier to replace the while thing if you have to drop the subframe any.

 

[projectSHO89]

the local auto parts place quoted me like 109 for a rebuilt powerstearing rack.

Try about $70-80 at O'Reilly's. (Non-VAPS, standard Taurus application.)

Steve

 

[jelloslug]

I just did my inner tie rods. I got the clamp lose on the drivers side from the top and the clamp on the passenger side from the bottom (it was a PITA). I got a loaner inner tie rod end tool from Autozone. I got a nice tip from a alignment guy, he said that the rivit is so soft that you can just put the tie rod socket on and give it a good tug and the rivit will shear off. That worked great and the new tie rods have set screws instead of rivits. Oh and I never needed to lower the subframe to get them off. when you put the clamps back on you will and to flip them around so you can reach them easier, it makes things go together much faster.

 

[BenSwanson]

Thanks 4 all the help guys. Got the Tie rods done, now just waiting for Control Arm to come in the mail.

 

[BenSwanson]

Thanks 4 all the help guys. Got the Tie rods done, now just waiting for Control Arm to come in the mail.