How do I do the tie-rod on the drivers side?

 

The mechanic my buddy took the car to said that it had a loose tie-rod.

 

I dont think you can just tighten those... so how do I replace it?

 

What tools will be needed, etc...

 

Thanks!

You will need pliers, 14mm wrench(or vice grip), 17mm wrebch, 17mm socket, BFH and pickle fork.

 

First, loosen the 17mm nut in the inside of the tue rod. Just loosen it, and thread it back agains the tie rod end.

 

Now, remove the cotter pin and the 17mm castle nut on the tie rod stud from the steering knuckle. Use a ball joint separator(pickle fork) and insert it between the tie rod and the knuckle, with the flat side against the tie rod boot. Whack with a hammer till it pops out. You can also whack on the side of the knuckle to pop it out.

 

There is a flat spot on the inner tie rod to hod still with a 14mm wrench(or vice grip. unscrew the old tie rod, screw on the new one till it is against the nut.

 

Put the tie rod stud into the knuckle and thread on the castle nut, tighten up, and insert cotter pin.

 

now, tighten the big nut on the tie rod against the tie rod end.

 

Doing it this way will minimize or eliminate the need for an alignment afterward.

there are two tie rods per side - inner and outer. miles is referring to the outer. the inner is a little different.

 

when miles talks about loosening that first nut and then tigthening it again - you're doing that to retain alignment. pay attention and you won't need to have your alignment adjusted, i never get alignments after replacing tie rods. one nut tightens against the tie rod to hold it tight....loosen it, but then thread it back flush against the tie rod so you can install the new one at the same exact position.

 

if stuff is rusty - hit both nuts with penetrant a couple of times before you go to do it. and have a torch handy...but i'm guessing you don't have rust like we do out here?

Thank you MilesFox and GrossGary.

 

We do not have the rust though, and I belive Im replacing both the inner and outer tie-rods... I can post a picture of the part tomorrow for clarification of it, and hopefully thatll clear up so I dont sound too ruhtarded for asking questions about the directions lol.

inspect the boot, unless it's really nice you'll probably want to replace that too while it's off.

 

access is really tight but the inner rod is easy to replace once the outer is off. it just unthreads from the rack, it has a locking washer on it, just look at it and bend the tabs out of the way if necessary. i've used monkey wrenches before or just standard wrenches, but some folks have more trouble than others with space.

Thank you MilesFox and GrossGary.

 

We do not have the rust though,

If that is the case, you could repair it by just looking at it, and maybe poking it with a stick.