The first step in replacing the inner tie rod is to remove the tie rod end. It's basically a three step process, where you start by loosening the jam nut that's used to set the alignment (toe-in or toe-out). That jam nut determines how far up the inner tie rod the tie rod end is fixed. The tie rod end is hollow and threaded, so it can be screwed on or off the inner tie rod. Any procedure for removing a tie rod will start by telling you to count the turns you unscrew the tie rod end, something that I didn't do, and I'll save the explanation for the end:-) After you loosen the jam nut, you remove the cotter pin from the post on the outer tie rod ball joint, and unscrew the nut that holds the ball joint into the tapered fitting on the steering knuckle (video to right). After you pop the outer tie end free of the steering knuckle, you can unscrew the tie rod end. from the inner tie rod, but you need to grip it with something. Inner tie rods normally have some flat surfaces or a splined surface for grabbing with pliers. In this case, I needed two pairs of visegrips and a clamp to hold the visegrips on the inner tie rod from moving in order to get the outer tie rod end broken free and turning easy. That video is below. I happen to own the shop manuals for my Dodge Omni, so I was able to study the procedure for replacing the inner tie rod in detail. I didn't follow it for a couple reason. First, they show my type of power steering rack (Saginaw vs TRW) needs to be removed from the car to change the inner tie rod. That's a lot of extra work, not to mention the fact I buried one of the crossmember bolts in my unibody and flooring repair! So I went with an inner tie rod removal kit from Harbor Freight, manufactured by U.S. General (in Taiwan). The tool is very simple, basically a large steel tub with a snap in opening for a large crows foot insert on one end and a 1/2" socket drive on the other end. The kit is shown in the photo to the lower left (which I need to replace), and a video of the procedure is shown below. The kit wasn't quite right for my car, I had to use an oversized crows foot and the ball joint housing on the inner tie rod was too long, so the flats on the housing were barely held with the crows foot positioned by hand at the very end of the tool. But I got it out.
The inner tie rod I removed wasn't staked (never would have got it out
otherwise), and neither of the replacement inner tie rods sold by NAPA (TRW
or Saginaw types) had holes for staking. The TRW one had a set screw, which
comes close to staking but was the opposite of what the shop manual reported.
It's easy to tell the Saginaw from the TRW because the Saginaw has a machined
cylinder that slides over the piston end coming out of the rack, the TRW
doesn't. In the video to the left, I'm showing how the inner tie rod is installed
by hand, just screwing it onto the end. The video below shows the U.S. General
inner tie rod tool back in action to tighten up the inner tie rod. All that
remains is to reinstall the boot, and the outer tie rod. But what about the
alignment? When I started the job, I took a photograph of the tie rod end
position on the inner tie rod, because I don't trust myself counting and
writing down the number fast enough not to forget it. That photo is shown
at the bottom left. I make it 12 threads to the nut. So with the old inner
tie rod in hand, I put the nut in the right place and counted threads out
to the end, which came to 24, and that's how far I screwed on the old tie
rod end. The threaded length on a replacement inner rod may not be the same
as the old rod, so you have to count from the end, not the middle.
http://www.ifitjams.com/images/inner_1.j...
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