I am working on my sister-in laws 1997 ford Taurus. I am going to do all 4 of the tie rods and the sway links. My question is do any of you guys pull the inner tie rod with out the tool? I told her I would charge her for the parts and tool but if I can do it with out the tool (and a lot of extra work) I will try to save her some money and not buy it.
Inner tie rod removal tool?
- Thread starter LordTom
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signcrafter
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Get the tool, that one has flats I believe. http://www.tooltopia.com/lisle-45750.aspx. It's worth it to save time. I just did a 98 ****** inner and outer tie rods. I undid the castle nut that holds the tie rod to the knuckle and then took a cut off wheel and cut the inner just past the threads, so I didn't have to undo the outer tie rod from the inner. Was all rusted and easier to just cut it. Then use the tool to take the old inner off. Install the new with the tool and a torque wrench. Worth it to me but you can also "rent" them at most auto parts stores, you pay full price and then get a full refund when you return it.
GTA Matt
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Yes, get the tool. Put red loctite on the threads going into the steering rack as well.
signcrafter
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Probably depend on your local parts store but I have rented tools at advance auto when I didn't buy the parts there and they don't care. I ordered a timing belt kit from rockauto and rented a harmonic balancer installer. Just paid full price and returned it when done no problems.
Is she keeping this vehicle? Don't get tie rods off ebay if so. Some of that Chinese junk is seriously low grade. Ask yourself if you want to be back doing the job again in a year or two. Even MOOG is only about $25. Same with Chinese sway bar links and bushings. 2-3 years later she'll be hearing a clunk.
edit- also be aware many aftermarket parts have zerk fittings. If the originals didn't, get them from Ford. Just my opinion, but chances are nobody is going to keep those aftermarket parts lubricated. Again, if she's keeping the vehicle...
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Haha we were going to do that on the steering column bolt today in class when I was taking the steering wheel off to make the next persons job more hard when they went to work on it.
Yea I would be careful about ebay, because one of my buddies in class order some strut sets and it was supposed to be a right and left and the person sent two lefts.
I already ordered them. She took it in the get an alinement and they told her they would not do it unless the got her tie rods and sway links replaced. They wanted $270 for parts and labor. She is a single mother and the cost is a big issue. I ordered a mid range kit off ebay. I skipped over the $10 each ****. We have an 05 focus and I used ebay and O'reilly parts for the sway bar links and the ebay is still good and the O'reilly gave up on me. It has a lifetime on it but still kinda a pain in the *** so I have just let it ride that way so far.
redline380
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I don't know if it's a possibility for you but I am able to use a 1.5" crowfoot on my inners. With that said I'd rather have the proper tool
redline380
Well-known member
All you need to do is pop it loose. Once its loose it should thread out by hand. Since the threads are closed off they can't really get rusty
GTA Matt
Well-known member
Red on inner tie rods. They usually come with a cheapo packet of it that I throw in the trash and use real loctite on. Not exactly a component you want to come loose.
they cant get rusty? i'll remember that next time I have one frozen on.
Believe me. Water, salt, corrosion. It gets into everywhere when it comes to components sitting low to the ground.
Forgive me but cost is not an issue. We're not talking about expensive parts here but we are talking about critical parts. People that cant justify an addition $100 on critical parts shouldn't even be driving a vehicle. Those are the drivers on 4 bald tires and metal to metal brakes because "cost is an issue". Said my piece. Hope you/she have good luck with your cheap parts. Remember to take whatever you estimate time wise for the job and double it.
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firebox40dash5
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She should probably take it somewhere else if they seriously told her they wouldn't align it unless she got swaybar links. Farklin' endlinks ain't got nothing to do with alignments, ya thieving monkeys.
If it wasn't 16 years old, them saying that would make me wonder if it even needed either replaced. Not saying it doesn't, mind you, but WTF gets all pushy on a customer with some **** like that?Definitely borrow the tool if you can, I've only had a very few where I can even get a wrench on them... which never coincides with the ones I don't have an adapter for or don't have flats.
I *heart* those folk.
"Hey, can you check my brakes for me?"
"Yep, they're low, I reckon you've got about 4 miles before your rotors are all FUBAR, there's about 1/64" left at best."
"Oh, well, I'm broke, I'll just pay you to check them now, and bring it back next week, when I'll throw a fit because my $120 brake job just became a $250 brake job, plus I paid to have you check my brakes when I knew I couldn't afford to fix it right now."
Derp.
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She should probably take it somewhere else if they seriously told her they wouldn't align it unless she got swaybar links. Farklin' endlinks ain't got nothing to do with alignments, ya thieving monkeys.
I'm sure the sway bar hardware was added on with the main focus being on the shot/frozen tie rods.
they cant get rusty? i'll remember that next time I have one frozen on.
Believe me. Water, salt, corrosion. It gets into everywhere when it comes to components sitting low to the ground.
Forgive me but cost is not an issue. We're not talking about expensive parts here but we are talking about critical parts. People that cant justify an addition $100 on critical parts shouldn't even be driving a vehicle. Those are the drivers on 4 bald tires and metal to metal brakes because "cost is an issue". Said my piece. Hope you/she have good luck with your cheap parts. Remember to take whatever you estimate time wise for the job and double it.
Skin, maybe you are having a bad night but sometimes something as small as a $20 part can make a big difference in a persons budget. I'm sure you can afford to go buy OEM parts and still be able to eat that week but others can't. So maybe you should be a little nicer when responding.
Edit: It showed 2 hrs so I planed for 6 hrs.
firebox40dash5
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If you can't afford to do it right once, can you afford to do it wrong once, and then do it again right?
Might sound harsh, but it's 110% valid. I watch people trip over dollars to save dimes all the time at work. I always try to talk them out of it. 99% of them come back wishing they'd listened. For all the good it does, since mostly the same ones do it repeatedly.
When it's a 2-300% part price difference on an expensive part that's easy to change, go for it, give it a shot. When it's a relatively inexpensive part and a lot of labor (and another alignment) that's just... well, dumb.
I have used Ebay parts for about 14 years and have not had any trouble except on an K&M air filter one time. It was my fault that I did not know that Ford had two different 2.0 motors. I'm sure the parts will be fine. I understand that some of you make a living doing this kind of work for people and you see a lot more than me but I doing the right thing here. I just wanted some advice on if I should use a tool or not. I could argue that people who are jack asses on the internet should not own a computer.
greasemonkey44
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OP dont stress about it; you understand its a risk and the other guys just want to warn you
i usually use pipe wrenches, channellock nut busters and or short adjustable wrenches to pop them off
i cant remember on your exact car, but some fords take a 1 and 5/16 wrench and you can use a normal one
otherwise the other tools will work
the only other caveat is that some inners are way down in a tunnel, and doing them on the ground its hard to reach them
cant for the life of me remember what car it was where i had to borrow the tool
i usually use pipe wrenches, channellock nut busters and or short adjustable wrenches to pop them off
i cant remember on your exact car, but some fords take a 1 and 5/16 wrench and you can use a normal one
otherwise the other tools will work
the only other caveat is that some inners are way down in a tunnel, and doing them on the ground its hard to reach them
cant for the life of me remember what car it was where i had to borrow the tool
Tarheelgarage
Well-known member
Get the removal tool.
Also, be sure to use another wrench to hold the steering rack shaft side from turning while removing the inner tie rod. You don't wont to put a lot of pressure on the steering pinion gear.
Also, be sure to use another wrench to hold the steering rack shaft side from turning while removing the inner tie rod. You don't wont to put a lot of pressure on the steering pinion gear.
redline380
Well-known member
they cant get rusty? i'll remember that next time I have one frozen on.
Believe me. Water, salt, corrosion. It gets into everywhere when it comes to components sitting low to The ground
I've never had an issue with seized inner tie rods and believe me my car is a lot lower than most
I just make sure the boots are in good shape. Now outer tie rods, of course I've had seize.skulldrinker
Well-known member
Yep some inners are in plain sight and can be off'd with a couple of open end wrenches. Most people don't have those size wrenches in their modest tool set. They are big. I'm with Skin on this one. Don't skimp on the tie rods for goodness sake. If they break your wheel goes sideways and if you're on the highway you're going into oncoming traffic. Hopefully the car you're headed at doesn't have those bald tires and metal to metal brakes and can get out of your way in time.
dudutzu905
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from my experience the rental tool might not fit your application, what I do is mostly what others have recommended, turn the steering wheel all the way which puts one of the inner tie rods closer to the side of the car and usually(you might or might not have enough room to it this way) you can use a pipe wrench/channellock on it but make sure to hold the rack in the same time, usually 15/16 wrench(could be wrong on the size)
skulldrinker
Well-known member
I just did one yesterday and the wrench size was 30mm. Just under 1-1/4". Those service wrench sets from HF come in handy for this and have these bigger sizes. Just throw on a cheater pipe cause their handles are only 4 inches long.
Nitroinsane
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Hey pal, the lisle tool is nice. You can also cut the old tie rods off and use a socket. I have the lisle one for when I can't use a socket.
SpiderGearsMan
Banned
my 1 7/16 hydraulic wrench works great
shocksandstrutz
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I used crowsfoot last cooler times.......I will buy the tool from hf for less than forty the next car that needs them done
skulldrinker
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Never heard of such a thing until now. Wow talk about power!
ex-x-fire
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I took a pair of channel locks, got a good grip on the flats, tightened up a hose clamp on the handles, & pushed with my foot. The inner tie rod came loose fairly easy.
I did the job this last Saturday. The tie rods were not a problem at all. Come to find out my work had the tool. They just had never used it. I'm glad they had it. It would have been a hell of a job with out it. The sway bar links gave me a hard time. It was almost like the nylon in the 16yo nut had become a solid of some sort. I ended up bending my Gearwrench 8mm (not sure if they warranty it if it is just bent?). I finally took my hand torch and melted the nylon out of the nut and it worked great. The first thing my wife noticed once I puled the car into the garage was a wet spot. The car had a fuel filter that had at least 3 pinholes in it from rust. The line from the tank to the filter broke trying to get it off so that took a trip to the auto parts store. I just wanted to update my post like I said I would. PS I did not get photos because my wife had to watch the kids.
muck0nator
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lucked out with work having the tool, sometimes its hard to justify spending 60-80+ on a single use tool, old fasteners can be frustrating for sure, broke my 1/2 breaker bar on an axle nut recently
at least you got the job finished and got her back on the road 