I found out about a week and a half ago that my tie rods are shot. They need to be replaced. I ordered some and they just arrived this week. I’ve been doing some research and I’ve been getting mixed results as to whether this is a job that I can do in my garage or will I need to bring it someone and pay them. I’m a DIY kind of guy, and willing to learn as I go. I know I’ll need an alignment following the install, so I will have to go to a shop afterwards, but I figured why not try to save some money. So I’m curious to see what you guys say, any information would be much appreciated.
The hard part is getting them off, I would say go for it. Mark the ends where you remove them on the threaded section(with tape) so you get the same postition when you replace them, you may not have to get an alignment, that is not to say dont. Make sure you tighten accordingly and use new locking pins.
Tools= wrench and a hammer with some seperators and patience.
Thanks a lot guys. I’ll do it this weekend and let you know how it goes. I’m sure if your curious to see but I’ll be replacing the tie rods with these ones.
I’m sure I’ll never use them to there full potential. But I figured it’s only a little bit extra.
i do alignments and yes changing tie rods are very easy, just need a hammer to punch it out and they useually come out fine, but you should always get an alingment done after cause the ones you replace it with might not be the exact same lenght ive had some that where 1/4inch longer or shorter so i had to compensate for the lenght, but if you get it close enough your tires wont wear that fast or at all, its just a risk you take.
Don’t you mean cotter pins? You can get them everywhere, including Canadian Tire. For the tie rods, there are special tools you can use to take out the inner tie rod (makes it suuuper easy) and outer one to. You can rent all these tools if you want, but it’s up to you. You can do it with standard tools to.
Hey guys! I’m actually in the middle of doing these tie rods right now, and I’ve come across some ‘locking plates’ that lock the inner part of the tie rod from be loosened. I’m not sure how to go about taking the locking plate off, so I figured I’d post and see if you guys can help me out, rather then trying and then ruining it.
I found this diagram, look at number 26. That is what I want to remove so that I can unscrew it and put the new one on. Aside from that I think I’m good to go!
Don’t count spins or mark thread with tape. Never assume the outter tie rod you’re putting on is the same length as the one you’re taking off. Measure from the inner tie rod to the middle of the outter tie rod, where your grease nipple is or would be. This will get it going straight so you can take it for an alignment.
i jus installed some tein tie rods last night.
LOCK PLATE -> to remove…i bent all four sides up so its not touching that big inner tie rod square screw.
Thanks guys I got them in they worked, and I took it for an alignment, turned out I also needed to replace the lower control arm on one side, so I did that as well before they did the alignment. Thanks for all your help, my cars running great now.
