Inner tie rod end - is it easy to replace?? RESOLVED
 

took The Mistress in for some new tires and an alignment but was told they couldn't do the alignment as the driver's side inner tie rod end needs replaced. I didn't see it listed individually on the SNG Barratts website - so can it be replaced or do I need a whole new rack?

did a search and found these Beck Arnley inner tie rod ends PN 101-7364 for 16.55 from Rock Auto - so purchased and will attempt to replace next Saturday

Steve, should be an easy job for you. As I recall there is a grip (hex, opposing flats? Can't remember) way in on the inside edge. You mentioned inner than outer ends just dont want you to get stranded ordering the wrong one. Maybe just replace both?

John

Oh yeah there's a dust boot on the inner mount. Easy to reuse.

John

Super easy. I used a large crescent wrench to avoid a trip to autozone for tool rental. Can be done in less than an hour, but I did one side at a time and drove the car in between to set the toe based on steering wheel angle, to save a trip to the alignment shop. Living on a straight (over 1/4 mile), flat, quiet road helps when doing driveway alignments.

John - thanks -already have the outer on hand so just ordered inner as well as lower ball joints - since I noticed the boot on both sides is damaged. Will be busy next weekend!

Ungn - excellent - what I was hoping to hear as the shop manual mentioned the inner ball joint was integral to the rack - thus my initial concern

9 minutes in here you will see what it looks like.

Thanks RD!!

A lot of people seem to change the rack when the Inners are cheap and easy. My inners were toast and allowed about 1/2" of wheel play.

I also learned that the rack bellows makes the lower wishbone bolt hard to remove and It takes way more time to try to wiggle the bolt past the bettows without damaging the belows, than it does to just loosen the clamp and slide the bellows out of the way.

The Lower ball joints are a much bigger job. Harbor Freight 20 to press is highly recommended.

good to know HF has the tools if needed as there is one about 5 miles from my house but I was thinking about checking with one of the local shops to see if they will press the new ball joints in - since this should be a one-time event.

Steve, take it to a shop. You will see in RD's escapades the special little tool he made to accomplish that little suckers extraction.
I haven't priced the whole arm but might be the way to go for ease of completion.

Wayne - the portion of the lower control arm with the ball joint is just shy of $600 on SNG's web site and Jagbits has it at $756 new and $325 used. The ball joints were only $22 each plus shipping and you know I'm taking the lower cost route here. I'll call around tomorrow see if I can get a shop to assist this weekend once I get the arms off

I understand, who would have thought that much.
Did you get new bushings for the lower arms?

yes I purchased a complete set (front and rear) of Powerflex poly last year and had replaced all but these, the rear beam and rear pan hard bushings - so time to finish the job

If you were in DFW, I'd press them in/out for $100/pr, which is about what someone who doesn't know what they are getting into would charge...on the second set they'll charge $250/pr until they learn the tricks to get the price back down to $100/pr.

The problem is that it isn't a straight press, so it needs a fixture (that can withstand about 10 tons) that stabilizes the arm during the press. I made a cradle out a wooden 4X4s that got completely crushed, just as the ball joint seated.

if I didn't need her back on the road by Monday, I'd take you up on that but ship them out to you!!

lower ball joints, inner tie rods arrived over the past 2 days; as long as weather cooperates this weekend, will replace lower control arm bushings & ball joints along with the tie rods. Then rotors & pads arrive next week for next weekends fun

Time to play!!! both tie rods and lower control arms removed - NTB is going to help me out and press out the old ball joints/bushings and press in the new tomorrow - so chilling with a cold beverage right now!!
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I have had bad luck with every NTB I have ever tried (for stuff way less challenging than a Jag BJ), so I wish you luck. If they fail, find a machine shop.