Replacing inner tie rods

[homer302]

I must be the world's worst at trying to find threads. I tried and tried and yet again, came up empty. Can someone please post a link to a thread that covers replacing the inner tie rods? I would appreciate it. I was really just planning on buying a whole new rack and then yesterday when I was at the dyno, a guy said it was much easier to just replace the inner tie rods. That is what is worn. The boots aren't torn and there is no leaking whatsoever. There is just excessive play on the inners. This is my GT Turbo and it is largely original. So he got me to thinking, maybe I should keep the rack since it is OEM. I know way back when these were knew, it was easier to put in a new rack than it was to change out the inners. That was a long time ago and perhaps things have changed. Any links are appreciated. I don't know why I can never get anything to come up in a search.

[Saturn V]

I like your idea. I replaced my rack and don't like the feel of the rebuilt unit (and the sorry black paint is flaking off), but I already sent my original core back to the store. Wish I had just had it rebuilt.

Anyway, I have found the forum search here to be almost useless. I don't blame the mods or anyone here, I think it's just the way the site software works (or doesn't). When I search this forum (or other forums/sites), I use the following syntax in Google. Just change the search terms as needed, or change the host name (use www instead of vb for websites), as needed.

site:vb.foureyedpride.com inner tie rod

[homer302]

Thanks for that tip! I will try that from now on. Neat idea.

Back on topic, I like NAPA/MOOG chassis parts personally so don't judge me, LOL. I have always had good luck with them. So I priced out a whole new rack and it's only $114 where 2 new inner tie rods + 2 replacement boots (they are 30+ year old rubber boots, I doubt they would survive) is $120! So it's less money to buy the whole dang thing. I did not expect that to be the case. So I can save installation time by buying just the inner tie rods but I am not saving any money.

[84StangSVT]

I dunno how easy it is but I will find out soon. I will be changing mine when I rebuild the front end in the coming week. I bought everything for the front (inner/outer tire rods, ball joints, bushings and bearings) and I didn't pay near that for them. I was out about $60 for the inner tire rods and boots. All MOOG parts are going back in.

Edit.....Watching this video on a 79 Fairmont makes it look fairly easy LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ9w7LXPXbY

[Walking-Tall]

Was going to suggest that video ^ ^ ^ ^ , watched that video over a year ago, changed my passenger side inner, and it is that easy.

[erratic50]

Autozone carries all of the various racks for foxes. They are factory OE racks remanufactured with quality internals. None I've seen were painted. If you find one that is it's likely not a remanufactured OE part. The part number for the 86GT is 2.5 lock to lock. The only difference between it and the 93 style 2.25 is a less aggressive rack limiter setting. When you measure movement vs turn, the ratios are the same and it is the ratio everyone seems to love.

My rack made it 440K with only one inner tierod replacement at 120K. Passenger side - seems to be the typical as that's what went on my 89 as well.

Changing in car isn't bad - there are plenty of videos on it- but if you want a quality steering feel I wouldn't stop there. A great quality new or remanufactured rack with new ends is the way to go.

My comments on changing out the rack are:

Most importantly get your car well up off the ground and safely supported because you may be in for a fight.

Get yourself a nice set of pry bars and a buddy - you will need them both most likely.

Beware - the rag joint bolts are a total pain if you have any corrosion.

Keep the lines sealed up as long as you can so you don't have to east nasty old PS fluid

Getting to the heads of the bolts up in the K-member was an experience I won't soon forget. Mine on the passenger side is stuck so firmly I eventually just figured out how to get the rack in and out after only taking the nut off and prying the old rack forward until off. Reassembly involved putting the rubber bushing's on the bolt and using the washer to press it back in on that side, etc. fun

You could be in for it on your outer tierod ends when you try to free them from the rack. On mine I cut them off and used a MM bump steer kit because I was going to SN95 spindles at the same time.

If you are staying stock, plan for new outlets. Don't fight it- it's easier to free the outer tierod ends from the spindles than it is to try to thread them off the ends of the rack in many cases.

Ultimately I ended up needing the jam nuts. I used a torch and impact to get them. Neither the rack nor the tierod kit came with jam nuts and nobody had them.

Get an aftermarket oil/trans cooler or use the one in your radiator if you wish if you have a stick car.

Now is THE time to replace rag joint, power steering lines, power steering pump, etc. Put on a new belt, keep the old one as your roadside emergency spare. Consider adding new struts and caster/camber plates too.

I went to a large external trans cooler on mine and eliminated the cooling loop. (Pos metal line). I added a filter on my return line before the cooler. It's the one Autozone recommends with their reman pumps.

AZ also has the pulley remover/press required for that operation. Worked like a champ.

I went to synthetic ps fluid and added under-drive pulleys on my car while I was at it. My power steering is dead silent for the first time in 30 years!

Autozone indicates this new setup needs a 15K mile fluid suck out and filter change to stay silent. Love it, so worth it. The reduced PS pump pressure by the under drive feels absolutely perfect to me - better than most modern new cars I've rented recently.

If I had it to do again I would source a larger "under-drive" PS pump pulley and a smaller "over-drive" alternator pulley and leave the rest alone. I worry about AC capacity when it's all redone and also that the water pump isn't moving enough coolant with this current under-drive setup. If you find the stuff for a 1993 cobra - buy it! Equal sized smaller crank and water pump pulleys, proportionally smaller alternator pulley. Very hard to come by stuff!

if you do swap pulleys make sure your tensioner is towards the middle when done. No "it will stretch" attitude here. Too little range of motion spells certain death to the back cover on the water pump. I speak from experience!


.

[homer302]

Holy cow. Just finished. It takes more time to change the oil in my wife's 2006 Accord than it does to change the inner tie rod ends in a Fox Mustang. No joke. So I ended up ordering MOOG parts online instead of from NAPA. One day we will miss the brick & mortar stores, I promise you all that which is why I try to buy stuff there. One day you will be trying to finish some project and round off a caliper bolt or something and Rock Auto doesn't do same day delivery and there will be no store to go get it from. But, I digress. I am off my soapbox.

The only snag I had was the instructions are a little confusing. There is a pin that goes all the way through both side of the inner tie rod and obviously through the rack shaft as well to keep it from backing out. What they do when building the rack new is install ithe tie rod and then drill that hole and drive a pin in it. Well, the new tie rod does have several holes around it but it doesn't tighten up near the OEM hole of course. The instructions say to remove the OEM pin and drive the pin provided in it. So I was confused as whether to drill a hole in the steering rack shaft or what. I finally determined that there is a recess all the way around the rack shaft and I suppose you tighten the tie rod up to spec (they provide torque specs in the instructions) and then drive this rivet in the hole and it must just go in the recess groove which keeps it from backing off. It's hard to explain. I am going to set myself a calendar reminder to pull the boot back after I drive it a week or so and make certain it is staying tight. If anyone has any insight here regarding what you did I would appreciate some feedback. Also as mentioned above, this IS a $70 project total out the door shipped to the house with MOOG parts.

[KevinK]

I did one last year or so and installed a Motorcraft part. I don't recall any instructions but not much is needed. I have seen the locking pin before probably when I did a 77 mustang 20 years ago (same part). I see the Motorcraft parts are no longer available. I was not real comfortable with just tightening the jam nut and wrapping things up. I put some removable locktite on the nut since the new unit had no pin/rivet or hole for it.

Update: Ok, yes no jam nut. I did use locktite since there was no pin.if it was to be pinned then there should have been a hole and pin provided. I guess I could have checked the Ford manual for instruction.

[homer302]

I did one last year or so and installed a Motorcraft part. I don't recall any instructions but not much is needed. I have seen the locking pin before probably when I did a 77 mustang 20 years ago (same part). I see the Motorcraft parts are no longer available. I was not real comfortable with just tightening the jam nut and wrapping things up. I put some removable locktite on the nut since the new unit had no pin/rivet or hole for it.

Thanks for the response. I am wondering if you are talking about the outer tie rod end though. The inner tie rod on a Fox has no jamb nut to lock it in place but the outer does. Maybe I am just confused about what you meant. Sorry if so. There is a U shaped groove cut all the way around the rack and pinion shaft. The new inner tie rod comes with holes drilled in it all the way around and it also comes with a rivet. Since none of the holes lined up with the hole in the shaft, I assume the rivet just drives down in that groove and that keeps it from backing off. I DO have the rivet in there and the instructions said nothing about drilling a new hole in the steering shaft so that is my belief how this all goes together.
EDIT: I bet if you bought Motorcraft ones, they are the same as OEM and the same as I described above that I removed from mine. That is why no rivet was included. You are supposed to drill a hole all the way through the inner tie rod and then drive a drift pin it to keep it from backing off.

[Jack Hidley]

No need to install the rivet/pin. On the SN95 inner tie rods, Ford didn't even have a hole in the inner toe rod for one.

[homer302]

Wow. Thanks for that. That does make me feel better....sort of. So I guess if a machine or person screws up and it doesn't get tight your wheel falls off and you just die? Seems like a dangerous strategy but I guess they can afford a settlement payout now and then.

[mb757]

You can purchase the inner tie rods from Napa for as little as $18 for the economy and $41.40 for the premium inners. They are fairly easy to install once you get the roll pin out of the old one. We used to have a small slide hammer with a tapered screw to pull the pin.

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/s...entForm-newveh

[homer302]

You can purchase the inner tie rods from Napa for as little as $18 for the economy and $41.40 for the premium inners. They are fairly easy to install once you get the roll pin out of the old one. We used to have a small slide hammer with a tapered screw to pull the pin.

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/s...entForm-newveh

Thanks for the post but I have already completed the project as noted several posts above. I am Not wasting my time on the junk (economy) ones. 2 of the good ones and 2 replacement boots is more then a new rack is at NAPA. Removing the old roll pin is the easiest part of the whole job because you don't remove it. Just put a wrench on the inner tie rod end and unscrew it. That 30+ year old roll pin sheared off on my first tug in less than 5 seconds.

[84StangSVT]

Glad to hear this is as easy as it sounds. Thanks for the additional insight on the installation of the pins.

[homer302]

Also, if your car is properly lined up now, I would take some string from the rear end to the front and check the alignment now and then set it back to the same after you are done. In that video, he takes measurements and also counts how many turns the outer tie rod is screwed on. I would also recommend that. Most people think I am stupid but I have always lined up my own Mustangs. It is the easiest car on the planet to line up. Especially since you are only changing the toe by replacing the inner and outer tie rods and not caster or camber. Also, before you start put a piece of tape on the back side of the tires and on the front side. Put a vertical line on each piece of tape and then measure the distance between the left and right sides and write it down on the tape. The front measurement should be ever so slightly less than the back side of the tires as it should be "toed in" slightly. With some care and proper measuring, you can put it right back where it was. Then when you are done, make sure the steering wheel is dead straight, put the wheels back on and get your measurements back to what they were before. It's not quick by any means. I did the alignment yesterday afternoon and it took me 2 hours to get it perfect but my steering wheel is straight, it didn't cost me anything, and I didn't have to wait in some shop while some kid drives my car and does the same thing I can do myself.

[84StangSVT]

Also, if your car is properly lined up now, I would take some string from the rear end to the front and check the alignment now and then set it back to the same after you are done. In that video, he takes measurements and also counts how many turns the outer tie rod is screwed on. I would also recommend that. Most people think I am stupid but I have always lined up my own Mustangs. It is the easiest car on the planet to line up. Especially since you are only changing the toe by replacing the inner and outer tie rods and not caster or camber. Also, before you start put a piece of tape on the back side of the tires and on the front side. Put a vertical line on each piece of tape and then measure the distance between the left and right sides and write it down on the tape. The front measurement should be ever so slightly less than the back side of the tires as it should be "toed in" slightly. With some care and proper measuring, you can put it right back where it was. Then when you are done, make sure the steering wheel is dead straight, put the wheels back on and get your measurements back to what they were before. It's not quick by any means. I did the alignment yesterday afternoon and it took me 2 hours to get it perfect but my steering wheel is straight, it didn't cost me anything, and I didn't have to wait in some shop while some kid drives my car and does the same thing I can do myself.

I will be changing the inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings, struts, lowering springs and installing aftermarket camber/caster plates. The front end did the hokey pokey due to all the worn out parts but it went straight down the road.

Would the advice above still be pertinent even with all the changes I am making?

[homer302]

The biggest problem you are going to have is getting the camber back right. You probably want to get it done at a shop if you are doing all that but then I can tell you most shops don't know what caster plates even are and they only have specs for a stock setup. So you should download the specs you want from Maximum Motorsports website or some place similar and just say HERE - set it up to these specs.

But, I would do that as 2 projects and I did line my SN95 up by myself when I put new springs, struts and Steeda caster plates on it. It's been quite a few years ago and the tire wear is perfect. I would start with replacing the control arm bushings, ball joints and inner and outer tie rod ends. I would use the method above to set everything back so it drives straight and the steering wheel is straight again. Then I would do the springs, struts and caster plates as another project. That way you are only messing with one plane at a time. The plates and springs will only affect the camber and caster. I use a vertical level on the outside surface of the wheels before I start and then after the parts are installed, adjust the camber back like it was. The top of the wheel should be ever so slightly in from the bottom of the wheel or at WORST just perfectly vertically level. You don't want the top of the wheel "out" from level if that makes sense or very far in either. Too much either way will produce RAPID tire wear.
The caster you can't really measure without some tools and trigonometry but that won't affect tire wear. At least you would be able to put some test miles on it and get everything settled without having to immediately drive to the alignment shop. Just make sure the top of the strut is pulled back toward the firewall from vertical so the strut is leaning back.

[84StangSVT]

I will do that. There are a couple shops around here that are familiar with aligning these cars with camber/caster plates and heavy mods, so I should be ok there. I just need to get it close enough so I can actually drive it to them.

[homer302]

I know around here they charge for time on a custom alignment, not just $119 for an alignment type of thing. So if you are very near the ballpark, they are going to cut you a better price because you made their job easier. If you show up with the steering wheel upside down and one wheel pointing left and the other right, it's going to take a while!

[84StangSVT]

I know around here they charge for time on a custom alignment, not just $119 for an alignment type of thing. So if you are very near the ballpark, they are going to cut you a better price because you made their job easier. If you show up with the steering wheel upside down and one wheel pointing left and the other right, it's going to take a while!

Ironically when I worked at the shop, we had numerous customers bring in something that resembled that. The customers never understood the extra charges, but the alignment techs always enjoyed it as their part of the commission went up.

[vintageracer]

This is an observation I have made over the years from replacement of front suspension parts on Foxbody cars over the years.

The first tie rod end to go bad is always the right front "inner" tie-rod along with the first sway bar bushing to go bad being the left front "frame" mounted rubber sway bar bushing.

Not really sure why however I can't tell how many times this has been the situation that required repair!

[vintageracer]

This is an observation I have made over the years from replacement of front suspension parts on Foxbody cars over the years.

The first tie rod end to go bad is always the right front "inner" tie-rod along with the first sway bar bushing to go bad being the left front "frame" mounted rubber sway bar bushing.

Not really sure why however I can't tell how many times this has been the situation that required repair!

[erratic50]

You can buy a gauge for both caster and camber. Jegs carries them for not a lot. With many wheels you need an adapter to use it. With my SN95 spindles it worked with junkyard spares on both corners.
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...FUm2wAodXL0Miw

Toe is pretty simple to measure too.

I did everything on mine all at once. The biggest problem by far was getting out the A arm bolts. There is a seam in the sleeve that you can force a punch into if necessary - that's how one of mine finally came off, the other was 30+ Lennox blades later.



Then there were the oblonged A arm bolt holes in the K member. Those required washers and a welder and a lot of measurements. See pict at the end. Sorry but the image appears upside down here.


A arms are not really worth your time to rebuild. You can buy fox arms with X2 balljoints or standard pre installed, makes life WAY easier. If you do press in new bushings be sure to get them going the correct way. If you do rebuild yours, the bushings only go one way and the kits are not clear about it. Also be sure both sides are identical. And for pitty's sake tack weld the ball joints in! I've heard multiple reports of guys totaling cars because their new ballpoint exited its location under load.

Also don't assume you need new ones automatically. Mine had 440K and were not just OK but nice! Believe it or not. I switched to greaseable X2s as part of my SN95 spindle swap to help drop ride height, avoid shims, and improve geometry from a bump steer situation perspective so my stack could be a bit less crazy. otherwise staying stock would have been a no brainier.