the hardest Tie Rod job i've ever done

[95-J30tt]

I was replacing the driver side tie rod last night, and a job that should take and hour or so took about 6 hours......... it is a simple job "or it should be", i dont mean to discourage anyone, i changed the passanger side tie rod last summer, and it was a breeze......., and if you have a problem removing a bolt, use dw40 or any similar penetrating spray " most people expect instant results with these sprays, but you have to be paitient and leave it in for at least 5 to 10 minutes to take effect, and it should do itfor those who dont know, this is the procedure: once the tire is removed, the tie rod can be seen "pictures provided", make sure that the car is put on park and the hand brake is fully applied as you will need to use torque to take the tie rod bolt out......, take out the pin that holds the tie rod bolt in place "it might be esier to slightly turn the bolt in the tightining direction to losen the pin", now the bolt that is used for alligning adjustment has to be losened " it is a bolt that is directly touching the end of the tie rod from the rack & pinion rod side", after this is done, remove the tie rod bolt "not sure about the size of the bolt but i think i remember a 24 metric, and it needs some torque to remove, if you have a cross tire bolts remover, some of them have the same size of the tie rod bolt, it would really help", after that, turn on the car, move the steering wheel slightly left and right "about straight position", and then hammer the bolt down with a mallet "it should come down easily", then the tie rod should fall down, then count the turns as you are removing the tie rod from the rack and pinion rod "for me it was 18 turns", after that install the new tie rods using the same number of turns "if you dont you will have an allignment problem", then insert the new tie rod in the knuckle, and tighten the tie rod bolt, make sure it is very tight, "i used a torque wrench, i'll check how tight it should be and post it", then insert the pin in, and tighten the allignment bolt "becarefull as the rack and pinion rod could turn, so hold it using a suitable tool to hold it in place while tightining the allignment bolt", and you are done......enjoy

[95-J30tt]

some pictures....

[95-J30tt]

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[95-J30tt]

i went throgh alot of trouble removing the pin from the tie rod bolt, so i had to use a saw to cut through the bolt......., again i dont mean to discourage anyone.....

[glemon]

I did mine last year, my car came from the Chicago area and has a pretty good layer of corrosion on the bottom end. I was expecting the worst, but don't remember any particular problem, much easier than some of the ones I have done on 30-40 year old cars.

So as stated, don't get discouraged or scared.