LX Forums Forum banner

HOW TO: Inner & Outer Tie Rod Replacement

157K views 92 replies 60 participants last post by  jjo 
#1 ·
As part of my entire front suspension upgrade on my 2005 3.5L V6 RWD 300, the Inner and Outer Tie Rods are getting replaced. I'm replacing the stock/OEM ones with MOOG parts. Please note, that I am removing all parts on the front end, but this write up is exclusive to the Tie Rods so some pictures will have a different view than what you will experience as I already removed all components.

Besides the MOOG Tie Rod ends you will also need two new 2 3/4 inch hose clamps. These can be purchased at any auto parts retailer.

Let's get started:

First loosen your lug nuts, jack the car up and place on jack stands then remove the lug nuts and front wheels. Here is where you should be after that...





Next we need to loosen the nut on the outer ball joint where it attaches to the knuckle. You do not need to hold the ball joint in place during this step. So using a 21mm deep socket or open ended wrench, we need to loosen the nut. Once loosened, back the nut off 3-6 turns, so you create roughly 1/8 inch of gap between nut and knuckle surface. (This is to give clearance for the ball joint to POP)

Now we need to POP the ball joint loose at the knuckle. You can use a pickle fork tool, but in my case I purchased a Miller 9360 Ball Joint Separator tool. Pictured here...



The U shaped part of this tool fits inbetween the ball joint and knuckle, and the other part rests against the ball joint stem that the nut is attached to. The chain is used to wrap around another part so during the process if it were to slip, you aren't injured or another part is damaged. Simply turn the screw in the standard righty tighty sequence to make this tool POP the seal of the parts. NOTE: I didn't take pictures of popping this specific ball joint, however I have included pictures of the tool on the Upper Control Arm system for clarity of the process involved to POP the joint loose...





Now that we have that POP'd loose, we can take a 10mm socket and 21mm open wrench or adjustable wrench to remove the nut from the ball joint stud. (I didn't have a 21mm, so I used a 7/8 wrench)



Now that we have the nut off, just slide the ball joint stud from the knuckle and now we're left with this. (again I'm replacing everything, hence only the tie rods present)



Now lets remove the small clamp by pinching the ends together with some type of pliers and slide it down out of the way. Try not to damage the clamp or boot as we'll reuse these with the new parts as long as they are not damaged.





Now we need to remove the larger clamp from the top of the boot. This can be turned to access where it holds it's self together for easier removal. I used the same pliers to remove it as I didn't plan to reuse. That's what we'll use one of our new 2 3/4 hose clamp for on reinstall.



With clamps removed, now slide the boot down and out of the way. This will take a little force or maneuvering just to remove it from the groove at the smaller end of the boot as it's seated in the rod.





This now exposes the Inner Tie Rod nut that is tightened onto the steering rack. The white/yellow plastic washer can be pushed back slightly on the steering rack rod so it's out of the way.





Now I took an adjustable wrench as I didn't have an open ended wrench large enough to grip the nut for loosening. Once you break the initial hold, the inner tie rod nut will spin freely. By hand just spin the inner tie rod so it easily comes out of the steering rack. Try not to damage the inner threads of the rack housing.



Next we need to loosen the jam nut on the outer tie rod end so we can spin off the outer tie rod ball joint from the inner tie rod. I used my bench vise to hold the jam nut while I turned the outer ball joint housing itself to loosen the hold. Again, used my adjustable wrench for this process.



With the nut loose from the outer tie rod, we need to count the number of turns it takes to remove the outer tie rod ball joint from the rod. Remember the count or right it down as we'll install the new tie rod end the same number of turns that it took to remove.



Once you have the count and the tie rod end removed, spin off the old jam nut and remove the small clamp and boot. Here are the old (on left) and new (on right) Tie Rod ends...



Lastly we need to re-install everything in the reverse and torque to specs.

1. Put the boot on the new inner tie rod and then just slide on the small clamp, don't clamp the boot just yet, wait till you have the inner tie rod installed on the car.
2. Now spin your new jam nut on the rod past the point where your outer tie rod will spin to.
3. Using the Red locktite that was supplied with the tie rod ends, place a liberal about on the threads and spin the outer tie rod on the rod for the same number of turns that you removed the old one and tighten to spec.
4. Again put some locktite on the threads of the inner tie rod stud and spin by hand the inner tie rod into the steering rack housing, then tighten to spec.
5. Slide boot up onto steering rack and use new 2 3/4 inch hose clamp to secure the upper portion of the boot.
6. With the smaller portion of the boot in the rod groove, pinch the small clamp and place at base of boot.

This is what we now have...





Place the Outer Tie Rod stud back into the knuckle and torque to spec. You'll notice that the MOOG ball joint stud is different than the OEM we removed. The MOOG stud uses a crown nut with cotter pin and also a grease fitting that gets screwed into the bottom of the ball joint. I didn't take a pick of putting the grease fitting in the bacll joint, but it's easy. Just do that as the last step so you don't break it off. That's pretty much it. Just remember to get an alignment once completed since we may have altered the current alignment just a bit.

Hopes this helps you complete this on your own and save some dough.
 
See less See more
20
#3 ·
Just curious, any particular reason you didn't use a crimp band like factory? If not crimp band, I use thin steel ziptie from work, works great and doesn't have the added offset weight of the screw mount on it.
 
#4 ·
Just curious, any particular reason you didn't use a crimp band like factory? If not crimp band, I use thin steel ziptie from work, works great and doesn't have the added offset weight of the screw mount on it.
There is no added benefit of using one over the other except ease of use and availability. It's simply used to keep the boot in place so dirt and water doesn't damage the inner tie rod ball joint. As for added offset weight, I seriously doubt that even comes into the equation. I have had these new ones installed for at least a month now since doing my suspension upgrade and have only seen positive results of replacing the OEM ones.
 
#5 ·
Also remember that the hose clamp is on the steering rack boot and not a CV boot, so any potential offset weight caused by the hose clamp screw wouldn't make any difference since that boot does not spin.

As a side note, I would make sure that you use a stainless or a marine grade clamps on the boots. A couple of seasons of weather will cause the screw to rust out on regular clamps.

Nice write up!
 
#8 ·
Question: just got a call from the old man neighbor, needs a hand with his 05 RT Magnum.

he needs to replace the INNER TIE RODS. now i havent been over there yet but he says the outer is off.

he cant seem to get at the nut to remove inner tie rod. says the nut is up inside the rack tube ? and he cant get at it.

any ideas? or is he missing something?

TIA
 
#9 ·
Question: just got a call from the old man neighbor, needs a hand with his 05 RT Magnum.

he needs to replace the INNER TIE RODS. now i havent been over there yet but he says the outer is off.

he cant seem to get at the nut to remove inner tie rod. says the nut is up inside the rack tube ? and he cant get at it.

any ideas? or is he missing something?

TIA
Any pics to see what he's talking about?
 
#10 ·
Just a quick question...i have a rattling noise in my front end, and im pretty sure its the outta tie rod...is it okay just to change the outer and not touch the inner? and should there be ANY movement in the outer when its completly fastened down? thanks
 
#13 ·
most audbile rattling noises are caused by tension struts, a way to check tie rods is put the car on a lift wiggle the tires and look for play in the tie rods. Also another part that rattles differently makes it sound like your front end is falling off is a sway link. if you can get a feel on what side of the car the noise is the most pronounced you can actaully detach the sway link from the sway and let it hang there while you drive around over the roads that cause the suspension to make the noise. if the noise is gone thats the indicator your sway link is bad. as for the tension struts i have found no easy way to see if these are bad, some people get cracks or tears in the boots at the joint mine did not.
 
#12 ·
ok. he had the wheels cocked when he parked it in the garage so the nut was up inside the tube, i had him start it up, and turn the wheel a tiny bit until both side were even. then the nut was accesible, just like your photos.


THANKS!
 
#15 ·
I picked up mine(miller tool) on ebay, there are a lot of Miller tools from closed Chrysler stores on ebay. I paid less than half of the cost of a new one- and it looked new when I got it.
 
#16 ·
Great writeup! Probably doing this fix this weekend or next. Absolutely invaluable to me because I've never replaced a tierod before.

Beans.
 
#21 ·
thats the right part. 32.79 at rockauto.com

you can get them from the dealer as well. dont have part number.
 
#24 ·
Definitely! I have no intenions of removing them from Photobucket. :thumbs_u:
 
#26 ·
Sorry for the late response, just seen this question. I changed them out since I was swapping out the entire front suspension. I wanted everything to be fresh.
 
#29 ·
This is a great write up. I am in the process of replacing my outter tie rod ends and while I am at it how do I know if the inner ones need replacing? I already have the outters but I would hate to get started on it and then find out i need to replace the inners too without having while i have the outters off.
 
#32 ·
Thanks for the write-up! Just followed it and everything went pretty smoothly. Had to run to the auto parts store to get a large enough wrench to remove the inner tie rod, but other than that it went pretty good.

Any ideas when the outer should be greased since it has the fitting on it?
I'd say when you are under there for an oil change, personally.
 
#35 ·
Just saw this thread. great write up
 
#37 ·
Just found this thread after getting my car back from the dealer. During the oil change, they discovered my tie rods are shot, and the steering rack leaks pretty bad.

I'm in the process of trying to do more work on my car by myself. I see the tie rods are fairly straight forward (excellent write up, btw) but I was wondering if anyone has any experience changing the entire steering rack. If I have access to a lift, how much work is involved in replacing the old one on?

The dealer quoted a price of $2k to do it, but I found the steering rack over at AutoParts Warehouse for $200. Which leads me to believe it's either a LOT of labor, or the dealer charges a ridiculous price for the rack assembly (or both).
 
#38 ·
I would say it is a bit of both there. You have to drop the rack when you swap in Pedders steering bushings, and it only takes a couple of bolts to drop it. From there, you would have to undo the lines, and the tie rod ends. If you have access to a lift, I don't think it would be that hard to accomplish.
 
#39 ·
Thanks for the quick reply. From the images, it didn't look like there were too many other things in the way of getting to the rack.

At 62k miles, is there anything else I should be looking at replacing while I have it up on the lift? You mentioned you replaced the bushings, was that strictly for performance? or did the stock ones wear out on you?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top