AWD tie rod replacement
OBLIVION did an awesome job with the How To! I wanted to share some pictures of my replacement on a 2005 Magnum R/T AWD and provide some extra tips I discovered along the way. First, there are obvious differences between the RWD and AWD LX chassis. The lower strut mount is split to allow passage of the front drive shaft and the steering rack is moved aft. This puts the outer tie rod end ball joint farther back. Probably because of this change in geometry, there is an offset in the outer tie rod shaft which creates a left and right side part. Here's a wheel-off picture of the right-side stock tie rod. (Note: my quota for all pictures on this BB is 97.1kb so I had to delete most pictures and shrink the rest to postage stamp size. Moderator: please up my quota to 10MB so I can upload some pictures.)
![Building Water Automotive tire Event Soil]()
Since the ball joint for this vehicle is not actually in the steering arm (it remains part of the tie rod end), a ball separator is not needed (although some may find it easier to push the bolt out in rust prone climates.) A single blow from a light hammer is all it took to pop my bolt out. I used a bungee cord to catch the rod from falling and possibly damaging the steering rack shaft.
The inner tie rod end was easy to remove on the left side, but appeared to be seized on the right. First, I used a crescent wrench but could not get enough leverage to move the fitting. I even used a bottle jack to press up on the crescent wrench handle and apply a torque but noticed that the steering rack shaft was starting to deflect. I tried to use a pipe wrench to hold the steering rack shaft still but gave up on this since I could not get bite on the shaft without potentially marring the shaft surface which would cause leaks in the power steering eventually (by abrading the seals). After $40 and a 90 minute round trip to Harbor Freight, I was equipped with an inner tie rod removal tool. This kit comes with a series of crow feet-like wrenches for different makes and models then uses two tabs to lock into a metal tube. The tube fits neatly over the inner tie rod end (the outer tie rod has to be removed first) and then accepts a 1/2" drive at the other end of the tube. I turned the steering wheel to move the shaft closer to the steering rack to minimize deflection and set up a jack stand to keep the pressure on the inner tie rod as close to perfectly rotational as possible. With hardly any sweat, the inner tie rod began to turn, making me wonder why I spent two hours messing with crescent wrenches and jacks.
To break torque on the adjustment retaining nut between the two tie rod ends, I had to use a pair of SAE box wrenches. The sizes are metric and I didn't have the money to buy odd size metric tools. The AWD outer tie rod end offset makes applying torque to the nut difficult but with enough elbow grease, I was able to break it loose.
Some people recommend counting threads or turns on the stock tie rods and then duplicating that on the replacement rods to ensure a good alignment after the install. This is not a viable idea. This picture shows that both Moog inner rods and the stock inner rod are all different. Even the groove that picks up the inner tie rod boot was in a different place on each of the two Moog parts (with identical part numbers). Measuring the length of the stock rods with a tape measure is the simplest idea. No matter what, you are going to want to get an alignment after any major procedure like this.
![Water Liquid Cylinder Skyscraper Metal]()
Since there were no instructions from Moog on the tie rod end install, I looked up the torque specs in the Shop Manual. There were specs on the outer tie rod bolt and nut, and spec on the retaining nut, but nothing for the inner tie rod joint. After some research, I found the inner tie rod is considered a non-serviceable item so there is no spec in the manual. I called the Moog tech line and discussed this. On the phone we decided that the red loctite that came with the Moog kit was intended for the inner rod end threads only and that torque should be kept to a minimum to avoid damage to the steering rack. I ran mine up to 40 foot-lbs and I used the handy Harbor Freight tie rod tool again to get an accurate reading with my torque wrench.
The Moogs use a zerk grease fitting on the outer ball joint and this needs to be screwed into place with a 9/32" wrench.
After finishing, the install, I drove the Magnum to my local "ma and pa" garage. I was a little disappointed to learn that they did not have computerized printout of the before and after settings, but it's a small outfit after all. After the operation, I was even more disappointed to learn that the price for a 2-wheel alignment was the same as what other shops charge for a four, and that they forgot to grease the outer ball joints. Oh, well.
So when I got home, I took the front wheels off to grease the outer balls myself. I was exceptionally disheartened to see that when the alignment occurred, the tech put turns on the inner tie rod without using a wrench on the outer tie rod to hold it still. This meant that the zerk fitting rotated down and into the inside diameter of the wheel and had to absorb all of the force as the tie rod was tightened up. Also, I saw that the zerk fitting had lathed a groove into the inside of my wheel as I drove home. I had to remove the zerk from the other ball joint and use it to apply grease, then I put the bent one back in to act as a plug. Be exceptionally careful that the outer tie rod ends do not impact the inside of the wheel which could cause major damage if not caught in time. Oh yeah, I used a full synthetic grease for the ball joints and only put enough in to cause the boots to bulge a little. I did not want to put so much in that the grease exploded out all over the place and possibly tear the boot.
![Tire Automotive tire Automotive lighting Wheel Rim]()
Overall, I recommend this procedure to anyone that has the stock tie rods in these years. They appear to be prone to failure and the Moog parts come highly recommended.
