Can someone on here give me either a link or something step-by-step on replacing the Inner tie-rod ends on a ZF rack on a 1985 240DL. The Bentley manual appears to have little to nothing on doing it. Thanks.
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

When removing the inner tie rods you don't want to put any rotational force on the rack as this can actually damage the gears. You want to counter hold the rack side with a large adjustable wrench to prevent this.

Maybe this will be of some help:

The complete tie rod is made of two pieces. There is the "inner tie rod" which consists of the rod itself and the ball and socket joint where it connects to the steering shaft under the rubber boot. The rod part has threads at one end where it screws to the tie rod end. At the inner end it has the ball and socket joint that allows it to move up and down with the wheel movement, etc. The end of this ball and socket joint screws onto the steering shaft that is part of the rack and pinion system.

The tie rod end that connects at the wheel is the second part of the complete tie rod assembly.

To remove the inner tie rod, you disconnect it from the tie rod end by loosening the locknut on the threaded portion of the inner tie rod and unscrewing it from the outer tie rod end. Count the exposed threads before you start so you can get it reasonably aligned when you reassemble. You don't have to remove the tie rod end at the wheel where it connects to the steering arm, but you will if you're replacing the tie rod ends also. Once this is disconnected, you can pull the boot off if you haven't already cut it off. Then you disconnect the inner tie rod from the steering shaft. There might be an obvious lock washer affair which is great, or there might be a peen that holds the inner tie rod from working its way off the shaft which would cause a loss of steering on that side of the car. The peen dents into a recession in the shaft that you won't see really well until the inner tie rod is off. If yours is the peened style like mine is, you'll have to decide how to get the peen out so you can remove the inner tie rod. I carefully filed mine off because I didn't want to beat on the steering system too much. The Volvo manual shows a guy removing it with a small chisel. If you file it, go very carefully. Otherwise you'll file down into the shoulders of the recession in the shaft and the new peen on the new tie rod won't have as secure of a lock. Hopefully, you've got the easier style with the lock washer and bent tab.

When you install the new one, you can use blue Loktite if you want. Some mechanics do this for extra safety. Be sure to support it from underneath before applying the new peen to avoid stressing the steering parts too much.

For my 81 cam gear I bought a TRW/Moog/Federal Mogul tie rod from Swedish Engineering (#1272947). This was three years ago. It was very nicely made. The steel was highly polished in comparison with others I've seen, including a different (lower grade?) TRW/Moog tie rod that was not nearly as well finished that I looked saw at CarQuest. The one from Swedish was much nicer.

When I first put it on the rack by hand, it wouldn't screw on all the way. It went on, but stopped about two full rotations shy of where it should be. It turns out that when I applied moderate pressure with a wrench it went on fine. The last couple of threads are apparently locking threads. They provide an extra lock to add to the peen. (I used some blue Loctite also, just to be sure.) Nice design. It cost $29 at the time. Maybe they have something like this for your car. Ben was the guy at Swedish these days. He was very helpful.

On the other hand, Nick at FCP might have the same thing. He's a good guy too. I did look at a Meyle from FCP at the time, and it didn't look anywhere near as nice as the one I ended up with, but it was $10 cheaper.

You might want to get new boots while you're at it. Be careful, go slow, get it aligned when done.

Good luck.
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Thanks for all the help. DougC 1981 242, Turbo bars and wheels, M46 ----------- 1993 245, B230 NA L-Block, M46, Turbo bars.

DougC,

Thanks for the information. I did notice that FCP had several different ones but I'll check out the Swedish one you mentioned as well. How thick is the tab on the peened washer, is it like a 1/16" or 1/8" or bigger? Just curious so I can figure out what tools to try.


Thanks again.
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

On mine, it wasn't the washer that was peened. It was the edge of the tie rod that threads onto the steering shaft. It took just a few minutes of filing to release the peen.
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Thanks for all the help. DougC 1981 242, Turbo bars and wheels, M46 ----------- 1993 245, B230 NA L-Block, M46, Turbo bars.

Just did the ends on my '92 Wagon- CAM rack- really tightened up the steering. Very simple provided your outer tie rod ends/locknuts are not totally rusted. Rust makes the job much harder. You might be better off installing new tie rod ends and a new locknut- I would have saved an hour by not having to reuse the locknuts (rust!).

I used a 14" pipe wrench to remove the old ones after using a small cold chisel to remove the peen; they spun right off- not much force required. Installed new ones wrench-tight with blue locktite and peened the threads onto the shaft.

Use plenty of grease on the joint after the install. Replace old boots with new if the old ones are bad. Go get an alignment afterward, though if you measure the length of the rod before removal you will be really close.

You may have the lockwasher type which is easier to deal with. It's maybe a two-hour job if you go slow.

I thought I might replace the ends at the same time. Actually I was considering replacing most of those parts all at once, Tie-Rods & Ends, Ball joints. Kind of an overhaul even though my Tie-Rod ends are in good shape. I have not done this before so it's unchartered waters for me.
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000