|
Nick:
Luckily, outer tie rod ends are among those items that you can purchase at your local auto parts store for around $49.00 a piece since they are made by Moog. Also, I suggest you replace the steering rack boots while you have the rods off anyway. They are made by Beck/Arnley and cost around $13.00 a piece (you need 2). Your car should have the cam steering rack which has only 20mm outer diameter versus (40mm on the unit from Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshaven). The inner diameter is an identical 57mm.
I advise you against installing used parts from a junkyard-car when it comes to front end and brake parts. It's not worth the risk since you can't really tell whether a tie rod end is "as new" or not unless you mount it. But, of course, if every penny counts, that certainly is the way to go.
Installation is faily easy, even for the unexperienced. Remove front wheels; remove nuts on top of tie rod ends; loosen counter nuts on steering rod ends NOW; use tool to press tie rods out (should be easy, otherwise use a hammer); remove tie rod ends and COUNT the turns (!) on each side separately. Most likely it will be around 12 turns of 360 degrees. Use raserblade and cut off the old boots (after you made sure the new ones are correct); clean--using a wire brush--the shafts (unless you don't care); paint (semi-gloss black) for protection; re-grease the sections underneath the boots a bit; install new boots; install counter nuts COUNTING the turns again; install new tie rod ends after you put some grease on threads; fasten all four nuts (the tie rod end nuts have to be torqued at around 100NM); install wheels; drive to front end guru and give him $30.00 to $40.00 for front end alignment.
That's it. Anyone can do it. The only difficulty you might be experiencing is that a tie rod end won't come loose due to rust on the thread (hence my advise to grease the new ones). In that case, cut of the boot on that side at that advanced time, clean, and you will see a groove where a 10mm open end spanner will fit. That should help loosen it applying brutal force on the tie rod end.
|
