replacing tie rods...easy?
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Its a cake job.
Does that 160 include an alignment afterwards?
To do it yourself you will need.
1. The new tie Rods
2. Air Hammer (not needed but makes it easier)
3. Pickle Fork/Tie rod speader
4. Grease Gun
5. Wrench
6. Jack (easier to pull tie rods with wheel removed IMO)
Take the nuts of the old tie rods and seperate the outer tie rod from the spindle and the inner from connecting bar (forgot name).
Take the inner and outers out in one peice so you can set up your new inner and outers with adjusting sleeve to the same size.
Do this on both sides. Reinstall, torq bolts, install cotter pin and grease fittings.
If you get the new Rod close enough to same length as the old you might be able to get away without an alignment.
Does that 160 include an alignment afterwards?
To do it yourself you will need.
1. The new tie Rods
2. Air Hammer (not needed but makes it easier)
3. Pickle Fork/Tie rod speader
4. Grease Gun
5. Wrench
6. Jack (easier to pull tie rods with wheel removed IMO)
Take the nuts of the old tie rods and seperate the outer tie rod from the spindle and the inner from connecting bar (forgot name).
Take the inner and outers out in one peice so you can set up your new inner and outers with adjusting sleeve to the same size.
Do this on both sides. Reinstall, torq bolts, install cotter pin and grease fittings.
If you get the new Rod close enough to same length as the old you might be able to get away without an alignment.
It's very simple. The hardest part for me has always been getting the tie rods out. They get pretty tight. If you don't have a pickle fork to get them lose, try this:
Take the nuts off the (outer) tie rod. Turn it upside down, and beat the crap out of it with a hammer. This method is of course if you're replacing the tie rod, because any hitting of the rod will damage the threads and/or nut. After it breaks lose, take the nut off (probably harder because the threads were damaged..so use a wrench), and finish poking it out with a large phillps screwdriver.
The same can be down for the inner tie rods. Make sure you get jack stands when getting under a car. Don't relay on a jack or cinder blocks or bricks. The $10-$20 for jack stands are worth the investment.
As previous said, there are basically some nuts that keep the sleeves (what the tie rods go into) on the rods. Loosen the nuts. The "count the turns" method is valid if the tie rod buy as a replacement is the same as the orig tie rod (which is usually the case). Anyway, you need to get it aligned afterwards. Call before you take it to an alignment shop. Since they use computers these days, some computers don't have these old cars in them, and the data cannot be manually entered. I had to call about 5 places before I found an old school guy who did a great job. (Alan Hendric in East Nashville off of gallatin road near the eastland intersection for those future readers).
Good luck.
Take the nuts off the (outer) tie rod. Turn it upside down, and beat the crap out of it with a hammer. This method is of course if you're replacing the tie rod, because any hitting of the rod will damage the threads and/or nut. After it breaks lose, take the nut off (probably harder because the threads were damaged..so use a wrench), and finish poking it out with a large phillps screwdriver.
The same can be down for the inner tie rods. Make sure you get jack stands when getting under a car. Don't relay on a jack or cinder blocks or bricks. The $10-$20 for jack stands are worth the investment.
As previous said, there are basically some nuts that keep the sleeves (what the tie rods go into) on the rods. Loosen the nuts. The "count the turns" method is valid if the tie rod buy as a replacement is the same as the orig tie rod (which is usually the case). Anyway, you need to get it aligned afterwards. Call before you take it to an alignment shop. Since they use computers these days, some computers don't have these old cars in them, and the data cannot be manually entered. I had to call about 5 places before I found an old school guy who did a great job. (Alan Hendric in East Nashville off of gallatin road near the eastland intersection for those future readers).
Good luck.
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