Tie rod end

[Caddycabby]

I went to vw for a wheel alignment (as Jeff recomended after he fixed my car in P.A.) and they said no, first we'll have to replace your tie rod end for 300 bucks. I said no, hoping i could do it cheaper as I think I did one in school on a caddilac.

Is it easy or do I need fancy tools?

[PDX Cabby]

lol
yeah
easy work
they thread on

[tolusina]

.....have to replace your tie rod end for 300 bucks. I said no, hoping i could do it cheaper ....

Inner or outer? Power or manual steering? What year car?

[Briano1234]

Easy depends on the tie-rod and how bad it is and if it is rust welded into place. One of my cabbys was 15 minutes per/side. The Other cabby was 2 hours and a blow torch... was involved... No Two cars are alike I am afraid.

[Caddycabby]

I have an 89 with power steering, outer TRE needs replacing(vw wanted to replace the whole deal But I couldn't really see any thing wrong with the rest)

Things have escaladed. the tie rod end isn't that bad, there is no play but the rubber boot bushing thing is worn out and its supposed to be replaced before the alignment.

Then my power steering got tough so I called Randy at C1. He told me it was most likely the pump then suggested I get rid of the power steering all together and go to manual steering, which would be nice. He gave me prices on parts and left me to ponder. Am I capable of doing the whole change out myself? (6-$700 done by them) The bentley tells me its rather difficult. or should I just replace the pump, change the outer tie rod end and go from there?

don't i need a puller for the TRE of do i just us a hammer?

[thingmon]

Haven't done my cab's yet but done other cars in the past. Hopefully yours are similar. If you have the time, try doing it yourself. You can't break it any worse than it is...(hopefully). Worst comes to worst, you'll pay the man but you'll have some new tools

Torch tip (get the self sparking trigger kind, strikers are a PITA)
Propane or MAPP bottle
Pickle fork or whatever they suggest in the Bentley.
WD40 or other penetrating oil (may help)
follow the manual
try to mark the new one as close as posisible to the old one (count turns or just measure) that way the alignment won't be too far off and you won't tear up the tires on the way to the alignment shop.

Braino, er Briano posted an easy alignment thread awhile back, see if you can locate it. May be here, Vortex or 152... I don't remember. Alzheimers sucks.

Good Luck.

[Briano1234]

TRE are one of the easier jobs on the suspension to do. You will need a tie-rod seperator, or small pitman arm to pop it loose.

You will need to slightly back off the jam nut no more than one rotation.

take out the cotter pin from the castleated nut loosen the nut tote very end then using a tie-rod seperator (pitman arm) tool you are going to press it out.

Then unscrew from the inner tie-rod.


If the power steering pump is bad go to a wrecker and get a new /used one. I would mage sure that your fluid is okay first.

To replace the rack is a real Pain in the ass.....
You will have to remove both tie-rods, all the shifter linkage on the tranny, the exhaust down pipe, disconnect the steering shaft from the rack then remove the rack from the mounts and then disconnect the hoses.


I would say go to a wrecking yard and get a new power steering pump first, but then if your rack is leaking you will need a new one of them. At the yard they aren't that much new about 199 plus core.


It depends on your skill level, and how comfortable you are when working upside down on your back, (unless you have a lift).

Changing from ps to manual is doable......

[tolusina]

...... the tie rod end isn't that bad, there is no play but the rubber boot bushing thing is worn out and its supposed to be replaced before the alignment.

Then my power steering got tough .......

don't i need a puller for the TRE of do i just us a hammer?

If it's only a bad boot but the joint is fine, just replace the boot. As far as I know, they were never offered as spares for Liquid Cooled cars, but the boots are identical to '69 through '79 Air Cooled Bug tie rod end boots.
Do a little shopping, I found these pretty quickly....
http://aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproduc ... 05&cartid=
(hope that link works)

Often, the taper of the tie rod end can be broken from the steering arm eye using only two hammers, once the cotter and nut are removed.
Figure out where you can smack the steering eye, perpendicular to the center line of the hole, back it up with the second hammer directly opposite where you plan to hit. A few solid whacks usually pops them loose. DO NOT hit the threaded section, that part easily mushrooms, we hate that.
Your sucess using this method is inversely proportional to the age of any rust present.
Pitmann arm pullers work well. Only use a pickle fork on a joint that is certain to be replaced. Sometimes, the dual hammer method combined with a pitmann arm puller is necessary, even the toughest rust can't resist that combo.

Once you get the old boot off, pack that joint with grease.
_________________

Unless your rack is leaking, easy to tell, look at the boots, I've got to agree with Brian about the power steering, go with a junkyard pump, they are cheap and easy.
Rack replacement is one of the more difficult jobs on these cars. Conversion to manual will also require a complete tie rod change. I feel it's a major performance downgrade as well. The power rack has a much quicker ratio than the manual rack, 3 1/3 turns lock to lock with power, 3 3/4 turns for manual.

If you do go with the pump change, once it's on, thoroughly flush the system.
Take the return hose off of the reservoir, stuff a cork or similar into the reservoir port, run the hose to a catch can.
From here, best done with a helper in the driver's seat.
Fill The reservoir. Helper steers the wheels full lock, either side, helper starts the engine and starts pumping fluid through, don't let it go dry. Helper should steer lock to lock at least two times as you continually keep up with the fluid loss into the catch can.
Once the fluid going into the catch is fresh, clean and bright red, you're done, button it up.

[Caddycabby]

All right, the tie rod end was a snap, I tapped the taper with a hammer a few times and it popped right up, little tough twisting it off but I won. I Put in a new power steering pump and flushed it out real good. Then I finaly got my wheel alignment. I sure hope I'm set to go to Vancouver island in the next few weeks. Thanks for the advice.

[speedtek]

Awesome!!! Good to see you tackling the big jobs yourself Tony...told ya you could do it.