Anyone have a link on how to change the inner tie rods? I’ve changed ball joints and out tie rods but never attempted the inners cuz it looks “complicated”. Any directions/suggestions are appreciated… thanks!
Hey Hybrid…See if this helps ya!
http://www.team-integra.net/forum/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=14&TopicID=244578&PagePosition=6
Lemme know I may have to do this soon too.
[QUOTE=Zenmachine;1980351]Hey Hybrid…See if this helps ya!
http://www.team-integra.net/forum/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=14&TopicID=244578&PagePosition=6
Lemme know I may have to do this soon too.[/QUOTE]
Zen - thanks for the link but it’s not exactly what I was looking for. The link shows mainly how to change the outer tie rods, I already know how to do that… I just need to know how to change the inner tie rods…
damn sry, i searched for inner. Should have checked futher before I linked. 
Hey hybrid, how do you know these components are ok or not anyway?
My tie rod ends seem fine, boots intact and they are fairly stiff when I roll them from side to side…So I guess they are ok?
the inners I have no idea, other than obviously them being inside those boots. Boots are in good shape it looks like. When i removed the tie rod end from the LCA yesterday I noticed you could spin the tie rod end 360 degrees in either direction…But I am guessing thats normal, meaning the join inside the boot is a ball/socket that spins when not attached to anything.
[QUOTE=Zenmachine;1980410]damn sry, i searched for inner. Should have checked futher before I linked.
Hey hybrid, how do you know these components are ok or not anyway?
My tie rod ends seem fine, boots intact and they are fairly stiff when I roll them from side to side…So I guess they are ok?
the inners I have no idea, other than obviously them being inside those boots. Boots are in good shape it looks like. When i removed the tie rod end from the LCA yesterday I noticed you could spin the tie rod end 360 degrees in either direction…But I am guessing thats normal, meaning the join inside the boot is a ball/socket that spins when not attached to anything.[/QUOTE]
To test your out tie rods, jack the car up by the lca’s and then shake your tire from 3 to 6 o’clock, if you see a lil play (up and down) in the tie rod ends, then they are shot and needs to be replaced.
For the inner tie rods, with yoru thumb and index finger, feel through the boot and located the joint then have someone shake the steering wheel back and forth and see if you can feel the joints being loose… if it is, replace it.
When the inners go out, you can also have lots of clunking when turning… or going over bumps… but then again… clunking can also be ball joints as well…
So no one has any experience changing the inner tie rods? If so, how hard is it and can you change the inners without having to take off the steering rack?
it’s very easy. take the boot off, loosen the lock nut on the outer tie rod end side and unscrew the inner socket out. once you take the boot off you’ll understand. its very straight forward. if you can change a balljoint and outer tie rod, the inner is the same stuff.
here look at this pic and you’ll understand.
But I’ve read somewhere on HT that you would have to keep the steering rack end from not spinning or else you’re going to mess up the rack? What’s that all about? I quite don’t understand that part. Do I need a special tool to take the inner tie rods out or can I use just regular tools. Is it the same procedure for both sides? Thanks!
to be honest ive never changed one on an integra. but i am a mechanic and usually theres a flat side on the steering rack that you can put a wrench on to hold it while you unscrew it. if theres no flat spot i guess i would just use a pair of vice grips and try it that way.
I hope that this helps!!
the passenger side is very easy, the driver side is a b!tch!! The hardest part of changing the inner tie rods is bending back the crush washer (#13 in the diagram) A lot of people say that it is easy if you just remove the rack, it is do-able while on the car. I will try to help you out as much as I can. The obvious is that you need to raise the car up, take the wheel off, etc… Depending on what side you are working on you are going to want to turn the wheel all the way toward the side you are working on. Next you want to remove the clamp that is holding the bellows to the rack and pull it toward you until you are able to see the inner tie rod. Here is what is a b!tch, you can either rent a tool that will “pop” the inner tie rod loose, which I did not use when I changed mine, or you can take a screw drive/chisel/ whatever you can get your hands on and bend the #13 washer back until it is flush. *with the inner tie rod tool that you rent you have to remove the outer tie rod. I chose to do it the hard way so that I would be able to use the old inner tie rod w/ the outer tie rod on it to give me a rough idea of where to line up the outer tie rod relative to the new inner tie rod.
Okay, now that you have the #13 washer flattened out the next thing you are going to want to do is remove the outer tie rod from the knuckle (leave the outer tie rod connected to the inner). Next you are going to need two box end wrenches, I am sorry that I dont remember the size but anyway, there are two flat grooves on the rack rod for a wrench. There is also a place on the back of the inner tie rod for a wrench to fit. So, you have your wrenches on both spots and you are going to want to push up with the wrench on the rack rod and down with the wrench on the old inner tie rod; it should loosen up easily. Unscrew the inner tie rod from the rack rod and you should have the inner and outer tie rods in your hand.
To line up where the outer tie rod would be on the new inner, I took the old inner and placed it beside the new inner and marked where the lock nut would end up if it was on the new inner. I am sure there other ways of doing this but this is what I did. The way that I marked it is by using teflon tape, I tried using a marker and it did not turn out so well.
Remove the outer rod from the inner rod and try and line up the outer to your mark on your new inner rod. *Note that it is a good idea to purchase new #12 and #13 washers when doing this. When ready to put on your new inner rod you are going to place washer #13 on the back of the inner tie rod first and then washer #12. On washer #13 there are two little “fingers” that stick out, you want to make sure that those fingers fit into the two “grooves” on the rack rod, it is kind of obvious when you look at it. Then you tighten the inner rod to the rack rod. After it is nice and tight, here comes the hard part, you have to bend forward the #13 washer so it hugs the flat wrench parts that you used to tighten the inner rod to the rack rod. This step took me the longest. Put everything back together and you should be good as gold. Word to the wise, buy extra #13 washers!!
I did not get a chance to do the driver side; after looking at it I felt that it would be a real pain in the a$$. It would be very time consuming, beware!!
I hope that this helps out a little, it would be better if I had pictures. Dont forget to get an alignment!! If there are any questions, feel free to email me: neoquantum@aol.com
wow you make it sound way to complicated!! it takes me 30-40 min on average to change an inner tie rod. and you just confirmed that there is a flat spot to put a wrench. not to sure the whole story behind the washers but it cant be that hard.
Thanks Cereal! That was very very detailed but yet seemed very complicated. Instead of using two wrenches to break the inner tie rod loose… can you get one of those long pipe looking tool to get it off instead? Something like this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96558 I’ve seen this tool used from vids on Youtube but it was all used on American cars… don’t know about Hondas/Acuras.
Well from the vids on Youtube, it looks to be very straight forward and simple but didn’t mention anything about the “pain in the ass” washer that you’re talking about… I’ll just print out your directions and tried to tackle it this wekend… thanks a bunch guys for all your input! :rockon:
Oh yeah… one more thing… do I need to put grease on the ball joint of the inner tie rod before I put on the boot? How much and what type of grease do I use.
When I wrench the inner tie rod into the steering rack… how do I set it it to torque specs if there’s no way of tightening it with a ratchet?
redteg: it is really not that time consuming, if you know what you are doing. I tried to look up everything I could on changing an inner tie rod. I saw the Youtube video that hybrid was talking about, it is pretty much the same. As far as the washers go, when you have them in your hand and look how they are setup on the car it really is not that confusing.
hybrid: that tool is the one that I was talking about that you can rent from your auto parts store. You would have to remove your outer tie rod to use it. It also makes it easier to remove the washer #13 because you can just break it off with this tool rather than prying the tabs flat. When you start this project look everything over before you tear down.
*A few things that I forgot to mention because it was very late when I wrote this up is that the washers you can only get through either honda/acura. I had to wait to get my washers. One other thing to keep in mind, when I got my inner tie rods they did not have that much grease on them. Make sure you put a lot of grease (I used multi-purpose grease) on the joint of the inner tie rod.
-keep in mind that I am in no way, shape or form a professional mechanic. I am just your average back yard mechanic and I am not responsible if you fvck up your car.
when I tightened up the inner tie rod to the rack rod, I just tightened it until it was nice and snug. It will not go anywhere once you bend the #13 washer tabs onto the inner tie rod.
so hybrid, did you ever manage to change your inner tie rods?
Yup I did and it was easier than I’d thought. Very straight forward. The only time consuming part was trying to bend the lock washer back so you can unscrew the inner tierod from the steering rack.
Other than that… everything is very straight forward… on the passenger side, it first took me about an hour cuz it was my first time doing it… the driver side only took me about 30 minutes…
Rent the inner tierod tool from Kragen… makes your life a whole lot easier!
The main ingredient for an effortless install is a chisel set (#7 needed most of the time) and the inner tierod tool from Kragen.
good to hear you got it. I had heard its a nightmare to do when I first attemped it, but it only took me an hour or so to do the drivers side on my last teg with the rack still on the car.
Yeah… everyone says to drop the rack but just looking at makes me want to vomit. I hate to unscrew shit from underneath the car… gives me a headache. With the inner tierod tool… you don’t need to remove the rack… makes it soooo much easier.
Another way I’ve found easier is to cut the head off a 17mm wrench so you will have full motion of turning the inner tierod from the rack cuz if you were to use a whole wrench, you’ll end up hitting all kinds of shit trying to unscrew the inner tierods…