Subaru inner tie rod end replacement

I replace a inner tie rod end on the front passenger side of my 1995 Subaru Legacy station wagon.

The bellows boot that covers of the inner ball joint on it went bad. When that happened all of the grease oozed or dried out causing the ball joint to fail. I figured I had better change it out because that is something that you don't want to have falling apart when you are driving down the interstate.

I used my special tied rod end puller to get the outer end off. I think you can buy them at O'reilly's, Auto Zone or Advance Auto for about 15 dollars. I have a pickle fork too but I don't like to use that because it damages the rubber boot that covers up the ball joint. However one time on my Honda I had to use my pickle fork, and I had to heat it up with a torch too. Those really rust in there sometimes and can be nearly impossible if you don't have the right tools.

To get the inner end off I used a loaner tool that I got from O'reilly Auto Parts. I had to buy it up front for about 65 dollars but I will get my money back when I return it. The tool's special sockets appear to be english while my tie rod end must have been metric since it's a Japanese car. The socket did not fit well at all but I got lucky and it came off. If I do another one I will see if I can find one of those special tools that has metric sockets.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Subaru
• legacy
• outback
• tie
• rod
• tyrod
• tie-rod
• inner
• tierod
• replacement
• changeout
• how to

[glencoe6305]

@:48, what are "pounding out" ? Is it a pin,or is in a Tab,on the lockwasher ? If it's a pin, I didn't see any with the Tie Rod,I'm picking up.

And is :48, the same as what your doing at 4:49 ?

[RyanDale311]

@glencoe6305 I pounded out that special washer from the tie-rod end before I took it off. You can kind of see in the video how it was bent inward before I started and I bent it out so it could spin freely. The new one that I got from the parts store was different. I made sure the washer slid into its slots that hold it and after the tie-rod end was on I bent the special washer around the flat edges of the tie-rod end so it could not spin loose. This is probably the most important step!

[glencoe6305]

Is a "Inner Tie Rod", and "Inner Ball Joint",the same thing ? My Inner Tie Rod,makes a clinking sound. If they are different/connect to each other, do I need to replace both ?

[RyanDale311]

@glencoe6305 Yes, the inner tie rod end is a ball joint. The inner tie rod end (inner ball joint) has the tie rod permanently attached to it when you buy it.

[glencoe6305]

@:48, what are "pounding out" ? Is it a pin,or is in a Tab,on the lockwasher ? If it's a pin, I didn't see any with the Tie Rod,I'm picking up.

[RyanDale311]

@glencoe6305 I think I had to buy the boot separate. The inner tie rod has the inner ball joint and the tie rod that screws into the outer ball joint.

[RyanDale311]

@dominicanto17dr Yes, I know what you mean. I hope everyone who sees this video understands how important it is to get that lockwasher bent down and installed properly so it doesn't come loose while they are driving down the interstate or something.

[dominicanto17dr]

@RyanDale311

Well I mean it keeps it from backing out. My first ever inner tie rod install was on a 95 honda accord. Boy was I lucky. On my way to get an alignment to PepBoys, the inner tie rod thread itself had little thread before backing out completely. Lucky me, it didnt come out while driving.

[RyanDale311]

@dominicanto17dr The special lockwasher that came with the tie rod end keeps it from spinning loose. It has tabs that fit in the car's rack and pinion. Then I hammered it around the square edges of the tie rod so it cannot come loose. It is a little different than the factory one that I took out, but it is still the same principal.

Do you put loctite on yours when you do them? The one that I took out didn't seem to have any on it.