Replacing Inner Tie Rods Fox Body Ford -EricTheCarGuy
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- After shooting "1979 Ford Fairmont a Closer Look" I decided to replace the right inner tie rod on the Fairmont. It was pretty loose and was also wearing my tire on that side a little funny. I thought it would be a good idea to just go ahead and replace it. As you can see in the video it's not that difficult. I had a harder time with the cotter pin than the inner tie rod. Still, this video will apply to all fox bodies of this vintage and get you the information you need to know to get the job done.
Here's some useful links.
"1979 Ford Fairmont a Closer Look": • 1979 Ford Fairmont a C...
"How To Use a Grease Gun to Lube a Chassis": • How To Use A Grease Gu...
Tools
90º Pliers: www.jbtoolsales...
Inner Tie Rod Tool: www.jbtoolsales...
Option 2 Inner Tie Rod Tool: www.jbtoolsales...
Drill Dr.: www.jbtoolsales...
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ETCG
Due to factors beyond the control of EricTheCarGuy, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. EricTheCarGuy assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. EricTheCarGuy recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of EricTheCarGuy, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not EricTheCarGuy.
WTF is up with the dislikes ?This guy is spending his priceless time to make innformative video for free .Much respect from me for all the work , nice editing and free information !
There is only one dislike... Why you so mad?
There are some people that just don't like me. But there are a lot more that do. I don't loose sleep over negative people.
There will always be those who hate just for the sake of it, sad really.
EricTheCarGuy
success comes with envy!! the "haters" always validate that fact
you must be new to youtube
This is the first time I have heard of counting threads, and using a tape measure. What I have always seen used is counting how many rotations it takes to remove the outer tie-rod.
Hey Eric, the method I use for pesky cotter pins is to cut the loop and pull one half of the pin out with the side cutters, often this is way easier than pulling the whole thing out
Revisiting, ah, 8 years ago, and still educational and entertaining, miss you EC, hope you're well Brother! And thank you!
Great video, No clue why people dislike your videos. You make the average Joe comfortable with auto repairs. Thanks for your great videos.
I know this is a couple years old and I didn't read through all the comments but, that being said . . . . I have found driving a nail into the end of a stuck pin helps a LOT in getting it started and gives you something to pry against. Love your channel BTW!
I have watched many car repair videos but you are unique. "Remove cotter pin." It sounds so simple but on old cars it seldom is. You are refreshing in your honesty. Most edit so that the job looks easy and nothing goes wrong, thanks for keeping it real.
All this talk of cotter pin removal and nobody mentioned how awesome it was to see you properly secure the new pin. I think at least 75% of mechanics don't know how to properly secure a cotter pin. Kudos, Eric.
I love the way your video's show that not everything is always going "like they should" like that stubborn cotter pin.
Greetings from the Netherlands
It makes me chuckle to see guys that are not just shade tree mechanics like me have the same issues I run into. Misery loves company right? Great video, informative and entertaining!!
The easiest tool I ever found for cotter pins was a small pair of needle nosed pliers. After the pin is straight (or close to it) hook the looped end with the needle nosed pliers, with one side stuck through the loop. Tap the pliers a few times with a small hammer, as close to the pin as you can, to knock the pin right out.
If needlenose failed me, I'd grab the loop with the ViseGrips. MIght mangle the pin, but at least they'll hang on well enough that you can really tug on the sucker to get it out.
Good call on the tape measure at 8:45. I was trained when I was 12 to count threads. I've found it less effective. The tape gives you far better accuracy.
I used your eclipsing method for alignment the other day and it was awesome! I got better than 1/8 of a turn resolution!
Counting threads got me within a few full turns. Dialing it in took
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That cotter pin was a pain in the ass mate. I pre lube the ball joint nuts a day before I try to remove them just to penetrate through the crud and corrosion on old suspension parts . Saves your time from mangling stuff like cotter pins. I was watching you work on that ball joint thinking any minute now the thread on the end is gunna be damaged. Well done and congrats on restoring an old car rather than junking it.
by far one of the best diy channels yet no bs straight to the point great job man
I really like your videos, Eric. I appreciate the fact that you run into, and deal with real world problems, like those pesky cotter pins. Keep up the great work!
I've had a lot of success pulling cotter pins with needle nose vice grips and light taps on it with a hammer. Doesn't work every time, but it's usually my first try. And yeah is crap when you have to drill them out. Thanks for the videos man!
Hey Eric, I'm a car and heavy duty mechanic up in Quebec, you want to see rusted/sized cotter pins come by my place lol. Two tricks I use often on seized cotter pins is, I either heat the cotter pin/castle nut cherry red then shock it with cold water, or use my zip gun/air hammer on the castle nut and tap it left and right to shake the pin loose
Since everyone is giving up tips. I use a pair of bent needle nose pliers on cotter pins to rock them out with one part through the hole. I've also used bent awls through the hole to work it out.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who has the car always take the hard way on disassembly.
Im excited that you're excited about working on this car!
Shop wanted $500 to replace my inner tie rods after looking at this video I spent $17 for two inner tie rods and changed it myself and saved a ton of money. Thanks for the video
When I worked at a parts house years ago, an old timer than had an alignment shop(the old school "Bear" kind with a pit for the racks) swore by rubber lube, like the tire busters use. Not the soap, the silicone stuff. Even if he wasn't removing anything he would give the boots and such a quick once over spray and wipe. He said it made all that last longer. If you aren't doing tire busting, a $12 gallon would last a long time. It pretties up your hoses and other rubber stuff too.
Dude - a good pair of needle nose pliers do the trick!
i like your "viewer-voice" ^^ the one you used when you said "eric where did you put the jack" and "eric where did you put the jackstands"
made me laugh XD
I trust myself enough to do this repair. I don't trust myself to put it back together perfectly aligned. I would absolutely get an alignment check at a shop.
I just replaced the steering knuckle on my 2005 Pontiac Vibe and thank goodness I had a monkey wrench to loosen the tie rod nut. I also had to drill out the cotter pin but I did that while the tie rod was still on the car. Thanks Eric for your insightful videos. Always look forward to new uploads.
Man, that was one TOUGH cotter pin! LOL. I've never seen one that tough.
Looks like you replaced that tie rod just in time, good thing you decided to do it. I always use pipe wrenches on tie rods, they work great.
I usually use an awl to push in the looped end of the cotter pin. Then just tap it in a bit with a hammer so it starts to pull the pin through. Then just use the awl to twist it out the rest of the way :)
Just did a kit on my 91 c1500. I have to say the cotter pins were much more of a pain in the ass than even doing the lower ball joints without a press. I did manage to get them all out though(on the truck), which was good considering they've been there for over 20 years.
I have used pipe wrenches too . They work well lots of times.
Hi Eric the easier way instead of measuring is just count the rotations of the tie rod end as you take it off, then when putting it back on do the exact rotation back on!!!
This is what I do for the cotter pins, I cut the loop part so it becomes 2 pieces and use the cutter tool that you were using and pull out 1 piece at a time. It should slowly work its way out.
When I have a stubborn cotter pin I use my slide hammer with a vise grip pliers attachment. If you've got one it works wonders.
Great video Eric ! . A tip would be to put the castlenut back on and use that to hold the part in the vise .
Great tip, thanks.
Getting ready to do this work... Thank you very much for the informative video. I may change both inner and outer at the same time. But glad to see how it is done. I have never done this before.
Regarding cotter pins, I like attaching vice grips to the loop end and pulling as long as the prongs on the other end are ready to go through.
Lol I like it when you ruin into problems makes me feel lime I'm not alone seeing other people struggle with simple tasks and I'm not just a complete idiot most people who produce video wouldn't show that but you did, nicely done, have a nice weekend!
I see you found a way to make pipe wrenches work backwards, another classic ETCG moment.
Ever consider putting anti-seize on the cotter pin when installing the pin?
If you find yourself in similar position in future, where you're having to drill out the cotter pin, think it might be easier to drill it out while the tie rod is still assembled to steering knuckle. that way think you'll get more adequate support and more impact with hammer/punch than you would if you were trying to support in jaws of a bench vice.
Or....if you happen to take it out just like Eric The Car Guy did, screw in the bolt on the outer tie rod just enough to hold on the tip of screwing part of the tie rod, and use the vice grip on the bolt and drill right through the hole where the piece of the cotter pin is stuck in. Also. If the cotter pin does not come out with ease. Use a vice wrench and clamp the head of the cotter pin, and tap the wrench either with the palm of your hand, or with a hammer. Whichever is easier for you. 8^)
count the threads it takes to remove the nut from the old tie rod (opposite of the direction you counted in the video). if the overall length of both tie rods is the same, then counting the threads in that fashion will work very well.
I was kinda hoping that you would have takenit for a test drive just to see if you got lucky in your alignment .
Cotter pin?.IMHO..Grip with vise grips and tap with ball peen hammer...really enjoy the vids.down to earth no BULL!.TKS Eric......CHEERS!
hammer or push a small flathead through the loop side of the cotter pin. once through, apply some leverage or hit the screwdrivers shaft til the pin is out. this way you don't compress the pin inside the hole.
so Eric does it in rubber boots with lube in a castle, some times with cotter pins you can pull them with a hooked scriber and use a brass or copper hammer on punches the punch does not move as much spray lube on the cotter pins When you start work nice work
Giggles and waves
This sexy Fairmount is in amazing condition. Very impressive and this is a good project..
There is no me without you...if you have any questions feel free to ask or email me! Thanks
Why not just replace the castle nut and then use that punch to remove the remains of the cotter pin after lining it up in access position for the punch? that way the nut protects those threads.
If the castle nut has mushroomed the cotter pin, doing that won't do much good beyond protect the threads that are already exposed in close proximity to the cotter pin hole anyway
*Was it still worth keeping the old part after all that pin trouble?*
Like he himself said, in the control arm video - if the labor to save money costs more than the cost of a brand new part, why bother?
helpful tip. I would always support the knuckle end of the tie-rod with a block of wood. the remnant of the pin would easily hammer in to the wood but the end of the tie-rod will not move,
hey counting threads and measuring with measuring tape are good ideas i was watching some other vids they also count how many spins it takes to take it off and count back the spins putting it on
I really enjoy your videos Eric. I've found your channel not long ago and I've never watched one channel so much. You get kudos points from me. Especially for your camera angles, you really put some thought into those so we can see what you're doing clearly.
I always thought fox body is the one you took the engine out to put in this one. But I'm not from US so I'm not good with US vehicles unfortunately. :\
this should be a tv show.
Thanks for video Eric, nice job.
But i don't like zip-type clamp for these places.
"Weather conditions" in these places are very hard and for these clamps.
BOOM! and the Fairmount repair videos arrive :D
I like to count the rotations of the outer tie rod to keep the overall length in check.
I need to do inner and outers on my truck. But I'm upgrading in the process. Stock Chevy truck tie rods do not like hard boosted launches in four wheel drive when your truck makes 900lbft of torque.
Awesome Video, loved those sped up portions lol
Sometimes, I reinstall the castle nut and tap the top of it. I seem to use my pickle fork for pretty much everything other than removing tie rod ends.
heres a tip i use for tightening zip ties, take the zip tie and right near the locking block like thing, the excess you roll around some needle nose, that gets it nice and tight, have a nice day!
What i do with seized cotter pins, specially on trucks is i cut the head and pull one half out first. This method has not failed me yet
You make that look easy. You have the one major ingredient that I and a lot of other people I know lack; that is required be a successful mechanic .. patience.
The Benny Hill speed up on your videos make me laugh every time. That cotter pin must have taken you at least 20 minutes, and you came out joking. I wonder how you handle it when the camera isn't running. =)
Thanks again for all the know how.
It's easiest to get the cotter pin out if it's on the vehicle and you use a big pair of pliers. You can't put much force on them with those little cutters you used Eric.
Great fun watching you Eric. Always informative and funny LMAO!
Thank you Eric. But I wonder if grease should be added ( inside the boot) and then tie the boot?
Hey Eric, do you know how to align a car using a string? They use to use that method decades ago before aligning machines existed. I mean, is not a fool alignment. It only serves to align the Toe. There a other methods to align the Camber and Caster. But if you camber and caster are fine, you can use the string to fix your Toe and it is very accurate. I have use this method many times.
Hey Eric.. Just going to start off saying - love the vids. I'm not a tech, not a mechanic.. Just an old fashioned week-end fixer-upper taught by my dad at first, then 40-odd years of rebuilding / repairing my own vehicles since then (I've only ever bought 1 NEW car... the rest - buy them good, and just take care of 'em...)
Anyways, a quick question: I agree with your suggestions on how best to make sure the basic alignment is at least restored on the new part.. Measuring is definitely a good way (plus or minus the wear on the worn end of the tie rod, let alone the amount of flex/stretch to get around the boot), and I've done the counting threads method many times... Until recently, when - like yours - the new part just came with a completely different thread count cut into the inner tie rod itself..
So I found another way that comes darn close - really close to be honest - and doesn't need measurements or counting threads at all... just need a decently heavy jack stand, bricks, etc (or two) and a long piece of string.. (btw: Thank you UA-cam for having dozens of videos on how to do this correctly)..
When I did it on my car, I did the measuring thing.. and I thought I had it really close.. My measurement was within 1/16 inch. Then I did the string check.. and wow.. was I ever off.. the other side - almost perfect.. but the replaced side - I was toe out almost 3/8 inch.. I woulda kissed those front tires goodbye in no time flat..
The only assumption that's needed here is that your rear tires are already straight.. On your Fox body, it's a solid axle, so the rear tires will be perpendicular to the axle, which is great. As for the axle alignment to the body itself (assuming the shackles haven't slipped over the years), that's only an assumption but generally I think it's a safe one.. You may already know this technique, and I apologize in advance if this is old news. But it may help others who are interested in trying it.
Take your jack stand to the rear of the car and place it center of the bumper.. You may need to back it away from the rear of the car to gain clearance from the lower quarter panels.. Tie the string to the jack stand and then over to one of the rear tires.. The string should be parallel to the ground, and the idea is to get it as high to the center of the tire as you can - stopping when the lower quarter panels start to interfere.. You can move the jack stand closer to the outside edge of the car if the rear quarter panels are pretty funky, but they MUST remain to the inside side of the car for this to work. Then run the string up to the front tire..From the front, you want to move it in or out as needed to generate a perfectly straight line from the front and back edges of the REAR tire.. a second jack stand helps here as you will likely make a couple of initial positioning adjustments.. Once the string is equally touching the leading and trailing edge of the rear tire, and NOT touching any quarter panels all the way up to the front.. You have your measure of what is straight for the car..And you will see almost immediately just how straight the front tire really is. If you can't get the rear tire to line up on the string, due to the front tire holding it THAT far out of alignment, then it's REALLY bad.. crank the tie rod adjuster in or out by eye until that string starts to straighten out finally. I also modified the technique a bit when I did it.. I inserted a 1/2" spacer at the rear edge of the rear tire, then moved the string until the front edge of the rear tire was also 1/2" out (checked with another spacer, but it shouldn't be able to hold it in place if it's parallel, just lightly touching it). This was because my front was out 3/8"..and I didn't want to futz with the string again, so my 1/2" spacer was my front measuring point. At that point, it was VERY visually obvious how bad it was out..(front edge 1/8" from string, rear was over 5/8"...) Aligned the front to the 1/2 spacer, then removed the rear spacer, repositioned the front jack stand to realign the string to the rear tire again, and fine tuned it before locking it down. Voila. Job done. Took it out for a spin, felt perfect. No pulling, nothing. My vehicle is front-wheel drive too (2000 Chrysler Concorde with the 3.2L), and when the alignment is off, flooring it is a really bad experience sometimes.
If you try this first on the "good" or original front side, it'll probably be very close to parallel with the back already. But I'll bet you a really good cup of coffee that the "new" side - she's at least 1/8 to 1/4" out of whack, if not more.. And that you'll instantly get it "close enough" to perfect to put off a full alignment until much later, as you said... As long as the front tires track in line with the rear, you already know you won't have any wear issues.. Even if the rear axle is not perfectly aligned to the body.
Keep up the great vids! I've already learned a lot of interesting things watching them, and hope to get better at this as I go... Hope the tip was helpful too!
The only thing I wonder about when using plastic zip ties for this is the big expansion that happens to plastic when heated. With the huge ambient temperature swings that happen up here in Canada, I would expect a zip tie to loosen in the heat of the summer. But aside from theory, I've not seen one fail, yet.
There are many different types of plastics and they all behave differently but I'd reckon the cold winters of canada is the thing to worry about rather than the oh so mild (relative to florida) summers. Parts contract and can leave the zip tie loose in the extreme cold. It may sound weird but strange things happen at -20ºF
Most plastics expand and contract more with temperature than steel or wood -- that's why plastic siding is held in place with loose hangers, rather than being securely nailed into place.
spelunkerd You'd think that but I've had more issue with metal hose clamps coming loose in extreme cold than I have with zip ties coming loose in 130ºF heat. So long as the zip tie is put on on a warm day it'll have no problem with hot days.
In any case, the video shows ETCG cutting off a plastic zip tie to get the boot off so it must work well enough.
hey eric great video. As for the cotter pins, I usually just wiggle them just enough for me to cut through the looped end. Then you can pull the two remaing pieces out easily. just replace them theyre cheap!
try feeding some fuse wire through the pin and twist it , it will give extra purchase when trying to remove it on the car
Do you ever use anti-seize on suspension and steering components? When I was in school we used it all the time. It ruins clothes so out of school I don't use it much, never had any problems.
I've spun the cup off the ball of old outer tie rod ends trying to get that lock nut loose before. It's not fun to work on suspension when it gets that seized up.
Why do you use side cutters for the cotter pin? It would seem to me that needle nose pliers would be better suited to the task
Hi there thanks for the video great stuff you know i have had the same problem before. I tend to straiten the ends and then take a paar of clamp pliers and my trusty hammer and then i just hit the pliers. It always works and the splint always coms out easily.
Regards
I have found that Needle nose pliers work a lot better than side cutters for cotter pins
Instead of drilling out the split pin, I would've found a nyloc nut and used that instead. I find many new track rod ends are supplied with Nyloc nuts anyway
Much easy to use punch in the beginning when U unlock nut, instead use side cutters. Just put punch to the hole of cotter and use hammer.
Question, So you don't need the inner tire rod tool to take it off? Or is this just a way you have found to be easier over the years and from experience?
if you ever come across one of those cotter pins like that again, just straighten it out as much as you can and with a small hammer tap it out. it will at least break it loose.
If u just leave the outer tie rod on and remove it as an assembly u can measure the old one to get it pretty close
eric, you trust the ziptie to hold the boot? wouldn't a hose clamp be a better hold?
This is not a criticism, I love you Eric, but those pins are called split pins, a cotter pin is a conical pin that is pulled or pressed into a hole until it cant go any further, and thats how it secures the 2 components.
My inner tie rod boots have been ripped for a good part of 2 years now. I’ve noticed black liquid around the exit point, does that mean the steering rack is bad? If not can I just remove the inner tie rod, clean the socket area that’s probably all sorts of dirty with brake clean, re lube, and then replace it with a new inner tie rod part?
Hey Eric, quick question for you. I'm really enjoying this video series on the Fairmont... very cool project! What I'm wondering is about alignments in general. The alignment shop I take my cars to always tends to not get the steering wheel perfectly centered when they do an alignment. For example, I replace all of the front and rear suspension parts on my '04 4Runner and when I got the alignment done right after, the car seems to track straight, but when tracking straight the steering wheel is slightly off center. If I hold the wheel straight the car turns slightly to the left. Looking at the printout of the alignment things seem to be within spec. So are my expectations too high that the steering wheel should be perfectly centered? Or is this a case of the alignment shop not doing a great job, or something else?
Steering wheel should be straight. Being it to a better shop that take pride in doing things right
Great video always enjoy watching can wait to see the upgrades
You could be Jim Carey's calm uncle. Fantastic video thank you.
count the amount of turns it takes to remove the outer tie rod end. Elementary really. Good video.
Definitely get that cotter pin out while in the car.
The TWR rack is a two piece design on the steering input shaft and the ford design is a one piece just FYI
Thank You sir. You help save us broke car guys some money
Another great video Eric, but I got one question:
You said the measurement of the tie rod is absolutely critical. However the way the tape measure bent around the rubber boot looked to me like an inaccurate way to measure. Thoughts?
Thing is the boot needs to be there when you measure. Lets just say that getting it close is good enough. I still recommend an alignment to make sure it's correct when you're finished.
16:40 There is a german saying. "Warum so einfach wenn alles so schön kompliziert sein kann?" Which loosely translates to "Why so simple when everything can be so beautifully complicated?"
Totally Legit Gaming [TLEG] thanks Dwight
you should of HEAT that cotter pin to burn the rust out and nock it out or drilling work too.
fyi 03 mustang irs will swap over to foxbody with slight mounting mods to rear frame attaching points
eric when punching out the cotter pin a little hand held butane action would have helped
6:45 That washer that bends down on my 97 accord looks mangled real good... how do I free the tie rod with the nut no where near visible, and how do I do that without damaging anything?
Good video Eric. Thanks.
Its been a while. Sooooo wheres the lift at?!
DO you have a parts washer? Might make it neater, just asking.