Write-Up: Inner Tie Rods

and thats good enough for me.a thousand thanks

Harbor Freight P/N U.S. General 96558 $49.99 will work MANY times. It has all the adapters for all the different styles.

Abaddon,you are a fountain of information! just for that im sending over a cute little asian chick ,that i know, in your area to help polish that supercharger of yers..

A lot of the U.S. General brand, maybe all of it, is made in China. Check the customer reviews on the HF web page:

http://www.harborfreight.com/inner-tie-rod-removal-set-96558.html

^^^ First guy had to modify the tool to fit his vehicle, next guy had the tool break on him during the first use. Be careful buying Harbor Freight tools, even when they try to fool you by using a domestic-sounding name. It's all the same: "Pittsburgh", "Central Forge", "Western Safety", "Chicago" - it's cheap, imported, low quality, with deceptive marketing.

maybe true. in any case,whether i buy the tool or borrow it,i can bet that the autozen tool comes from the same country. either way,if i buy it,it will save time when the other side decides to take a big crap all over me.

It's probably fine for a couple uses. The Autozone/Advance stuff is not much better. On two occasions, I've rented a hub puller from advance and stripped out the threads on the first try. The steel just isn't strong enough to pull a large hub like ours that's really "in there". Probably wouldn't be a problem in a smaller import car. I also rented a spring compressor that had been welded up from a previous failure. Yikes!

its funny though,ive just gone through the riv service manual,and in the 95 manual a "special" tool is not required.in it,they just use wrenches. go figure?

For what it is worth, I just tried to use the Harbor Freight tool on my 95 S/C and found that I needed a 22mm adapter but that is not a supported size in the kit. "Includes seven adapters: SAE 1-3/16", 1-1/4", 1-5/16", 1-7/16" and Metric 14mm, 17mm, 33.6mm"

I could not fit a 22mm wrench on the flats of the tie rod so I ended up aborting the fix and put it back together.

I called Harbor Freight and there are no other adapters available.

[url=http://www.harborfreight.com/inner-tie-rod-removal-set-96558.html]

dat sux. any way you could grind flat the wrench to make it work?

I have started to get a knocking/rattling sound from my front end and am not sure what is causing it.  It only happens at slower speeds (it may also happen at higher speeds but I don't hear it) when I go over little bumps and dips in the road.  I first thought it could be the strut mounts because it sounded like it was coming from that area.  But I jacked the front of the car up in the air and when I shake the wheel back and forth I get a knocking/rattling sound that sounds pretty similar.  It sounds like it is coming from the inner tie rod area.  I can also feel it on the inner tie rod shaft.  But the weird thing is that I'm not getting any play in the wheels when I manually move them back and forth.  When I turn one of them, the other moves at the same time.  It also only seems to do it when the wheels are facing straight forward.  I don't get the noise when I move the steering wheel back and forth quickly.  Could it still be the inner tie rod ends or is it something else?

Edit: I changed the outer tie rod ends a few years ago and they look like they are still in good shape.

Can feel the knocking on both wheels or just one side?

Abaddon wrote:

Can feel the knocking on both wheels or just one side?

I can also feel it on the passenger side to, but it seems to be worse on the drivers side.  The noise also seems a louder on the drivers side to. I just checked it again and you can also hear the noise with the tires on the ground. It is a pretty loud knocking sound.

The noise and feel will definitely transfer to the other side. I'd be looking at the DS Inner Tie Rod end. Sometimes ITRE's won't have any lateral play and still be bad. Can you grab the ITRE and "shake" it? Not by turning the wheel with your hands, I mean literally grab it and try to shake it loose. See if there's any play in it that way.

Also, I have Tie Rods and Ball Joints that I replace all the time (at work) that I can't get to move while the car is off the ground. I have to ground it and have a helper turn the wheel and what-not. The parts get rusty inside the bores and get extremely hard to move by hand.

Abaddon wrote:

The noise and feel will definitely transfer to the other side. I'd be looking at the DS Inner Tie Rod end. Sometimes ITRE's won't have any lateral play and still be bad. Can you grab the ITRE and "shake" it? Not by turning the wheel with your hands, I mean literally grab it and try to shake it loose. See if there's any play in it that way.

Also, I have Tie Rods and Ball Joints that I replace all the time (at work) that I can't get to move while the car is off the ground. I have to ground it and have a helper turn the wheel and what-not. The parts get rusty inside the bores and get extremely hard to move by hand.

Thanks for the help. I'm pretty sure that one or both of them need replacing. I went ahead and ordered two inner tie rod ends and I also ordered the driver and passenger side lower control arms. I figured they would need replacing soon and since I have to get an alignment done anyway I might as well change them. What size tool adapter will I need to remove the stock inner tie rod end and to install the new AC Delco replacement part?

98riv wrote:

What size tool adapter will I need to remove the stock inner tie rod end and to install the new AC Delco replacement part?

That I'm not quite sure of. I haven't had to replace my inners yet. Even when I do replace an inner, I just grab whichever adapter that fits. I think I have about 8 of them. Never bother to look at the size. Well, new GMC's use a 40mm   
It's probably a 1-1/4". Please don't quote me on that. I'd take the new ones when they come to AutoZone or something and ask to see their Inner Rod tool...just to see what size it is if need be. Or use a Micrometer if you have one laying around.

If the Intermediate shift were bad, you'd get a knock when returning to center from a turn. That's the first sign. When it gets worse, it would start knocking upon acceleration (cradle up/down movement).
I-shafts typically don't rattle.

As for the rack, yes its absolutely possible that it is worn out internally, but hydraulic racks usually don't rattle either. However, if you're still getting play from the one tie rod, I would assume that the rack is the cause.

Ok, wtf happened to your post lol

Abaddon wrote:

Ok, wtf happened to your post lol

It must of accidently got moved because I mentioned tie rod ends instead of inner tie rods. Here is the corrected version.

I changed the inner tie rods and I am still getting the noise. The inner tie rods were ok, but they would have needed to be replaced sooner than later anyway. What else could be making the noise? The rack? Intermediate shaft?

For anyone doing this in the future, don't bother buying the tool from Harbor Freight. It included the correct size adapter, but it wouldn't fit in the tool with the tie rod end. It would have required some grinding on the tool to get it to work. Also the tool at Autozone doesn't work for the stock or AC Delco replacement inner tie rod. I ended up buying the Lisle kit and it worked great. You will need the 1-7/16" adapter for the stock and AC Delco replacement. O'reilly's had the correct tool, but they would only give you 2 days to use it and get it back to them.

Make sure to also put a wrench on the rack while you are removing the inner tie rod end. The manual states that you could ruin the rack if you don't. I don't know how much force that would take, but better safe than sorry.