inner tie rod end replacement

2002 Nissan Sentra Spec V
60,000 miles
this is my daily driver, so down time is crucial.

when the car is stationary, and i wiggle the steering wheel side to side, i hear and feel a clunk/metal to metal slop. it seems to be more pronounced when i turn left.

my first thought were the outer tie rod ends. but i had just replaced them with MOOG ones at 44,000 miles. but nothing surprises me anymore so with a helper i crawled under the car but of course the outer tie rods are tight.

however i did notice the accordian/bellow boot that is one the tie rod and the rack was making a weird jerking motion. more so on the drivers side then passenger.

i didnt attempt to remove the boot until i was sure and had the replacement parts.

am i correct in assuming its the innner tie rod ends???

finally since i need the car to be down for as little time as possible, does anyone have any simple guidlines on how to tackle replaceing inner tie rod ends. ive never had to do them before.
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3 Explorers and 1 Ranger
2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec v
1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1968 Ford Mustang 302 Coupe This could be a problem with the rack itself. I have seen this problem in the past. It looks like the inner tie rods are causing the looseness in the front end, but it is actually the rack. With your helper, remove the bellows boot and have him shake the steering wheel back and forth. Watch where the slack is. If the rack is bad the slack will be behind the inner tie rod where it screws into the rack. You should be able to see what the problem is. If the rack is the problem, the new rack usually comes with the inner tie rods. Good Luck

Jeff
alright thanks, ill have to pop the bellows off and take a peek. im always hesitant to pop those one time only band style clamps off the bellows. i guess i could always just use hose clamps on the re-installation
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3 Explorers and 1 Ranger
2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec v
1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1968 Ford Mustang 302 Coupe Ya I know what you mean. A heavy duty tie rap works well for me in most cases on those bellows boots.

Jeff


Canadian "EH"





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