How do you remove the inner tie rod ends on a 1990 Ford Aerostar van?

Answer 1

Jack up the front of the van and take off the wheel of the tie rod you will be replacing.

Remove the outer tie rod at the wheel end by first removing the cotter pin and castle nut. Break the outer tie rod end free from the control arm using a tie rod remover tool, or thread the nut off the top, turn it upside down and thread it on until you just see the top of the tie rod through the threads, then whack it down with a hammer until it breaks free. Note that you might ruin the tie rod end in the process. Tie rod end remover tools such as the vice type or the pickle fork type are not expensive. It pays to invest in one!

Hold the outer tie rod end jam nut with a wrench and unscrew the outer tie rod end from the tie rod.

Remove the clamp on the outer end of the rubber boot covering the tie rod using pliers. Remove the clamp on the steering rack end by prying the clamp off. Slide the boot down the tie rod toward the wheel.

Remove the pop rivet locking the inner tie rod threads. You should be able to get under its head with a sharp chisel or screwdriver and pop it out or mangle it enough in trying to be able to grab it with vice grip pliers and pull it out. Worst comes to worst drill it out.

Put a big wrench on the inner tie rod end nut and unscrew it from the steering rack.

TO REINSTALL

If you are saving the boot unscrew the jam nut from the old inner tie rod end and slide the boot off. Slide the boot onto the new inner tie rod end. This is a good time to install the outer boot clamp and jam nut on the new inner tie rod end. Screw the new tie rod end onto the steering rack with previously used big wrench and lock its threads with the Allen head setscrew or other locking device supplied with the new inner tie rod. Grease the new tie rod end ball with the grease supplied.

Slide the boot onto the steering rack, making sure to line up the pressure equalization tube with its socket on the boot. Use a tie-wrap or a thin worm clamp to secure the boot as you probably can't reuse the original clamp.

Thread the outer tie rod end onto the tie rod. Connect the outer tie rod end to the control arm, tighten down the nut and insert the cotter pin. If the cotter pin doesn't line up, tighten the nut more. Never back off on the nut to line up the cotter pin.

Put the wheel back on. Do a preliminary wheel alignment by setting the steering wheel straight ahead and taping a piece of string to the back of the back wheel and the other end to the front of the front wheel. Rotate the tie rod threading it into or out of the outer tie rod end until the string just touches the front and back of each tire at the same time.

Tighten the jam nut onto the outer tie rod end and put the clamp back on the wheel side of the inner tie rod end boot.