2006 Volvo S60 AWD - mechanic recommended tie rod replacement, do you agree?

[FMradio]

You will never rest until you look yourself. It takes 2 minutes to have a look. Clarify if they meant both inners and outers. If one is badly rusted the other won't be far behind. Outers are fairly easy to swap if they are not rusted solid, but careful soaking in PB Blaster or like (not WD-40) for a few days and also wire brushing the threaded portions may make the job easier.

Neil.

Thank you Neil. I'll have to call them to see if they can still tell me whether they meant both inners and outers.

[FMradio]

About 99% of the time, it is rusted and seized together.
You can spend hours and hours heating the joint or...
The Inner tie rod is not that expensive.
Best is to replace both inner and outer using only quality stuff like Volvo, Lemforder or TRW etc.

I found a good looking Lemforder kit on FCP Euro. It isn't too expensive and even comes with the nuts. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... er-kit-kit

[scot850]

Looks like a good price.

Neil.

[jonesg]

If theres play in the wheels you will be able to see where it is, mostly its the little ball joint on the tie rod end.
Or it could be the main ball joint, it will be visible when someone shakes/twists the tire side to side.
It can also be the inner joint of the tie rod, watch the tie rod as the wheel is moved .

[FMradio]

If theres play in the wheels you will be able to see where it is, mostly its the little ball joint on the tie rod end.
Or it could be the main ball joint, it will be visible when someone shakes/twists the tire side to side.
It can also be the inner joint of the tie rod, watch the tie rod as the wheel is moved .

Sounds like I'll have to check that out when I jack the car up. Thank you for the advice

[erikv11]

Thanks for posting up those pics of your tie rods. As you guys are discussing the only way to tell if they are structurally bad is by testing and looking for play. If you see some play by moving the wheel or a suspension part, you want to look at the actual joints to figure out where the motion is originating.

As far as the rust goes I would say those aren't bad at all for a salted-road state. Lots of penetrating oil beforehand and then heat to crack it loose should work on those fasteners but beware, they can be quite stubborn so cracking them loose is usually a high-leverage activity. Good tools are a must for tie rods.

[erikv11]

... Do you recommend replacing the ball joints at the same time as the tie rods, or only if there's symptoms that the ball joints are bad?
...

Only with symptoms, such as front end feels "loose" and/or wanders on grooved pavement at highway speeds, ball joint rubber boot is cracked open, ball joint is loose and floppy (can only tell by disconnecting one side of the control arm).

Note the tie rods themselves have ball joints on them, I am not referring to those ball joints but to the control arm ball joint.

[famfeld]

Repeating what was said above and I think may be going unheard. If it was aligned AND there is no play currently, leave it alone and worry about it next time you need an alignment, which hopefully is like 3 years from now. I often have to heat with torch to get them to turn. At pep boys they want the car done fast so that they can free up the bay and can't let it sit for a day with PB blaster sprayed a few times.

Feld

[erikv11]

... If it was aligned AND there is no play currently, leave it alone and worry about it next time you need an alignment, which hopefully is like 3 years from now ...

Absolutely.

Tie rods tend to last a long time. In my experience most commonly a torn rubber boot takes them out, before they develop any play. But. of course stay on the lookout for play.

[FMradio]

Thanks for posting up those pics of your tie rods. As you guys are discussing the only way to tell if they are structurally bad is by testing and looking for play. If you see some play by moving the wheel or a suspension part, you want to look at the actual joints to figure out where the motion is originating.

As far as the rust goes I would say those aren't bad at all for a salted-road state. Lots of penetrating oil beforehand and then heat to crack it loose should work on those fasteners but beware, they can be quite stubborn so cracking them loose is usually a high-leverage activity. Good tools are a must for tie rods.

Thank you all a lot! It's good to hear they're not too rusty. I'm glad they're still good after 16 years in the NE.

I will check the tie rods this weekend and follow ChrisFix's video on checking the tie rods. Do you think that a heat gun would suffice to heat the fasteners? I don't have a torch; I probably wouldn't trust myself with one anyway.

I borrowed a breaker bar, so I hope that'll do the trick to remove some fasteners.

If I have to replace the inner tie rod, I'll borrow Autozone's inner tie rod tool to do so. I heard the steering rack can be damaged if the inner tie rod is removed without using the inner tie rod tool to prevent unnecessary force on it. (Even though FCP Euro's video does not show using that tool, ChrisFix's does)

Edit: I'm confusing the inner tie rod removal tool with the Volvo counterhold tool part #9997020 which is talked about viewtopic.php?t=88332&start=10