inner tie rod removal

worklist · Post by **worklist** » 24 Oct 2017, 08:32

Hi everyone, I have learned a lot from this site and finally joined up.

Have been working on a 1998 V-70XC for my family. I went to replace the inner tie rod ends, the driver's side one came off rack OK, but when I tried to loosen passenger side one, the section of the steering rack it screws into started turning, despite attempt to keep from spinning with pipe wrench.

I am using a proper inner tie rod tool to grab flat spot on tie rod, but there is no flat spot on the inside of rack to grab, just a short, round tapered area to try to get pipe wrench, or whatever on. I don't want to mess up the part of rack past that that goes into seal.

Anyone have any ideas? I even tried a small amount of heat to loosen up thread lock, but did not want to over do it.

Post by **Eddystone** » 24 Oct 2017, 11:33

Just a note to say, "I hear you, buddy." I just did my inner and outer tie rods. The first inner tie rod came off as expected. The remaining one seemed as if it would never come off, and I was unable to get a solid grip on the rack. I was lucky because mine finally came loose just at the limit of how hard I was going to twist it. Not much room to work in there.

For anyone doing this job, I will warn you that the tie rod boots supplied by FCP will not fit the rack on the inner end. They are more plastic than rubber and have zero elasticity. I had to make a cut on the end to get them on. Fortunately, the cut is covered by the clamp, and I don't see it being a problem, but it's not right. I have found this same issue with other parts such as air intake hoses. It must be cheaper to make these parts out of rubber-free plastic.

Post by **shaker_chi** » 24 Oct 2017, 13:38

Worklist....Welcome to the world of wrenching!!! Don't forget when you order parts that Volvo did not use the same steering rack with all these cars. Not sure of the difference, but a quick search would be helpful. Also, when you attach the new inner tie rods make sure you use thread lock. Here is a good video Robert did:

worklist · Post by **worklist** » 24 Oct 2017, 14:20

Yes, I am familiar with Robert's videos. He gets a lot done and helps a lot of people, with no shop and only basic tools. However, there is no flat spot on passenger side to grasp the rack tube. I have an SMI rack in this one, the rack in my parts car is a TRW, so dissecting it might not tell me anything.

Does anyone know if the passenger side rack tube comes out of rack? It defiantly unscrews, and comes loose. I unscrewed it until it became partially loose, but since I am unfamiliar with internals of this rack, I screwed it back in and torqued it back to something like the torque it took to get it loose (a lot), and the rack seems to operate OK.

Post by **Rondo** » 24 Oct 2017, 21:01

I just did mine last week and a medium sized pipe wrench on the inner tie rod collar(?) did the trick. Lots of pb blaster and brute strength to get it undone and there's not much room under there, especially you're on jackstands instead of a lift, but it does come out eventually. Hope that helps.

worklist · Post by **worklist** » 25 Oct 2017, 09:14

Has anyone ever accidentally rotated their rack while doing this?

Like I posted above, I believe may have manged to do this. It did screw back in, and car tests OK, but steering feels a little off, which I guess could be alignment. Just wondering if i broke something loose that will cause it to fail soon.

Does anyone know if the rack itself in an SMI rack & pinion unit is one piece?

worklist · Post by **worklist** » 01 Nov 2017, 07:24

So, I did finally get the passenger side inner tie rod off. It had been peened over considerably, and had to grind that off. The passenger side of rack can rotate, and seems to be threaded. I removed boot on driver side and confirmed the toothed part of rack was not rotating. The internal part that came unscrewed is in my guess part of the power steering actuator or piston inside the rack. Hopefully it will not work its way loose, I did re torque it pretty hard.

Post by **scot850** » 01 Nov 2017, 12:42

You are a brave man and well done for getting there in the end!

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 01 Nov 2017, 12:43

You are a brave man and well done for getting there in the end!

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Nov 2017, 03:40

Make some visual marks on any part that you are concerned about loosening, and inspect weekly for a month, then monthly for a year, then twice a year...until you feel safe about it.

When I've had NLA parts that are supposed to be replaced I've done this strategy.