Inner Tie Rod Removal and Installation

[I_bRAD]

Have it apart today and the RH ITR wasn't loose per se, but it moves a little too freely for my liking. My local toyota dealership can't get the ITR ends so I'm going with Dana as I'm not overly impressed with Moog.

FWIW, factory toyota OTR ends are half the price of the moog or dana! Needless to say I went with those to go with my factory LBJs (which are replacing aftermarket ones I got from Rock auto and installed a year or about 10k kms ago and are already toast

 

[garrett1478]

FWIW if you want to buy the wrenches needed for this the inner to outer connection is 27mm and 28mm, the inside joint to rack is 30mm and 42mm.

Good write up though. Shows that the inner tie rods aren't near as difficult on this as other vehicles can be.

I was able to find both a 27 and 30 mm wrench locally... but if you are wanting a 28 and/or 42, plan ahead and order them. Pipe wrench or crescent works fine in a pinch though.

Also, it was much easier to break the OTR jam nut loose while the OTR is still connected to the ball joint. You really don't even need to use 2 wrenches doing it this way.

Thanks for this awesome write up (and the ball joint write up as well). Just did the outer tie rods and ball joints on my '98 yesterday. Inners probably need it, but i may end up replacing the whole rack so I didn't want to buy inners twice.

 

[RunnerLimited]

hey guys new to the forum, stupid question.
Im missing the tie rod "crown" nut in the end of my tie rod?
one shop told me to look around what type of thread pitch it is in order to help me,

where can I find this nut without buying the whole tie rod assembly?:rockon:

 

[scrappt]

CV joit/shaft buying help

I have a 96 4 runner 4 cyc. I was looking on Rock auto for a new CV join or shaft I noticed left and right are the same but one shows 4wd the rest don't say.
Does it matter if it one for 4wd or not?
thanks for any help

 

[dwmckeehen]

Thank you for doing this write up. This is by far one of the best. The detailed instructions and excellent pictures gave me the courage to take this job on. Just finished pulling out the inner and outer tie rods, along with the lbjs.

Some things I learned...Out of all the repair jobs I have done, this was one of the worse as far as frozen nuts and bolts were concerned. A set of bolt extractors was critical in my getting the parts out. Some things I wish I purchased with my parts in the first place....1. New mounting bolts for the lbjs. By the time I got these out, most were damaged enough that replacement was recommended. 2. New boots. They are cheap, and would have saved me the hassle of having to separate the inner and outer tie rods so I could reuse the boots. If you are replacing both, there would be no reason to have to wrestle these apart if you buy new boots. 3. The large lock nut that threads onto the outer tie rod and sits against the inner tie rod does not come with the new parts. I could not get the old ones off the old tie rods to re-use, and I probably wouldn't want to anyway. Ordering those caused a two day delay. Get new ones up front!

Again, thanks for this great writ up!

 

[johnnyw104]

Thanks for the writeup! I was going to attempt ball joints and tie rod ends myself and it would have been a great help.

 

[D Farms]

not sure if anyone else does this, but as of recent ive found that removing the tire is not nessesary for a lot of these maintenance jobs. i also have 35s and spidertrax so that may make a difference. I didnt even jack my truck up, i just loosened the outer ball joint unscrewed it from the inner and replaced everything, the second side took only 45 minutes to do.

even replacing the coilovers in the front, I support the truck on jack stands, undo the 4 lbj bolts and lower the arm down while leaving the tire on. this way is supports the knuckle, I guess i also have lower poly bushings so the arm drops easily. I guess some aftermarket parts actually do make it easier to work on your truck.

 

[Road Bull]

Great write up!

So I just got my new OEM LBJs with new hardware and castle nuts today from Camelback. Due to budget, I did not order the whole kit and caboodle (inner and outer tie rods) yet. If I have the lifetime Firestone alignment, is there any reason to delay swapping out the LBJs till I can get the rest of the parts? My thinking is that as my 4runner sits, (at 190K miles), that getting those LBJs swapped should happen sooner rather than later, then worry about the rest when I can. I have a new Shrockworks front bumper that I am about to install, and I figure that I should catch up with some maintenance before I go adding weight and things like lifts to my rig. What say ye?

 

[jeremyc74]

Great write up!

So I just got my new OEM LBJs with new hardware and castle nuts today from Camelback. Due to budget, I did not order the whole kit and caboodle (inner and outer tie rods) yet. If I have the lifetime Firestone alignment, is there any reason to delay swapping out the LBJs till I can get the rest of the parts?

If it were me I'd hold off until you have everything, unless it's going to be months before you can get the other stuff. It will save you having to break the tie rod and LBJ apart, which can be a pain, and you'll probably damage the boot anyway. When I did mine I pulled the LBJ, ITR, and OTR out as one piece, and then just replaced everything with new.

 

[xcvjhcgh]

Awesome! I should be changing out everything soon - new rack, OTREs, and LBJs. This will be quite helpful!

 

[Unner]

Great write up!

So I just got my new OEM LBJs with new hardware and castle nuts today from Camelback. Due to budget, I did not order the whole kit and caboodle (inner and outer tie rods) yet. If I have the lifetime Firestone alignment, is there any reason to delay swapping out the LBJs till I can get the rest of the parts? My thinking is that as my 4runner sits, (at 190K miles), that getting those LBJs swapped should happen sooner rather than later, then worry about the rest when I can. I have a new Shrockworks front bumper that I am about to install, and I figure that I should catch up with some maintenance before I go adding weight and things like lifts to my rig. What say ye?

If it were me I'd hold off until you have everything, unless it's going to be months before you can get the other stuff. It will save you having to break the tie rod and LBJ apart, which can be a pain, and you'll probably damage the boot anyway. When I did mine I pulled the LBJ, ITR, and OTR out as one piece, and then just replaced everything with new.

I was actually going to suggest the opposite. I'd swap them because it's a safety issue, but tie rods aren't. I had no issues breaking the tie rod free from the LBJ when I did mine. I just had to get the right size puller and be careful around the boot. My truck also has no rust at all though which certainly helps.

As for the alignment if you have the lifetime alignment at firestone then it doesn't matter, I've probably got 10 alignments there since I got my 3rd gen. Pretty good deal if you work on your truck a lot like I do. You don't NEED an alignment after LBJ's either. It shouldn't change anything, but I had mine done afterwards anyway.

 

[Road Bull]

Cool. Now do most of you suck it up and pay a bit extra for OEM outer and inner tie rod ends? It looks like the outer OEM isn't too bad, but the inner tie rods are a fair bit more.

 

[Unner]

Outers I bought from camelback with some other parts. They're cheaper than aftermarket for OEM so it's a no brainer there.

Inners I bought from Amayama. I still haven't gotten around to installing them over the last 6 months. I need to do that sometime...

Here's my thread on the Inners and Amayama. Very good prices for OEM parts.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/196245-killer-deal-oem-inner-tie-rods.html

 

[Road Bull]

Outers I bought from camelback with some other parts. They're cheaper than aftermarket for OEM so it's a no brainer there.

Inners I bought from Amayama. I still haven't gotten around to installing them over the last 6 months. I need to do that sometime...

Here's my thread on the Inners and Amayama. Very good prices for OEM parts.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/196245-killer-deal-oem-inner-tie-rods.html

Thanks for the inner part source Unner! :thumb: I just ordered them today from Amayama. That seems to be the cheapest OEM inner that I have found, even with the ~$30 shipping. Think the total was $163.80 for two. I will order the OTRE, and perhaps new boots from camelback. Soon, I should have plenty of projects to keep me busy. lol.

 

[Algiers]

Thanks for the inner part source Unner! :thumb: I just ordered them today from Amayama. That seems to be the cheapest OEM inner that I have found, even with the ~$30 shipping. Think the total was $163.80 for two. I will order the OTRE, and perhaps new boots from camelback. Soon, I should have plenty of projects to keep me busy. lol.

I'm doing the same basic ordering for mine. Amayama is on the way from Japan and I'm looking at where to get the best deal here on the outers and boot. Can anyone let me know if the OEM outers come with the jam nut or would that have to be ordered separate?

Since I'm replacing both, I figured I'd avoid having to break them apart since a lot of people have said it's pretty difficult sometimes.

 

[kolelt]

Could a bad outter or inner tie rod cause a clunking noise while the wheel is rotating? I though it was my wheel bearing because it really sounded like it. So I replaced it with all OEM and the noise is still there. Sound like right side/passenger. And when the wheels start rotating a small weird noise appears. I understand that the tie rods don't rotate. But could it ? I'm keeping my fingers crossed its not my front diff !!! As I was stuck in deep mud while back.

 

[Unner]

I'm doing the same basic ordering for mine. Amayama is on the way from Japan and I'm looking at where to get the best deal here on the outers and boot. Can anyone let me know if the OEM outers come with the jam nut or would that have to be ordered separate?

Since I'm replacing both, I figured I'd avoid having to break them apart since a lot of people have said it's pretty difficult sometimes.

They do not come with the jam nut. I had to reuse my old ones unfortunately.

 

[Algiers]

They do not come with the jam nut. I had to reuse my old ones unfortunately.

That's what I thought. I can't seem to find an accurate part number for it. Thanks for the tip on Amayama by the way. I don't think I could have stomached the full cost.

 

[Unner]

That's what I thought. I can't seem to find an accurate part number for it. Thanks for the tip on Amayama by the way. I don't think I could have stomached the full cost.

No problem, I couldn't find a part number for the jam nuts either. I'm sure it's out there though.

 

[gamefreakgc]

That's what I thought. I can't seem to find an accurate part number for it. Thanks for the tip on Amayama by the way. I don't think I could have stomached the full cost.

The jam nuts see very little use, so unless yours are caked in rust just re-use them. I did and they snugged up very well.