Inner Tie Rods 1985 GL

[RisSanSubaru]

What the heck with the Inner Tie rods. I want to replace mine- they are bad on all three wagons but from what I can surmise this requires replacement of the entire rack!!!

 

Am I missing something?

[uncoolperson]

might be different but on my gen 1 it just required some head banging (not this kind ) alittle asprin.... and a few bandaids

 

it should be as simple as taking the outers off then take the inners off... (a nut, an anoying washer...) then put it all back together kicking and screaming the whole way.

 

if you do this mark everything where everything was.... use these marks when putting stuff back together... to get almost identical allignment

 

and when you're done it's more than just a good idea to get an alignment job

[GeneralDisorder]

I've never required an alignment on any soob I've owned. If you mark where the threads were on the old parts, you can match it up perfectly. The only adjustment on a soob is the tie rod ends. As long as you have that right, the alignment is set. Tire wear is usually a result of bad ball joints, or bad inflation.

 

As for replacement - remove the boot, and use a hammer and chisel to bend the washer back on the nut - then use a big wrench to unscrew the rod.

 

GD

[PoorManzImpreza]

this was really easy with the rack out of the car.. lol I happened to be upgrading from manual to power steering at the time, but what GD informed you is spot on..If I were doing it with the rack mounted on the car I'd lift the entire front end then tern the wheel so the rack is exposed nice and good. This should make it easier to work on..good luck if the flat spots designed to allow a wrench to get in there to untie the rods is in a funky position..should still be doable..

 

Kaz

[chazmataz]

as far as changing your inner tie rod GD is right.

 

but, tire wear is also caused by wrong toe, too much camber angles and wore out tie rods inner and/or outer not just bad ball joints and bad inflation. yes ,you can get your alignment close but not perfect and yes pre-lagecey subarus only have adjustment for toe in the front but caster and camber can be adjusted too in some respects but it does need an alignment machine or the right equipment to do this and you can get adjustable parts too.

 

i have posted this information before and you can set your toe with a tape measure and a helper, this is done on early 4x4s that only have a toe adjustment too and by alot of non professional race car drives at club levels. i myself have done this when i was racing my datsun 510.

 

the key to good toe is having a little toe-in and that both your dimensions from outer tie-rod stud center to the rack shaft that the inner screws into are equal from side to side with the wheels straight ahead. marking your old and matching to new is not always perfect as different manufactures have different specs and procedures.

 

thats my 2 cents

[GeneralDisorder]

I said "usually" in my post. There are of course other reasons, and when you are talking lifted or lowered vehicles with mods, then all this discussion is out the window. With a stock setup and stock tires the toe adjustment is the only one. As long as your ball joints, tie rods/ends, and bushings (control arm, and strut top) are in good shape, the alignment is a factory setting that cannot be changed. This makes it pretty easy to figure out your alignment - set the toe where it was before, and replace any worn parts - shazam - car is aligned. Bad ball joints are the usual tire wear problem points - when they get sloppy the outer edge of the tire will wear badly on turns as the weight of the vehicle is being pushed against the ball joint and causes the tire to ride up on it's edge.

 

GD

[chazmataz]

wrong toe and wrong camber(postive) will wear outside edges of tires too. if your engine cradle has shifted from hitting a curb for example that will throw off your camber, caster and toe, this is related to a stock setup and can be corrected by a good alignment tech that knows what they are doing but it does have to be hooked up to a machine and doesn't require extra parts. i see this every day at work.

 

but the point is that you can't get your alignment dead on and usually not real close with just screwing a new part back on to the same exact place your old one came off. thats the point i'm trying to get to sometimes whether you like it or not you should have your alignment checked by someone that knows what they are doing. tire wear is due to alot of different factors.

[idosubaru]

GD is spot on, mark your locations and reinstall.

 

i've done ball joints, swapped control arms, steering racks, struts, hubs...etc. i never get alignments and my tires wear perfectly even after 200,000 miles of no alignments. i've wrecked mine playing in the snow and replaced control arms and hubs and still no alignment needed. mark everything where it was carefully, install and you're done. keep an eye on the tires, with AWD you should be rotating anyway, if you see any start of unusual wear that's when you take it in for an alignment. i've used that philosophy and i've never needed an alignment yet.

 

you can pick up used racks fairly cheap, someone on the board here will probably sell you one for little money. are you sure all 3 are bad? i've never seen a failed subaru tie rod, i'm sure it's possible but to have 3 that are all bad? sounds strange.

[RisSanSubaru]

GD is spot on, mark your locations and reinstall.

 

i've done ball joints, swapped control arms, steering racks, struts, hubs...etc. i never get alignments and my tires wear perfectly even after 200,000 miles of no alignments. i've wrecked mine playing in the snow and replaced control arms and hubs and still no alignment needed. mark everything where it was carefully, install and you're done. keep an eye on the tires, with AWD you should be rotating anyway, if you see any start of unusual wear that's when you take it in for an alignment. i've used that philosophy and i've never needed an alignment yet.

 

you can pick up used racks fairly cheap, someone on the board here will probably sell you one for little money. are you sure all 3 are bad? i've never seen a failed subaru tie rod, i'm sure it's possible but to have 3 that are all bad? sounds strange.

 

Yes, I have three cars with bad inner tie rods. Jack up the car, they move about 1/4+ inches in both directions at the inside. No biggie. Just was curious about that big washer and the fact that my service manuals suggest replacing the entire rack. Anyways, the alignment's not a problem and netiher is tire wear. Just dangerous having that thing flopping when I'm in the mud.

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah - the inner tie rods do get sloppy - especially if the accordian boot rips and you get muddy silt in there from crossing creek beds and such. I've had to replace a few, and come to find that almost every one I checked at the junk yards was also worn. They usually have maybe 1/32" of play or so, although I've seen worse too. This translates to quite a bit of play at the outside of the tire - especially with the big tires a lot of us lifted types run. It's really amazing how small amounts of wear are magnified and quickened by larger tires.

 

Good prices on inner and outer tie rod bits:

 

www.rockauto.com

 

GD