E46 Tie Rod Replacement DIY

Originally Posted by andymilonkis453

did you have to put grease inside the boot? like cv joint grease?

I would think greasing is required only on the ball behind the screw the connects to steering rack

I did my outer tie rods. The difficult one needed about 9 treatments of soaking in PB blaster with generous heating from a propane torch. The ninth time it finally budged.

Excellent write-up, I just did mine today, this is an easy DIY especially with this DIY. For those of you that have earlier E46's the outer tie rod nut is not 19mm. I tried 19, then 18mm (which was still loose) and 17mm (too small) and figured it must be SAE and ended up using an adjustable wrench

Glad you had success changing them out!

Neil

Originally Posted by lmr2wil

I just did this DIY today. It went without a hitch. Thanks for the write-up!

Just a few thoughts to add to the pile:

1. sdpaguy is absolutely right. The tierod puller is the way to go. I bought this for $15 - http://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-648...3184051&sr=8-1 - which is the same price as a pickle fork and hammer (although the fork is certainly useful for the control arms too). It fit fine (using the smaller of the two bolts) and worked in just a few turns (See the attached pictures).

2. Both the jam nut on my old tierods, as well as that on the new ones, were 24mm rather than 22mm (YMMV).

3. I wanted to be able to torque the inner tierods to spec, so I also decided to go with a 1-5/16" crowfoot for $7 - http://erisautomotivetools.com/SUN97741.aspx - the actual size is 34mm but this seemed harder to find close to me. All I had to do was slightly file it down to get it to work.

Thanks again for an excellent write-up!

Luke

Would you do the job again without a tie rod puller?

It is so easy with the puller that I would really want it (this is especially true since you can get the power built one for so cheap). Having done the control arms earlier that summer, it was such a night and day difference of removing the tie rods with a puller compared to man handling the control arms ball joints off with a fork! No question, the puller is worth the $15.

It's also nice because you can remove the tie rod without damaging it, so if you need to remove the tie rod without replacing it, you can do that too.

Good luck!

Luke

what are the symtoms of a bad tie rod? i been geting some vibration on my steering wheel when im driving at 70 to 80 mph!!! i checked the tie rod last night and i notice the boot has a crack or a hole!!! and when i do a left u turn i get***65279; a scraping noise like a grinder noise!!

do I have to replace just the tie rod end? or the whole tie rod cus I checked the tie rods this morning and the are really worn out and have some play because I been getting a vibration in my steering wheel I just replace the control arms and control arm bushings, can any one help me out plz


[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

To check your tie rod jack your car up and see if you can wiggle your tire side to side easily. Get a pry bar and and see if there's a lot of play in the bushing that attaches to your wheel. These are usually indications of a bad tie rod, it's normal for them to look warned out after so many miles.

sub'd for the info, good job OP

Sub'd cause I am all about this soon. Again. YAY for Chinese made tie rods from E-bay! Came from a "Hamburg Technic" kit I ordered a long time ago, I am actually surprised that they lasted as long as they did now that I think of it. But my driver's side is BAD, can move the wheel like 1/2" in each direction! Need to do this ASAP. NEVER BUY ANYTHING HAMBURG TECHNIC, I've had a control arm ball joint pop where it was so bad I thought it was going to separate and now this... and sway bar end links that were shot after less than a year! garbage parts.

Hamburg technic tie rod outer end was destroyed. Thankfully it came off fairly easy, had both the tie rod separator and pickle fork, pickle fork won. Had to perform a driveway alignment to get her lined up good on that side on my zhp's. Rides good and straight now, so much better in the steering wheel, hitting highway tomorrow so we'll see how accurate my estimates are..

Need parts for my zhp want to refresh suspension don't wanna go cheap but don't have crazy money to buy bmw parts I need to know the next best thing to it and where I can get parts good stuff for cheap