Car Auto

How to Replace a Tie Rod End Adjuster Sleeve

1. Raise the front of the vehicle and support it with jack stands. Remove the front wheels with a lug wrench and place them aside.
2. Locate the tie rod, which is mounted to the inner side of the wheel spindle. Straighten the cotter pin that keeps the tie rod mounting nut from turning with a pair of pliers. Pull the pin from the tie rod with the pliers and discard it.
3. Remove the tie rod mounting nut from the spindle in a counterclockwise direction with a socket and breaker bar. Place the nut aside.
4. Place the two jaws of a tie rod separator in between the joint of the tie rod and the spindle from the underside of the vehicle. Turn the threaded rod at the center of the separator with an adjustable wrench in a clockwise direction until the tie rod breaks free of the spindle. Remove the separator.
5. Loosen the two bolts on the adjuster sleeve (which is just inboard of the outer tie rod) with an adjustable wrench turned in a counterclockwise direction. Remove the tie rod from the adjuster sleeve by twisting it out in a counterclockwise direction. Count the number of rotations until the tie rod is free of the adjuster sleeve so that you can reinstall the tie rod in approximately the same location on the new adjuster sleeve.
6. Twist the adjuster sleeve off of the inner tie rod in a counterclockwise direction, counting the number of rotations before the sleeve is free of the inner tie rod. Clean the threads of the inner and outer tie rods with a wire brush.
7. Twist the new adjuster sleeve onto the threads of the inner tie rod in a clockwise direction, turning the sleeve the same number of rotations at it took to remove the old sleeve. Thread the outer tie rod into the adjuster sleeve and twist it in a clockwise direction the same number of turns as it took to remove the tie rod from the old adjuster. Tighten the two bolts on the adjuster sleeve in a clockwise direction with an adjustable wrench.
8. Insert the shaft of the outer tie rod through the mounting hole in the spindle and tighten the nut using the socket and breaker bar in a clockwise direction. Insert a new cotter pin through the slots in the nut and bend over the end of the pin with a pair of pliers so that it does not slide out, which will cause the nut to loosen.
9. Replace the wheel and tighten the lug nuts. Lower the vehicle to the ground and have the front end aligned by an alignment shop as soon as possible.