Inner tie-rod end replacement hours?

[Dalrain]

Hello all,
I have an inner tie rod end that's way out of whack, and both rack boots are torn. I bought 2 inner tie rods ($60 total) and two new rack boots ($50 total).

I don't think I'm going to have the time or the space to actually do the work myself, but I wanted to find out what time is reasonable for both tie rods and boots. (So I can calculate labor costs - I think standard should be 65 an hour, right?) Does anyone know what kind of time this job should take?

Thanks in advance, folks.

[porcupine73]

Where did you buy the parts? I don't know what the book rate is. $65/hour these days is probably the lowest you are going to find, I imagine many places are $80/hr on up these days.

My first one took about two hours including setting toe afterward. An absolute must is an inner tie rod end tool, but you can get those for like $40 at harbor freight. Also make sure you get new lock washers you really don't want to reuse the old ones. And loctite the inner tie rod threads into the rack so it can't loosen, the lock washer would keep it from loosening completely but not from loosening just a little. The hardest part was getting the stupid new boot to mount correctly on the rack side, it's just so tight to work in there.

Here's some pics for some reason I never resized them so I put links instead
http://www.porcupine73.com/pics/tie-...-end-parts.jpg
http://www.porcupine73.com/pics/tie-...-end-tool1.jpg
http://www.porcupine73.com/pics/tie-...n-jam-nut1.jpg

[porcupine73]

I was looking for the book rate but they don't list the inner tie rod ends separately, just as part of replacing the rack, which shows 2.9 hours.

Remember, toe will need to be checked and adjusted afterward.

[Dalrain]

Thanks so much for your replies porcupine. I appreciate your taking the time to help me out.

I got the tie rod ends and boots from Advance Auto Parts. The brand is TRW on the tie rods, and they have a limited lifetime warranty. (I don't know how useful that is, but at least it would cover anything I can pin on bad manufacturing...)

[Sylverius]

I've got to get around to this soon on mine, too. The left inner tie rod has some play, and both boots are just starting to tear.

Does anyone know the torque spec to which you tighten the inner tie rod to the rack?

Jim

[porcupine73]

It looks to be 58 +/- 7 ft-lb(f) but I present that for reference only. I also use red loctite on the inner tie rod ends. Make sure you get a new lock washer too. Usually I just replace the inner and outer ends as a set but that's just because the salty rusty winters take their toll but it adds $ to the job.

ok this pic is going to be huge but it is kind of blury so I left it large so the part #'s can be read.

[Sylverius]

Originally posted by porcupine73
It looks to be 58 +/- 7 ft-lb(f) but I present that for reference only. I also use red loctite on the inner tie rod ends. Make sure you get a new lock washer too. Usually I just replace the inner and outer ends as a set but that's just because the salty rusty winters take their toll but it adds $ to the job.

ok this pic is going to be huge but it is kind of blury so I left it large so the part #'s can be read.

Works for me, thanks! I replaced the outer ends on both sides in December of last year, so they're good. I was under the car looking for issues this weekend and found that the left inner had a bit of play side to side, although none in/out. I hope this explains the weird vibrations and semi-wandering steering I've been having lately. I drive about 70 miles per day and it's getting really annoying.

Last thing to do is make a run to Harbor Freight, and order the parts.

Jim

[porcupine73]

Yes, the HF tool works great and it does include the right size adapter. I don't think this job could be done without that tool without removing the 'steering gear' as the manual calls it from the vehicle.

again sorry about these huge pics I must've not sized them for some reason.