Symptoms truck drove great and tracked well but under hard braking I'd get a shutter was worse on down hill braking... felt like warped rotors but since it wasn't happening all the time I figured something was worn at only 325k miles I was kinda pissed but maybe I GOT A BAD ONE... Ok I knew this was coming and I had already ordered the parts Steering Tie Rod End Front Outer Inner Left Right For Lexus LX470 1998 To 2002 | eBay I KNOW MOST OF YOU GUYS WOULD NOT USE THESE but really the quality looks as good as anything else I've had...
I got some new tires (cooper 285 60 r18) bought them online (simpletire.com) and took them down to my local in the hood tire shop (they have mounted and balanced at least 20 sets for me and all were dead on) when they jacked up the front I grabbed the front tire and it was easy to tell... the inner tie rods were shot... at least 1" of movement at tires edge. OUCH rt side was worse than the drivers but both were over 1".... damn...
Step by Step fix... & tool list...
Tools needed jack and 2 jack stands if you want to just jack up the truck once...
12mm socket with 6" extension & ratchet for the front skid pan removal
10" channel locks, needle nose pliers, 13/16" open end wrench, 2 large crescent wrenches, one large pipe wrench, hooked pick tool or long skinny screwdriver, hammer and long large flathead screwdriver, ruler or carpenter square
after you jack up and remove tires/wheels and place your jackstands under your truck with parking brake on and rear wheels chocked
1. remove front skid pan 12mm socket required
2. with steering turned ALMOST 3/4 full rt remove clamps holding the dust boot... the small end is easy, on the big end mine had the factory clamps that have the small hook that locks them clamped... if you are careful the whole clamp or clamp and boot will rotate so that you can twist it to the bottom and see what you are doing... needle nose pliers or the channel locks can grab the nubs on the clamp squeezing it tighter which lets it "unlock/unlatch" once the clamp is off pull back the boot to expose where the tierod joins the rack
3, there is a lock washer that bends over the tie rod flats to keep it from unscrewing... use your hammer and long flathead screwdriver to UNBEND these washers
4. now if you happen to have a thin 42mm wrench you can unscrew your tie rod from the rack... I did not have a 42mm wrench much less a thin 42mm wrench... so I used a large pipe wrench... best at this point to turn your steering back to the left so you can have some slack to remove/unscrew the tie rod
5. using the right size wrenches (or crescents in my case) break the inner tie rod free from the outer tie rod making sure to move the jam nut as little as possible, the flats on mine took a 13/16" open end wrench
unscrew the tie rod don't move the jam nut YET I wanted to measure as close as i could the overall used length, so that I could transfer that to the new tie rod so my alignment would be close, using a metal ruler/carpenters square, I measured the old tie rod from the flat surface where it joins the rack to the outer surface of the jam nut... this let me set the new tie rod so my alignment would be close upon reassembly.
now you can remove your boot to reuse (i did) wish I had new ones... but oh well
6. making sure you have your new flat locking washer on the rack end of your new tie rod it only goes on ONE WAY, screw it onto your rack and tighten (i used the pipe wrench) make sure you align the slots and nibs on the lockwasher it matters! and bend it over so it's locked in place...
7. reinstall your boot and clamp
8. now screw the inner rod to the outer rod if you measured right and got your jam nut set close you should be good to go after you tighten everything up
9 do it all again on the other side and you are done... took me about an hour and I've never done it before on a 100 series...
I was rushed for time I had the new outers but did not install them as they seemed tight... but think you could do all 4 in 2 hrs, I will replace the outers before I get it realigned...
must have got it pretty close it tracked well and no pulling and steering wheel is dead on... and the hard braking shutter is gone...
This is my DD street cruiser and I'm sure these are made in china parts... but I know they are better than what I had... and the quality looked pretty damn good to me... for you off road trail guys for $35 it might be worth keeping for trail spares... I won't loose any sleep over them any more than i do my $100ebay TB WP kits...
I got some new tires (cooper 285 60 r18) bought them online (simpletire.com) and took them down to my local in the hood tire shop (they have mounted and balanced at least 20 sets for me and all were dead on) when they jacked up the front I grabbed the front tire and it was easy to tell... the inner tie rods were shot... at least 1" of movement at tires edge. OUCH rt side was worse than the drivers but both were over 1".... damn...
Step by Step fix... & tool list...
Tools needed jack and 2 jack stands if you want to just jack up the truck once...
12mm socket with 6" extension & ratchet for the front skid pan removal
10" channel locks, needle nose pliers, 13/16" open end wrench, 2 large crescent wrenches, one large pipe wrench, hooked pick tool or long skinny screwdriver, hammer and long large flathead screwdriver, ruler or carpenter square
after you jack up and remove tires/wheels and place your jackstands under your truck with parking brake on and rear wheels chocked
1. remove front skid pan 12mm socket required
2. with steering turned ALMOST 3/4 full rt remove clamps holding the dust boot... the small end is easy, on the big end mine had the factory clamps that have the small hook that locks them clamped... if you are careful the whole clamp or clamp and boot will rotate so that you can twist it to the bottom and see what you are doing... needle nose pliers or the channel locks can grab the nubs on the clamp squeezing it tighter which lets it "unlock/unlatch" once the clamp is off pull back the boot to expose where the tierod joins the rack
3, there is a lock washer that bends over the tie rod flats to keep it from unscrewing... use your hammer and long flathead screwdriver to UNBEND these washers
4. now if you happen to have a thin 42mm wrench you can unscrew your tie rod from the rack... I did not have a 42mm wrench much less a thin 42mm wrench... so I used a large pipe wrench... best at this point to turn your steering back to the left so you can have some slack to remove/unscrew the tie rod
5. using the right size wrenches (or crescents in my case) break the inner tie rod free from the outer tie rod making sure to move the jam nut as little as possible, the flats on mine took a 13/16" open end wrench
unscrew the tie rod don't move the jam nut YET I wanted to measure as close as i could the overall used length, so that I could transfer that to the new tie rod so my alignment would be close, using a metal ruler/carpenters square, I measured the old tie rod from the flat surface where it joins the rack to the outer surface of the jam nut... this let me set the new tie rod so my alignment would be close upon reassembly.
now you can remove your boot to reuse (i did) wish I had new ones... but oh well
6. making sure you have your new flat locking washer on the rack end of your new tie rod it only goes on ONE WAY, screw it onto your rack and tighten (i used the pipe wrench) make sure you align the slots and nibs on the lockwasher it matters! and bend it over so it's locked in place...
7. reinstall your boot and clamp
8. now screw the inner rod to the outer rod if you measured right and got your jam nut set close you should be good to go after you tighten everything up
9 do it all again on the other side and you are done... took me about an hour and I've never done it before on a 100 series...
I was rushed for time I had the new outers but did not install them as they seemed tight... but think you could do all 4 in 2 hrs, I will replace the outers before I get it realigned...
must have got it pretty close it tracked well and no pulling and steering wheel is dead on... and the hard braking shutter is gone...
This is my DD street cruiser and I'm sure these are made in china parts... but I know they are better than what I had... and the quality looked pretty damn good to me... for you off road trail guys for $35 it might be worth keeping for trail spares... I won't loose any sleep over them any more than i do my $100ebay TB WP kits...
Last edited:
