How Do You Change The Inner Tie Rod Ends, And Lower Ball Joints

[AZC]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

[artbuc]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

I don't know your mechanical skill level and/or what tools you have so I can't say if you can do this safely. I can say it is a very simple job for almost any mechanically oriented DIY'er because the lower ball joint is bolted (vs pressed) in which makes removal and installation easy. You should have a nice flat concrete surface, good floor jack & jack stands, impact wrench and a special tool (real cheap to buy) which will pop-out the tie-rod end and ball joint. You should also have a torque wrench for reassembly.

PS How do you know you need these parts?

[AZC]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

I don't know your mechanical skill level and/or what tools you have so I can't say if you can do this safely. I can say it is a very simple job for almost any mechanically oriented DIY'er because the lower ball joint is bolted (vs pressed) in which makes removal and installation easy. You should have a nice flat concrete surface, good floor jack & jack stands, impact wrench and a special tool (real cheap to buy) which will pop-out the tie-rod end and ball joint. You should also have a torque wrench for reassembly.

PS How do you know you need these parts?

Hi artbuc,

Thanks for your response. I knew something was a mist, so i took my RX to a repair shop and had them do a suspension test, and those were the items they said needed to change. I had suspected this much, but wanted confirmation. The ball joints are showing signs of excessive wear, and i can feel the inner rods doing something wacky, especially when I'm making about 45mph, and i know its not my tires as they are brand new, and i had the wheels aligned also. I've had vehicles in the pass that I experienced these symptoms with, and it turned out to be these culprits. I'm pretty certain i can do the job myself, especially considering that the repair shop wants to charge me in excess of $800 to do the job.

[Karl K]

It is amazing that someone would do a wheel alignment on a vehicle with worn ball joints and or tie rod ends.

Karl

[AZC]

It is amazing that someone would do a wheel alignment on a vehicle with worn ball joints and or tie rod ends.

Karl

Hi Karl,

I also found it strange that the repair shop went ahead and did the wheel alignment and not advise me of these issues a few months ago, as i'm quite certain that they existed then.

[code58]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

How did they determine the INNER tie rods were bad? That is an easy one for you to check, though I must say, inner tie rods don't go bad very often, most of the time the outer (tie rod ends). Do you have really bad roads in the Bahamas? It requires some special tools to do the INNERS. You have to take the outer ends off and then it takes a long tube type socket (at least 12-15 in. long) that is made to take crow-foot wrenches of different sizes. I don't think you'd want to buy one, they're not cheap so if you do it, I'd see if I could rent one from a parts store. To check them, jack the car up and lock the steering wheel and preferably have someone hold the steering wheel to one side to eliminate play in the steering wheel lock. Then take ahold of the wheel and try to move back and forth like you are weaving R&L. That will pick up any play in the whole steering system (rack & pinion, inner tie rods, & outer tie rod ends) if you have play, you need to determine which of those things is the problem or if more than one is.

[artbuc]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

How did they determine the INNER tie rods were bad? That is an easy one for you to check, though I must say, inner tie rods don't go bad very often, most of the time the outer (tie rod ends). Do you have really bad roads in the Bahamas? It requires some special tools to do the INNERS. You have to take the outer ends off and then it takes a long tube type socket (at least 12-15 in. long) that is made to take crow-foot wrenches of different sizes. I don't think you'd want to buy one, they're not cheap so if you do it, I'd see if I could rent one from a parts store. To check them, jack the car up and lock the steering wheel and preferably have someone hold the steering wheel to one side to eliminate play in the steering wheel lock. Then take ahold of the wheel and try to move back and forth like you are weaving R&L. That will pick up any play in the whole steering system (rack & pinion, inner tie rods, & outer tie rod ends) if you have play, you need to determine which of those things is the problem or if more than one is.

Thanks Roger. My eyes read "inner" but my brain heard "outer". Yes, replacing inner tre's is a different animal all together.

[code58]

Hello all,

Does anyone have instructions on how to change the Inner tie rod ends, and lower ball joints on a 1999 Lexus RX 300? Is this something i can safely carry out myself?

How did they determine the INNER tie rods were bad? That is an easy one for you to check, though I must say, inner tie rods don't go bad very often, most of the time the outer (tie rod ends). Do you have really bad roads in the Bahamas? It requires some special tools to do the INNERS. You have to take the outer ends off and then it takes a long tube type socket (at least 12-15 in. long) that is made to take crow-foot wrenches of different sizes. I don't think you'd want to buy one, they're not cheap so if you do it, I'd see if I could rent one from a parts store. To check them, jack the car up and lock the steering wheel and preferably have someone hold the steering wheel to one side to eliminate play in the steering wheel lock. Then take ahold of the wheel and try to move back and forth like you are weaving R&L. That will pick up any play in the whole steering system (rack & pinion, inner tie rods, & outer tie rod ends) if you have play, you need to determine which of those things is the problem or if more than one is.

Thanks Roger. My eyes read "inner" but my brain heard "outer". Yes, replacing inner tre's is a different animal all together.

Art, the young man that I did the lock piggy-back for was told he needed inner tie rods on his Solara. I checked them for him and there was wear, but it was very slight. I told him I certainly wouldn't change them til they got a lot worse than they were. I'm betting most cars go to the junk yard with the original inner tie rods. It is so totally captive that there wouldn't be any danger from wear (only a little annoyance) till you reached about 500k mi. So many shops know most people who bring their car in don't know much of anything about mechanics, so they scare them into thinking they won't make it home the way it is. Borderline criminal sometimes (I'm being generous there) :D

[Hadyourphil]

The outer tie rod ends look pretty easy to change. My right one has play, and at 217,000 miles, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. No special tools for this, right? And, if I count the turns to unscrew the old one, do you think I can get away without an alignment?

One more question... Should I go ahead and replace both tie rod ends??

[Joe Whittet]

i wrecked my rx300 this morning and looking at it i believe it broke the steering linage end that connects to the strut, is this just a tie rod? do i need to replace the whole rack and pinion?im new so don't quite get how post new post