INNER and OUTTER tie rod problem

[racer56]

SO i took my car (B6 A4) in for a alignment today and they said that the tie rod nuts were rusted solid. So they could not adjust my front end toe. They also gave me a quote of $700 to replace them lol. Have any of you guys ran into the problem and is there a solution to it.
THANKS

[in2thenightaudi]

dealing with a very similar problem on my a6 now. said inner and outer were frozen together...wanted about 800 to replace. biggest thing is them buying the parts. they wanted over 550 for new inner and outer tie rods (OEM from stealership or something I am assuming) and then 230 to install. I am dropping the car off at another shop to see if they can break them free (about an hour of labor). if they cant, im going to buy my own tie rod assembly (can get them from memebers on here around 50-100 bucks and try to install my self. if i cant do it, ill take it back to the shop and have them only to the install and save myself the ridiculous 550 they wanted for parts.

[Dirty]

Had to replace both mine because they were frozen, and one was blown. FCPgroton has the assembly for $40, got two of those, two new boots and replaced them my self. Install is pretty easy and straight forward. Cost about $120 all together.

[racer56]

Ok so i just talked to a audi mechanic and he said its a typical problem for these cars. But he said a lot of times they can save half the tie rods to save us some money. But he told me as long as its not causing a huge issue then just leave them , i was actually surprised as to how honest he was LOL.

[87supraman]

Eh, It's one of those parts that you might as well do it all while you are in there. I just replaced both sides, b/c like you I had a frozen one. I just used a dremel tool and cut it in half (to save the boot), went to autozone and rented the "tie rod" tool and had both sides off in under an hour. For the install the autozone tool didn't fit the new inner tierod so I was able to use a pipe wrench and get it nice and snug... very easy DIY.

[pape]

Had to replace both mine because they were frozen, and one was blown. FCPgroton has the assembly for $40, got two of those, two new boots and replaced them my self. Install is pretty easy and straight forward. Cost about $120 all together.

How did you take off the inner tie rod???

[akaEsCo01]

You need a 22mm (iirc) crows foot and a long extention and breaker bar and it will come right off. Take the small panel out of the inner wheel well, knock off the one time use clamp on the boot and slide it back to access the inner rod.

50% of the time or more, the outer rod will be stuck to the inner and there isn't enough PB blaster in the world to break it free. The bolt is long so it rarely gets in there far enough. It's not worth the hassle and time wasted, with no guarantee you will actually get it off, so changing both is usually my practice also.

[my1stturbo]

You need a 22mm (iirc) crows foot and a long extention and breaker bar and it will come right off. Take the small panel out of the inner wheel well, knock off the one time use clamp on the boot and slide it back to access the inner rod.

50% of the time or more, the outer rod will be stuck to the inner and there isn't enough PB blaster in the world to break it free. The bolt is long so it rarely gets in there far enough. It's not worth the hassle and time wasted, with no guarantee you will actually get it off, so changing both is usually my practice also.

Thanks for the info. Have to do the control arms on my Passat in the next couple of weeks and got complete TR's with the kit so this will come in handy.

[pape]

You need a 22mm (iirc) crows foot and a long extention and breaker bar and it will come right off. Take the small panel out of the inner wheel well, knock off the one time use clamp on the boot and slide it back to access the inner rod.

50% of the time or more, the outer rod will be stuck to the inner and there isn't enough PB blaster in the world to break it free. The bolt is long so it rarely gets in there far enough. It's not worth the hassle and time wasted, with no guarantee you will actually get it off, so changing both is usually my practice also.

is the crows foot really nesesary? could a 22mm open ended wrench work? does it fit there?

[Dirty]

is the crows foot really nesesary? could a 22mm open ended wrench work? does it fit there?

No, I just used a big adjustable wrench. I'm pretty sure the 22mm is for jam nut, 18mm for the outer and the inner is 38mm.

[Matt@EuropaParts]

The parts are definitely not $500. Upgraded outers are $40/side, and the heavy duty inners are $50/side. Labor is maybe two hours...even with an alignment, you should still be under $500 for everything

[Rirruto]

I just did my outers yesterday. 22mm boxend worked fine to loosen and tighten the locking nut. I just used vice grips to stabilize the TREs vice an 18mm wrench.

[zawzarf]

Looking for some help with my tie rod problem. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods on my 2001 audi s4. After I got done and took it for a drive around the block my steering got messed up. I would do like a quarter turn in either direction and the steering wheel would just flop down the rest of the way. I tried measuring everything before I removed the old ones. I understand I might need the alignment check again, but this seems like a big problem. Anybody have some ideas?

[Charles.waite]

You WILL need an alignment after this. Measuring is great but who's to say the new tie rods aren't slightly different lengths than the old. Just double check you installed them correctly, and bring your car to an alignment shop, provided its safe to drive your car. There's no real trick to tie-rods. You either install them correctly or you don't. You should ALWAYS get an alignment after doing suspension work. Tie-rods doubly so...

[fla4sline]

Took my car to a VW dealer for an alignment and the tech couldn't budge any of the tie-rods. He was afraid anymore force and something would break. Gave them my warranty info and they said the company told them the tie-rods weren't covered. Went home and double checked my paperwork and found they were covered under my plan. Took the car into the Audi dealer and had them change out the tie-rods and do an alignment, all covered.
At Audi, the techs had to cut one of them off because it was so rusted on. They all said it is common problem for these cars.

[boy412]

Yep. One of my outers was totally seized to the inner. I tried PB Blaster, MAP torch, etc and that focker wouldn't move an inch. I ended up cutting it off with a Sawzall! If they aren't seized then its pretty easy to install new ones. The Meyle HD OTRE's are a noticeable improvement over stock.

[iamshayan]

my mechanic did it in 2 hours (1hr per side), he cut off the outer rod and had a tool to remove the inner rod.
installed meyhle heavy duty rod ends, covered the thread in tape for the winter, not to mention I douce my suspension in wd-40 2-3 times a month. (coilovers in the winter)

I have a set of febi bilsten outer rod ends I can let go for $40+shipping anywhere in n/a . lmk

I'd get a refund on your allignment becasue if they didnt adjst your tre's they didnt do ANYTHING.
front camber is not adjustable on our cars without adjustable control arms (assuming you dont have them - they didnt touch those), rear camber is 1 bolt that moves les than 30degrees.