'87 MrkIII passenger inner tie rod

yale · 06-11-2016, 12:42 AM

So I'm finally getting around to rebuilding the front end (could turn the tie rods by hand and the spindles clunked inside the ball joints). Driver's side tie rods were no issue. Passenger side however has this bracket that supports one end of a damper that is part of the steering rack.
The bracket will not clear the frame when trying to unscrew the inner tie rod. Looking at the new tie rod it appears the bracket screws onto the tie rod. Question is how do you get the old tie rod out without removing the steering rack? I'm almost to point of cutting a notch in the frame to allow just enough clearance for the bracket to spin with the tie rod as it comes off.
Couldn't find a reference in the Repair Manual (diagrams don't show the bracket and damper).

yale · 06-23-2016, 04:42 PM

It appears that the bracket is essentially a large nut with the attachment for the steering damper/shock. It appears to have opposite threading from the inner tie rod so I guess the idea was that it would unscrew as you unscrew the inner tie rod from the steering rack.
I say "guess the idea" because I could find no way to get that bracket/nut loose. Wasn't able to find anything online about best practices and didn't get any feedback from this forum either. So I finally just cut the bracket off and unscrewed the inner tie from the steering rack. After securing the tie rod in my vise I was still unable to get it to turn.
Anyway, I put in the new tie rods, lower ball joints, upper control arms/ball joints and shocks. All is well and I can't tell any difference with there being no steering damper/shock in place.

Bru · 07-09-2016, 02:55 AM

Toyota dropped the damper after 1988. So evidently it doesn't make a big difference. What I did when I replaced my passenger side inner tie rod was to use a set of wrenches from Harbor Freight that got quite large in the mm selection to hold the rack and a very large Crescent wrench from Harbor Freight to remove an install that big flat threaded nut that holds on the support bracket for the damper shock. One thing to be careful of when you get down to the final tightening is to have the damper bracket pointing at the proper level so it's not cocked down and rubbing the splash pan later. It wants to slip and move when you get to the final tightening. I used red thread locker just to be on the safe side. 2 wrenches are necessary so that you don't put stress on the rack and pinon or you could damage it. Remember to bend over the new locking flat washer that comes with your new inner tie rod. It's called a claw washer to hold the inner tie rod from turning once its installed.

06-11-2016, 12:42 AM	#1
yale Intake Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: CT Posts: 38	'87 MrkIII passenger inner tie rod So I'm finally getting around to rebuilding the front end (could turn the tie rods by hand and the spindles clunked inside the ball joints). Driver's side tie rods were no issue. Passenger side however has this bracket that supports one end of a damper that is part of the steering rack. The bracket will not clear the frame when trying to unscrew the inner tie rod. Looking at the new tie rod it appears the bracket screws onto the tie rod. Question is how do you get the old tie rod out without removing the steering rack? I'm almost to point of cutting a notch in the frame to allow just enough clearance for the bracket to spin with the tie rod as it comes off. Couldn't find a reference in the Repair Manual (diagrams don't show the bracket and damper).

07-09-2016, 02:55 AM	#3
Bru Bone Stock w Upgrades ;-) Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 210	Toyota dropped the damper after 1988. So evidently it doesn't make a big difference. What I did when I replaced my passenger side inner tie rod was to use a set of wrenches from Harbor Freight that got quite large in the mm selection to hold the rack and a very large Crescent wrench from Harbor Freight to remove an install that big flat threaded nut that holds on the support bracket for the damper shock. One thing to be careful of when you get down to the final tightening is to have the damper bracket pointing at the proper level so it's not cocked down and rubbing the splash pan later. It wants to slip and move when you get to the final tightening. I used red thread locker just to be on the safe side. 2 wrenches are necessary so that you don't put stress on the rack and pinon or you could damage it. Remember to bend over the new locking flat washer that comes with your new inner tie rod. It's called a claw washer to hold the inner tie rod from turning once its installed. Last edited by Bru; 01-23-2024 at 04:24 PM.

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06-23-2016, 04:42 PM	#2
yale Intake Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: CT Posts: 38	It appears that the bracket is essentially a large nut with the attachment for the steering damper/shock. It appears to have opposite threading from the inner tie rod so I guess the idea was that it would unscrew as you unscrew the inner tie rod from the steering rack. I say "guess the idea" because I could find no way to get that bracket/nut loose. Wasn't able to find anything online about best practices and didn't get any feedback from this forum either. So I finally just cut the bracket off and unscrewed the inner tie from the steering rack. After securing the tie rod in my vise I was still unable to get it to turn. Anyway, I put in the new tie rods, lower ball joints, upper control arms/ball joints and shocks. All is well and I can't tell any difference with there being no steering damper/shock in place.