With car on jackstands, wheels wiggle from 3 to 9 o'clock...tie rod?

[1993GT5.0]

12 to 6 is fine and seems tight. 3 to 9 is another story. If I remember correctly, this means the tie rods are shot, right? How involved is this repair?

1993 GT, 115k miles

 

[93 LX]

its not hard to change them, just mark how far they are threaded in and replace them to the same mark. As with my 93 with 201K on the clock when i replaced my rack and outer tierod ends it now handles like a new car. If the outers are bad most likely the inners are bad too.

 

[HISSIN50]

Have someone move the wheel while you watch the source of movement under the car. Inner tie rods are a little bit of a PITA and a little pricey (it can be money better spent towards a rack)

 

[93 LX]

if you take the inners off inside the threaded part you can tighten the inner and put it back on...

 

[mustangmike6996]

replacing tie rods (inner or outer) is strait forward... spend the money after that and get an alignment... 50 bucks is cheaper than paying for 2 new front tires..

as for the problem you are having... you can get under the car and wiggle it back and forth watch the outer tie rod and if that isnt moving look at the inner... you will need a special tool to do the inner (rent it from autozone) if it is an inner dont just go buy a steering rack.. thats a horrible idea unless your rack leaks or is actually broken...

and remember to torque all of the bolts when you are done..

 

[93 LX]

I have removed my inner rod ends with a large adjustable wrench. there is a pin that breaks off when you turn the inner rod end. Once the rod end is off if you look insie the threaded part you will see a socket head. Adjust this in to remove any slop and reattach the rod end and take it back to the orignal thread and replace the outers, thread them back to the orignal thread and then head to the alignment shop.