EdWord

Hey guys lately Ive noticed a squeaking sound as I would drive, and also sometimes when I would turn left. I took a look at it today and the CV boot is perfectly fine but Ive notice the power steering Boot is ripped? there is some dirt in there mixed it with the grease, i cleaned it up the best i could and reapplyed more grease. any help? Thanks Its the in the red circle.

MileHigh

I notice a clicking noise when I turn right, and I know my driver's side (left) boot is cracked...

have you replaced the boot? how hard was it?
anything damage inside the boot?
noise gone after replace boot?

F150guy86

I just noticed my boot was torn in the same place yesterday. I'm thinking about replacing the boot all-together.

96hb

You better replace it quickly or else you will be needing to replace your inner tie rod after dirt and grime gets in there and ruins the joint. It's not hard to do, but you do have to remove the outer tie rod, and if you don't put it back on exactly where it was, you will need an alignment.

Jimster480

how hard is it to take that out? Because my boots are torn aswell adn they have been torn for a while now.

96hb

It's not hard at all. They make a special tool you can rent, but you don't need it. I just used a large crescent wrench to get mine out. I would recommend doing both sides if you are going to do the job, and then go get an alignment. Steering will be much better.

In order to get the car 'close' to spec so you can at least drive it to the shop, count the number of threads where the outer tie rod and inner tie rod meet, and try to get back as close to that as possible when you replace your parts. First, loosen the outer tie rod locknut and then remove the ball joint from the knuckle. Count the rotations when you remove the outer tie rod end from the inner tie rod. Then just rip the boots off however you can because you will be replacing them. Next take your large crescent wrench and put it on the square part of the inner tie rod next to the rack and loosen them. After that, just put everything back on the same way. The boots are a bit of a b*tch to get back on, but you want them to be tight so they don't come off. Then thread the outer rod back on approximately like it was before and lock the nut down. Put the ball joint back in knuckle, tighten down the nut, and get an alignment. It's really not that bad once you get down there and get into it.

Oh, and you will probably want to do a rack guide adjustment once all of this is done. It will remove any slop in the steering rack that you may have. That is adjusted by loosening the huge nut on the bottom of your rack near where the column goes in. Then you turn the middle adjusting screw all the way in, and then back it off a quarter of a turn. Finally, tighten the big *** nut back and take a test drive. It may take a few adjustments to get this just right, but it is well worth it.

In the picture below, #15 is the huge nut you have to loosen and #4 is what you have to tighten all the way and then back off a quarter of a turn.

F150guy86

So here is another question. . . My steering has been feeling "overassisted" or very loose. Could that mean I just need to perform the rack adjustment or could my inner tie rod be bad? Once I am all into it how do I tell if the inner tie rod is bad and needs to be replaced? Im not hearing any sounds when turning like clicking or clunking or anything, just very light steering at higher speeds. Sorry if these are dumb questions, just trying to learn. . . Thanks