Howdy Honda Friends,
My inner tie rod boots were both shot and I suspected that my inner tie rod was shot as well. I picked up some Moog replacement parts, because I wanted to try Moog as I had heard good things (and some bad). I started the disassembly, and confirmed that the boots and inner tie rods were shot. The lock nut is a total pain in the ***, as I think all of my stuff was OE original from 1990..

In any event I got to the fun part of removing the inner tie rod from the steering rack, but I can't get the lock washer off, because some crazy bozo flattened it against the rack and I can't bend them out. I tried s 20mm and a 21mm combination wrench to break it loose, but haven't had a lot of luck

The OEM Tools inner tie rod removal tube doesn't work, because the OE Honda inner tie rods are much smaller than any of the common dies.

Does anyone have any other tips for getting the inner tie rods off that doesn't include removing the rack?

 

The lock washers is correctly installed by flattening it.

It's best to remove the whole steering rack and replace the tie rods properly so you can reuse the lock washers, potentially.

With the lock washer pried back, you can just twist off the tie rod with a wrench.

Also I highly recommend you replace the rack end guide inside the passenger side. This is the major cause of play, it's $11, not hard to replace when the tie rod is already off.

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my inner tie rod was a pain in the ***. we rednecked it(properly) we cut the inner tie cover to expose the ball joint and then cut the ball joint to make slots to put a wrench over.
i dont recommend it but it did work

 

Thanks Tyson for the perspective. I should clarify that the tabs were much flatter than perhaps I expected.

I'll probably just have to pull the rack out, I was just trying to avoid that.

 

its really a lot easier to pull it out. once outer tie rods are off.

its a bit of a puzzle, turn it all the way in one direction, probably so the driver side is short, then angle it down.

once its out, its so easy to work with.

 

Tyson, I already ordered the rack bushing. <ThumbsUp>

FYI, for those that don't have a service manual. Here's a great removal video by Garage Built Hondas. If you're not already subscribe go check him out, tons of great EF content.