I am going to start replacing the worn tie rod ends (inner and outer) and ball joints in my 1996 Mustang GT.
I have heard that the inner tie rod ends that originally came with my car are screwed onto the ends of the steering rack and then held in place by a small pin.
How do I remove this pin? Is it soft enough to simply shear off if I start to unscrew the old inner tie rod ends? Do I have to drill this pin out? Is there some "proper" way of removing this pin?
My new replacement TRW inner tie rod ends don't need a pin to hold them in place, so I only need to worry about the pins when I remove the old inner tie rod ends. But I need a fool-proof method of being able to grab and remove these pins....I would hate to get STUCK halfway through the repair!
Here's another thing that worries me....
The instructions that came with my new TRW inner tie rod ends mention have this caution:
"CAUTION - Always hold the rack from turning by using an adjustable wrench on the flat of the teeth on the rack. This must be done when removing inner socket on each side. Failure to do so will cause the rack teeth and the pinion teeth to wedge against each other as the pinion tries to prevent the rack from rotating. This could result in chipped, cracked, or broken teeth which will cause erratic steering and binding of the steering assembly."
HUH?!? My Haynes manual makes no mention of this "hazard". But then again, the Haynes manual only gives instructions for replacing the entire steering gear. (I won't be owning this car for very much longer, so I am not that interested in buying an entire replacement steering gear. I would just as soon replace only the inner tie rod ends. My current steering gear works great and has no leaks.)
I had assumed that removing and replacing the inner tie rod ends would be a fairly straightforward "unscrew and re-screw" procedure. Why would I need to brace the rack? Will I really be required to apply that much torque to it to remove and install the inner tie rod ends? I don't even think I have heard anyone on these newsgroups mention having to brace the rack. What the heck are they talking about here???
I should point out that I completely rebuilt the front steering and suspension on my 1965 Mustang. But that car has manual steering, not power steering. My 1996 GT has power steering, and I have to say that I have never really messed with any power steering components, so I am more than a bit cautious at this stage.
Any help, advice, tips, or other information would be most welcome! Thanks in advance......