If your Subaru is visiting the race track, off-road park or just enduring everyday abuse you might likely find a joint that is not factory tight like it once was when new. With looseness or play in these joints your steering can be less than inspiring… which is not optimum for any of the above activities.

The tie rods make the connection between the steering rack and front knuckle. With worn out tie rods you feel less steering accuracy and watch your tires wear away much quicker.

Every time I have the front end of my car off the ground I like to give it a shakedown to double check the tightness. The chart below can help you locate the areas to shake and what is most likely the problem area. For the Forester in this repair the inner tie rod was popping in and out, which will cause poor tire wear/steering response. So let’s now take a look at what is necessary for this repair!

This is the quick guide for finding loose parts on your MacPherson strut type suspension. There can always be exceptions, with extremely loose parts you may find they have play in any of these locations. Always do a visual inspection while shaking t… — This is the quick guide for finding loose parts on your MacPherson strut type suspension. There can always be exceptions, with extremely loose parts you may find they have play in any of these locations. Always do a visual inspection while shaking the tire to precisely pin point the problem area.

Time Frame

With the proper tools this replacement will take an average of an hour give or take thirty minutes for the inner tie rod. The outer tie rod can be replaced a bit faster at around thirty to forty five minutes. If you have a particularly rusty car this could easily add another hour to the repair, make sure to soak what you can before you start!

Tools

Hand tools will be your first choice, going with your favorite metric socket set, a couple of wrenches, a nice set of pliers (the bigger the better) and any of your favorite power tools to help speed up the process.

If you have the ability to use a tie rod removal tool now would be a great time to bring it out. A ball joint removal tool is also a great asset to make your day easier.

Parts

Determined by your needs you can replace both the tie rods in a set or just the necessary loose, worn or bent piece(s).

Subaru Oem part number for SG Forester: 34141AA042 outer tie rod and 34160AE001 inner tie rod.

Amazon outer and inner tie rod set.

Febest outer tie rod

Dorman inner tie rod

Installation

We start this repair like many others, this involves getting the car off the ground and supported securely. This is the best time to double check your area of repair before starting. If you need help properly supporting your Subaru in the air check this guide first! You can now remove the wheel(s) to start this job.

With the tire off we can find the tie rods hiding behind the brake rotor. Putting your Subaru on jack stands link!

The first place to start whether you are doing inner or outer tie rods is to break the jam nut free that holds them together. If you forget this step you won’t have a fun time once you are trying to remove the outer tie rod from the inner. You will most likely have to back track(put parts back together) to remedy this issue.

Soaking the inner tie rod jam nut will make removing it much easier. Also break this free before you start removing anything, having to put things back together to break this free is not fun at all…

Next up we will need to remove the cotter pin that holds the outer tie rod to the spindle. I use a combination of pliers, side cutters and cotter pin puller. With the cotter pin extracted you can now remove the 19 mm nut that holds tie rod in place.

Having the nut off you can either give the spindle a few good hits to break the tie rod free. Or you can utilize ball joint separator tool, this will make quick work of it. Remove the nut and you can now roll the outer tie rod. When removing the tie rod I like to count the rotations, this will help you align the new tie rod on the car before getting it aligned.

Using the nut you can keep the tie rod from shooting out when using either the hammer style or ball joint removal tool.

If all you needed to replace was the outer tie rod, you can now install it. Head down to your local alignment shop and be back to enjoying your vehicle. Continue on if you need to replace the inner tie rod.

Up next we will remove the jam nut from the inner tie rod, it should be a 19mm. With it removed you can now release the outer clamp of the inner tie rod boot. Up next will be the clamp that holds the boot to the steering rack, the metal clamp can be removed with a pair of cutoff tool or a pair of pliers to twist it until it gives up. Now the rubber boot can be discarded to the side.

Now we can easily see the inner tie rod joint and how it bolts up. If you have an inner tie rod specialty tool it is time to bust it out! Otherwise you can turn the steering wheel pushing the other tire in the car and that pushes the opposite side tie rod to move outwards and you can use pliers to remove it. Once it is broke free you can unscrew it from the rack and set it aside.

With your new inner tie rod in hand you can dab a small amount of thread locker on it and screw it back in. Then using your tie rod tool or pliers tighten it down sufficiently, we do not want this coming loose. After installing the new tie rod you can reinstall your boot with a new metal clamp if you have the tool or a nice tight zip tie.

Saucing it up with a bit of thread locker to keep the tie rod from backing off when being aligned.

Now we will just go in reverse and reinstall all the items we just removed. Which would be the tie rod boot, followed by the jam nut, then the outer tie and so on.

New inner tie rod installed. Just awaiting the boot, clamps, jam nut and outer tie rod to join the party!

Congratulations! Your steering is back oem factory fresh tightness. After an alignment you will be back in business whether it is tearing up the auto’x course, going over some hilly rocky terrain, or just daily driving.