Questionhi Gene, i have a 91 Acura Legend and my wife has a nissan Altima 95. they both have high milage on them and as you probably have guessed, they are falling apart and i am trying hard to keep them going and at the same time not spend more than a 1/3 of my income on them.
I am getting ready to replace my rack and pinion on the Acura, but i was wanting to know how to :
Remove the ball joints at the end of the tie rods with out damaging anything?
Do you think it is realistic for me to do this at home, providing i raise the car high enough?
Do i need any special tools for this job?
And last if there is any surprises that i need to know about?
thanks
AnswerSam,
Replacing the rack on your car is a very involved job. Unless you have a lot of expierince with cars, I would not recommend it. You need a lot of special wrenches, sockets, and some special tools. If you really want to do it yourself, I would definitally buy a shop manual from Acura.
Also you can damage the SRS system, if you do not mark the steering wheel after you disconnect the steering universal. That will be very costly if that happens, and you really will need to take it to a dealer to install that part.
I would shop around the local garages for a good price.
To remove the tie rods, remove the nut, and hit the knuckle hard with a hammer. This will free up the ball joint and not damage it.
Good luck and thanks for the question,
Gene
