Attention! Bent steering rods must be replaced.
Attention! Torn, cracked and elastic protective covers of the ball joints of the steering rods must be replaced. Water, dust and dirt that gets into the joints and mechanism will quickly put these units out of order.
Note: Check the axial play in the ball joint of the steering rod. To do this, vigorously rock the steering rod along the axis of the joint. If play is detected, replace the steering rod end with the joint assembly.
1. Apply the parking brake and chock the rear wheels. Turn the front wheels to the right if you are removing the left tie rod, or to the left if you are removing the right tie rod. Raise and support the front of the car.
2. Remove the cotter pin from the nut securing the ball joint of the steering rod to the steering arm.
3. Loosen the nut securing the ball joint of the steering rod.
4. Using a puller, press the ball joint pin of the steering rod out of the steering column pivot arm.
5. Loosen the bolts securing both steering rods to the steering gear by bending back the ends of the locking plate with a screwdriver.
6. Loosen both bolts and remove the mounting bolt of the steering rod being removed.
7. Rotate the coupling plate so that the rod can be disconnected from the steering gear.
8. Remove the steering rod.
9. Clamp the steering rod in a vice by the hexagon on the coupling sleeve. Loosen the lock nut securing the tip.
10. Unscrew the tip, counting the number of turns. Write down this number. Screw in the new tip the same number of turns as when unscrewing.
11. To replace the protective cover, remove it, lubricate the surface of the cover with sealant and install the new cover.
12. Install the steering rod in the reverse order of removal. Tighten the steering rod mounting bolts to a torque of 70–86 N·m (7.8–8.6 kgf·m). Then lock the bolts by bending the edges of the locking plate.