I thought I would give a quick write up here...

I replaced outer and inner tie rods yesterday and the job appeared at first to be a PITA because there is no room to work.

The entire job took about 20 minutes per side.

Remove the outer tie rod completely.

Carefully pry the outer boot clip so you re-use it.

Remove the inner boot clip and either throw it away or re-use it. I used a srew type clamp since space was tight.

Now the important part, turn the steering wheel so the the inner tie rod bolt sits between the LCA and the sib-frame. Now you can fit a substantial box wrench between these and remove the inner toe rod - 59 ft lbs.

Installing is the reverse. I happen to have one of those clamp crimping tools but it would not fit to re-use the inner boot clamp.

Get the car aligned.

 

they also sell cheap inner tie rod tools at harbor freight for like 45 bucks . slips over tie rod. it's basically a pipe with crows' foot holder inside it . slip the size crows foot you want in the pipe and slip over tie rod and use half inch breaker bar on end . works good did a 2001 taurus with it ,. the different sized crows feet come with the kit .

 

When I took MINI in for an alignment, they said my inner tie rods are stuck and need to be replaced. What does it mean that they are "stuck"? Does this mean they would be difficult to remove?

For the repair, I just called a shop I trust and they said the job would be 5 hours?! He said there were 2 hours allotted for each inner tie rod. Is there a reason for this? From the previous posts, it sounds like a pretty quick and easy DIY.

 

If it was like mine, the threaded part that screws into the curved arm with the ball joint was seized.
The alignment tech can't do an alignment if the the treads are seized.
Had to use a pipe wrench to get them loose.
A regular wrench would slip and start to round off the hex part.
Once I got them loosened I unscrewed them completely and put plenty of anti seize on them.
Don't use the pipe wrench on the hex section where you would use a regular wrench. If you mess that up it will be hard for an alignment to be done.
Yes the pipe wrench will leave teeth marks on the arm.

Was a PIA to do.

 

I just replaced my inner and outer tie rods today, and this is exactly what had happened - inner and outer tie rods basically rusted together. I had the Harbor Freight inner tie rod tool and new inner and outer tie rods, so I ended up just sawing the seized curved arm off so I could get the inner tie rod tool on to loosen the inner tie rod. Worked perfectly. The only problem was I couldn't count the number of turns on the outer tie rod, so my alignment is REALLY off right now! I'll be taking it for an alignment tomorrow.

Thanks so much for posting all of this very helpful information - it gave me the confidence to do the repair myself!

 

Cool!

Think about the amount of money you just saved yourself.

 

You got that right! A local shop was allotting 5 hours for the job - probably because they were going to remove the subframe?!

After the alignment today, MINI is more responsive than ever. Definitely enjoying the new tie rods!

 

Got my new tie rods in, thanks to this post!
Had to cut the old ones out, rusted together, tried heat, and finally just cut them.

Thanks Meb!