Thread: 04 GP GT inner tie rod time...

your on track there.

you need a gm inner tie rod puller. what i did was get the new one at the counter, and then take the tool that fits the new inner rod.

you need to remove the outer tie rod end, then slide the tool over the inner lock it on, and ratchet it off. you also need a 1/2 drive ratchet or breaker bar. once its broken loose, you can take it out by hand.

have some zip ties handy, the boot clamps, you need to cut them off (the boot slides off the end of the inner tie rod) zip ties work just fine to hold the dust boot on.

Then straight to the shop for an alingment.

if you put some tape around the old inner rod, where the jam nut is before you take it off. then measure the distance to the end, copy to the new rod. it wont be perfect, but its best to have it close as you can to the old set up.

And for those wheel bearings if you've never done them before, after you get the nut off the axle shaft (its a 35 or 36mm) thread the nut on a turn or 2 and smack it with a hammer to break it loose so you can get the bearing off after you unbolt it.

You can stick a screw driver in the rotor going through the caliper to stop it from spining while you are unbolting the axle nut or going to torque it down. The TQ spec is 118 ft lbs for the axle nut.

a 3 gear puller also works if you not getting it done with a hammer, hook the gear hooks to the hub, the center bolt on the axle shaft, and tighten the puller. it will push the axle in and out of the hub.

most of the time the little sledge woks just fine.

Right, you are hitting the nut to protect the threads on the axle shaft. You have to hit the axle to break the hold it has on the wheel bearing, one good smack and you'll see the axle move like a half inch and you can push it in a little bit. It wont move much because its still connected inside the transmission. Then unbolt wheel bearing and install new one.

Originally Posted by joshuaandrew92

So hit the nut before removing the bolts that secure the hub in place?

correct.

you do also need to remove the caliper and caliper bracket to get the rotor off. popping the outer tie rod from the knuckle helps to let you swing the knuckle around too.

have some string handy or wire hanger to hang you caliper up and out of the way, dont let it hang by the hose.

My local az only has the gm inner tie rod tool I had to order a different one when I wanted to do a ford windstar.