Nissan Altima Maxima Front 4 Piece Tie Rod Set TRQ PSA55046

Brought to you by 1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet.

Hi, I'm Don from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.

In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the right hand outer tie rod on this 2003 Nissan Maxima. Obviously the left hand is the same procedure. This is the same for any 2000-2003 Maxima as well as the Infiniti I30.You'll need a new tie rod from 1aauto.com, jack and jack stands, 15-21 mm sockets. You'll need a ratchet and probably a breaker bar or a pipe for some extra leverage, pliers, a large hammer, penetrating oil, as well as you will, or we recommend, you get an alignment after you replace a steering component like this.

Let's start off by removing the wheel. You're going to want a 21 mm socket and ratchet or breaker bar or your tire iron and you'll probably want to start with the wheel on the ground, loosen the lug nuts, then raise and secure the vehicle with jack stands, and then remove the wheel and the tire.

At this point we're going to measure the distance between the end of the boot and the center of the top of the tie rod. It's roughly 11 and 3/4 inches. Yours might be different. It's always a good idea to use some penetrating oil on the lock nut. Spray that down and let it soak in. With our adjustable wrench, size up the nut holding on to the end of the tie rod, with a 13 mm open ended wrench holding the inner tie rod and free it up. Move the steering wheel to the right to gain better access. We're going to remove the securing cotter pin through the outer tie rod. We're just going to speed it up here as Don tries to get that cotter pin out. We couldn't get the cotter pin fully out, so we're going to use our 19 mm, 1/2 inch wrench and then try and sheer it. In this case we're going to use a little extra leverage with the bar on the end of our wrench. I'll speed it up here as we work that bolt the rest of the way off. Quick summary: we tried to get the cotter pin out. It just wouldn't come out. It was basically frozen in there so what we did is took the pliers and broke the ends off as much as we could and then just got the socket on there and sheered the cotter pin right off by moving the bolt.

To help release the outer tie rod from the spindle we use a hammer and hit against the spindle until it frees up. Now it's free. Pull the inner tie rod with your 14mm wrench and twist off the outer tie rod. OK, speed up and Don did misspeak a little bit there: he is using a 13 mm wrench to hold that tie rod.

We got the old outer tie rod and the new one and you can see that dimensionally they're very close, so when they go back in the alignment should be relatively close to what it was before we removed it. It's always a good idea to put a little anti-seize on the end of your inner tie rod so that if you ever have to replace it again, it'll come off just as easily as this did. Holding the inner tie rod, twist the new tie rod on. Check our length from the end of the boot to the center of the tie rod and it is 11 and 3/4 inches just like it was when we took it out. Place the other tie rod back into the spindle. It can be a little stiff. Now we'll secure the nut and set our torque wrench to 55 foot pounds and we're going to torque the nut. Now what you do is make sure that the hole in the outer tie rod matches the slot or one of the slots on the nut and if it doesn't, giving it a little bit more torque is acceptable to the point where the cotter pin slides through the outer tie rod. Bend the ends that come through back along the side of the nut. With the 13 mm wrench hold your inner tie rod and lock down on the nut. Fast forward here as we take that lug nut back off, put the wheel and tire on, and just put the lugs on by hand first and then preliminarily tighten them. Set your torque wrench to 100 foot pounds and tighten the lug nuts. Use a star pattern. Kind of draw a star pattern as you tighten them and then just recheck them.

We hope this helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.

Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. We've been selling auto parts for over 30 years!

Before you lift and support the vehicle, loosen the lug nuts with the wheel on the ground. Use a 21mm socket and a breaker bar. Lift and support the vehicle. Lug nuts loose. You can use the 21mm socket with just your hand. Finish removing the lug nuts. Remove the wheel, place it aside.

Replace the outer tire rod ends. Turn the whole hub assembly out so you can reach it. Start by removing this cotter pin. Use needle nose pliers, or side cutters. This one's pretty rusty. I'm going to grab onto it, and get the needle nose pliers in there. Trying to pry it. Pry it against the knuckle, there we go. Before you remove this, you will have to have the car aligned. I'll show you that I will mark this with some tape. Some people like to count the turns that it comes off. I'm just going to put some tape near the lock nut and mark it and thread it on in generally the same measurement or location so it will be close, but it will need to be aligned afterwards. Spray the lower castle nut with some rust penetrate before I try to remove it. It's pretty rusty. Also let's spray some up here on the lock nut to let that set. I'm going to come back to it. It should be ready to go.

I'll take an 18mm wrench and loosen the castle nut. Leave this nut on here for now, but fairly loose because I want to have the entire end captured in the end of the knuckle here so it doesn't try to turn while I undo the lock nut. I'm going to loosen this lock nut or jam nut ever so slightly because afterwards I'm going to take some masking tape and mark where it was so I don't want to thread it all the way back out. I just want to loosen enough so that I can get this tire rod end off. It's a 22mm. Just give it one more turn. So that should be just loose enough to get this outer tire rod off.

I'm going to take some masking tape and just mark where it was in case it moves. I'm just going to wipe off some of rust penetrate oil so the tape will stick. Take some masking tape and just mark where it was. That also keeps the nut from spinning out any further and will keep me in the general area of where it was. We'll remove the castle nut the rest of the way off.

It's pretty rusty, so you use the 18mm to get it off. Ball joint has a taper and it sits into the knuckle here. That's what makes it really tight. You can hit this with a hammer to try to break it free. You have to be very careful, as this knuckle is fragile. You could break the knuckle. It's better to use the ball joint removal tool, or tire rod end removal tool. I'm going to slide this underneath the tire rod end. I may need to turn it a little bit off it' seat. Use the appropriate sized wrench for your ball joint tool and thread it down and this will push the ball joint out of the knuckle. They tend to snap out like that. I was trying to hold the tool so I didn't drop it, but it’s okay. This will come right out with it loose. Tire end will thread right off. Now, you could try to count this if you didn't mark where this was or you moved it. I like putting the tape there, and just thread right off and there it is.

Here's our old tire rod end we pulled for our vehicle. This is our new one from 1AAuto.com. See how they're similar in design? They do have the same threads. The one from 1A Auto comes with a new castle nut. It also comes with a new cotter pin, and if you need a new lock nut, it comes with a new one. It should thread right into place and make our steering nice and tight again.

I'm going to take our new castle nut off. Put that aside. Just start by threading on the new tire rod end. I'm actually going to put it just about where the old one was. It was like that. Clean the grease off that's in here. Put your new tire rod in. Put it right into place. Sometimes you've got to push the ball joint a bit to line it up. Just like that.

Install our new castle nut. Thread the lock nut down. Just tighten it up nice. Use a little razor blade just to get our tape off. Use our 18mm again, and tighten the castle nut. Try and get it nice and tight and line it up with the hole for the cotter pin. Install our new cotter pin. Take needle nose pliers, turn it and bend it over. Tire rod end is replaced.

We reinstall our wheel, and we'll torque the lug nuts. Just going to use the socket to get these lug nuts as tight as you can by hand and torque the wheel afterwards once it's on the ground. Torque on the lug nuts is 73 to 86. I torque these to 80. Cross pattern. Job is complete.

Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.