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Tonight I am working on replacing the inner and outer tie rods (among many, many other things..) on my girlfriend’s 05 Chevy Aveo. The driver’s side went relatively smooth. The driver’s side old inner tie rod was a little difficult to get out, but the new one went back in and tightened down well.
The problem is from the passenger side inner tie rod. Basically it was a pain to get out, and when I finally got it out, much to my dismay the threads on the old inner tie rod looked pretty bad. My heart sank because I knew that the rack is likely stripped out.
Sorry to link to another thread, but this is a thread from someone with an Aveo and others have had this problem as well, so it may help in explaining my problem.
I didn’t happen to grab a picture before I gave up for the night, but that’s exactly what my inner tie rod looked like. The rack itself has a few damaged threads and it’s impossible to thread the new one in at all. Basically what sheared off the old inner is now melded into the bolt hole of the rack.
However, I noticed that at most it’s only 5 threads on the very outside edge of the rack that are damaged. I can see that the rest of the threads are perfectly fine. Looking at the inner tie rod itself you can see that once it’s bolted down it’s not even making contact with those outer threads at all.
My question is, would I be safe to run a tap through there in order to get those threads clean enough to run my inner through? Alternately, could I very carefully drill those few threads out? I’m thinking they just need to be out of the way so I can safely thread my inner into the rack. Or should I just buck up and replace the rack itself? The rack isn’t leaking and doesn’t have any problems, so it would definitely suck to have to do it.
I posted on that thread to see if the others had any troubles with their plans to repair it this way, but it’s an old thread and a pretty quiet community. But essentially I want to know, is it safe to do so?
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I went ahead and grabbed some pictures.
1) The old inner tie rod threads:
2) The new inner tie rod threads:
3) A few pictures of the rack end:
I think I see a chunk of old thread stuck inside the rod / rack ? I would give it a good spray with your favorite penetrating oil & let it sit while I was trying to source a tap .
At first , I would try a small ” thermostat ” screwdriver & see if you can back / unscrew that chunk . Thin I think I would spray it again & then chase the threads with the appropriate tap . Then spray it again to clean it out .
Might consider some anti-seize on all the mating surfaces / threads , when you reassemble the parts .
Now , it that does not work , I have a possible idea , before you go out and purchase a new steering rack . Holler back if if you want to hear my Redneck solution .
God bless
WyrYeah I definitely agree with what you see. It’s not so much as the rack itself is stripped and more that old inner threads are stuck in the threads of the rack. The racks threads are slightly damaged, but the damage is right there at the beginning where the inner tie rod doesn’t have threads anyways. I just need to get through that crap at the beginning without damaging my new part. I’ll give those suggestions a shot and report back.
It looks like the inner rack threads were aluminum, and the threads seized to the steel?
Being safety related, I don’t think I would trust just tapping the threads and installing the inner tierod.
Maybe repair with a heli-coil, but I’m not sure how difficult it would be or how much it would cost compared to just replacing the old rack?Well I was hoping to just be able to make the tie rod go through those first few threads because the rest are perfectly fine. Like I was saying if you look at the new tie rod, where those bad threads exist on the rack itself, there actually are no threads on the tie rod in the matching place. The threads end before the tie rod is actually screwed in completely. So there would be no threads gripping there anyways. Am I thinking about this right?
Certainly looks that way to me . Peal those old threads out with a pick or small screwdriver . Probably will not need to chase the threads with a tap , but I would any way .
Remember , those threads were not born . Some one at the factory used a tap or equivalent to make those threads .
Make sure the new part will screw in OK .
Can not remember , how many miles on the car ? If it is likely this part wil not be replaced again during the projected life of the car ? Dab some LockTite on the threads before you screw the assembly together . I think red LockTite is high strength & blue is low strength . To disassemble , you need to apply heat . Takes more heat to melt / release the high strength .
God bless
WyrAn update:
I ended up getting the proper sized tap at Napa and was able to use it to push the crud out of the first few threads. The first 3 or so threads weren’t the best looking, but the rest were solid. I found the proper bolts at Home Depot and tested the threads before running the inner though. I got the inner trough and got it to to tighten down really well and put a ton of red locktite on it. The threads held me wrenching on it with all my might so I think it should be good.
Thanks everyone!
Holy crap Wyr. I didn’t realize you are also a member of Aveo forums and had posted on the same forum I reopened. Lol that’s funny.
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