Well, I've known for a couple of months that the inner tie rods on my Aero (1991 Extended XLT with 90 Eddie Bauer interior conversion) where bad. They had close to 1/4" play on both sides. I've just been putting it off, so yesterday I decided to grab the bull by the horns and get after it. Needless to say after digging in I was glad that I did.

Taking the old unit out was pretty straight forward. I just couldn't get the lower steering shaft disconnected from the rack input. I didn't read the instructions closely, the bolt has to be removed completely, not just loosened. Once I disconnected the outer tie rod ends I found that the problem with the inner ones was not the only thing that was causing noise in the front end. Apparently the outer ends had been replaced at one time, and the installer neglected to put the grease fittings in. Result? Dry as a bone and completely rusted out.

Assembled the new outer tie rods to the rack and installed the complete assembly. Ran into another gotcha. Lower steering shaft again. I had not noticed that there was a flat spot on one side of the fitting on the shaft that had to be mated up. I struggled under there for about 10 minutes before I noticed that. Everything assembled fairly easy after that, until I started connecting the inputs from the power steering pump. They went in ok, but after I added a little fluid and checked for leaks I noticed a steady drip from the high pressure input. I drained and reassembled three times with the same result. After the third time I took a real close look at the fitting and noticed that it was in **** eyed. Great, I thought, its cross threaded. At this point I disconnected everything again. I then removed the power steering pulley so that I would have better access to the fittings from above (before I had been installing from underneath). I started the fitting in by hand and after about 3 or 4 turns it was still straight. Then while turning with the wrench I noticed that the fitting slipped off center. I backed off one turn and it was straight again. I then applied pressure to the line in the opposite direction and turned a couple of revs. Thank god it stayed straight. Even after tightening it all the way it was still straight. No leaks this time.

The job should have taken about 2 hours. Wound up to be 5. End result? The van's steering is like new. No clunks and rattles from the front, the steering is a lot easier, and best of all, no PS leaks. The absence of the PS leak is not all good..............Honey, now you can power wash the driveway........

 

Nice JOB! But realign front wheels TOE, as I remember for aero it is from 0.8 to 2.5 mm/m as for any other truck. Check camber, caster and TOOT too. It indicates BJ condition well.

I use JOSAM truck aligner, becouse it can see aligmend related ith frame centerline, but not with rear wheels like aligners for cars.