2010 Honda Element EX Front 10 Piece Steering & Suspension Kit DIY Solutions SUS04103

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In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the outer tie rod. This is a 2003 Honda Civic. It's the same for the 2001 to 2005 Honda Civic, as well as a couple of other Honda models. We show you this on the driver side, but the passenger side is the same procedure. Items you'll need include a new outer tie rod or tie rods from 1AAuto.com, 17mm to 24mm sockets, wrenches and ratchet, a torque wrench, breaker bar or tire iron, small hammer, needle nose pliers, and some penetrating oil.

Remove the front wheel held on by 19mm lug nuts. If you have a different style hubcap, you'll need to remove that. Just use a breaker bar or your tire iron and loosen your lug nuts while the tire is on the ground. Raise and support the vehicle. Now, remove the rest of the lug nuts the rest of the way, and the wheel and tire.

The outer tie rod is right here; 17mm nuts hold it in here. Remove the cotter pin. Then there's a 21mm lock nut, which we're going to use a nice 21mm wrench. As you're looking at it, you're turning it clockwise. We're just going to turn that about a quarter of a turn. If, when you turn this lock nut, you also turn the inner tire rod, just make note of it so that you can turn it back for the same amount, just so that you can get yourself in a good preliminary alignment. You will want to have your vehicle aligned after you do this repair.

Remove the cotter pin. Normally, the pin should drive out easily, but it's giving us a hard time. We're going to use a little bit of penetrating oil. Let it sit for a bit. You may have to use a set of these cutting pliers. We really get half of the cotter pin off. A lot of times, if you've got it off and pretty well damaged, you can just pull the nut off and it will shear it right off as it comes off. Give the steering knuckle a few good taps with the hammer to break the tie rod free. Now, you can just take your tie rod right off.

Old part from the vehicle, new tie rod in from 1A Auto. You can see it's exactly the same. Take the castle nut off. New part comes with a new lock nut and a cotter pin. If you like, you can grab hold of your inner tie rod, free up your existing lock nut, and take it off. Not necessary though if you can put the new tie rod on and use the existing lock nut that's on there already. Put the tie rod in. It should go right around to about where it was.

Reinstall your tie rod. Put the castle nut on. Tighten the castle nut to 32-ft/lbs. Then tighten it any more you need to get the cotter pin through the hole in the tie rod. I can see the hole there. Probably need to go another 16th of a turn. Insert the cotter pin.

Use a pair of piers and bend it over. Appropriate size wrench to hold the tie rod; in this case, it's an 18mm. Then 24mm to get our lock nut on the back. Tighten it up.

Put your wheel back in place. Start your lug nuts. We'll tighten them preliminarily and then torque them when the vehicle is back down on the ground. Tighten your lug nuts 80-ft lbs and just cross in the pattern.

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