Has anyone replaced inner tie rod? How to do tap lock washer so that it does not spin? There is no access. Am I missing something?

 

I tried this repair the other day on my 2007 Fit (GD3) and had to give up replacing the inner tie rod end. I think Honda messed up in the service manual because they say to hold the inner rack with a wrench and loosen the tie rod ball joint housing with another wrench. This is appears impossible for two reasons:

1) There doesn't appear to be any flats on the inner rack. Can't know for sure because I couldn't get a good look but after running my finger around the inside rack part, i only felt a perfect circle with no flats so no way to grip it with an open ended wrench.

2) Supposing you could fit two wrenches in that area that is recessed and surrounded by frame parts, axle and other things, you can really move a decent sized wrench more than about two inches. Again, supposing you did manage to loosen it that way, good luck torquing the tie rod to the recommended torque that is above 60 ft lbs if my memory is correct!

3) even the slip on tie rod tool only grips the ball joint flats. There is no extension that goes onto the rack side so clearly it is possible to simply twist the ball joint housing without holding the rack side.

It seems a slip on tie rod tool is absolutely necessary. I've seen the gripper, U bolt type ones and if they are torqued at the factory, they are probably done by machine at close to a half a million ft lbs or something ridiculous. Back to your question: I used a drift punch and a hammer to unstake the locking plate. Now to restake the plate was a whole other can of worms! I think the best (or one of the only possible) tool for the job would be some sort of channel lock pliers that have adjustable jaws. The problem is that the ball joint of the tie rod is recessed in a tunnel of metal and most channel lock pliers have jaws that are at a 90 or 45 degree angle from the handles. You would need jaws that are in line (0 degree angle) with the handles to be able to reach back there.

what I did was to use some vice grips and open the jaws way more than necessary. That way, when you slip the tool in, the handles catch all the surrounding metal but leave the jaws open far enough to get over the locking plate. The you squeeze that sucker as best you can and bend one side down.

Im a final year mechanical engineering student and in my to be professional opinion, this locking plate is a bit overkill. If you do truly torque that ball joint housing to spec, I doubt it would loosen since it is not a rotating part. You could use thread locker if you wanted to be extra sure. Still, it is sound engineering and a good idea to put a 5 cent metal plate in there and stake the part so it cant loosen for pretty much the life of the vehicle.

Doing an outer tie rod is a piece of cake but the inner is a real nightmare. Luckily, in my case, it was the outer tie rod that was shot. If ever I do the inner, Im going to a DIY mechanic shop, renting a lift and the slip on tool.

 

Learning the hard way. No easy way to crimp lock ring on inner tie rod.
I do want to make sure it will not loosen since it is a rally car and there is a lot of vibrations during racing. Loosing steering while driving 80mph on dirt forest roads is not something I want to experience.

Moral to the story. Do not replace inner tie rod unless you really have to or when engine is out.

 

Problem solved. Steering wheel can move tie rod just enough to get lock ring between sub-frame and lower control arm.