1996 Intrepid Front Steering/Suspension

I have a '96 Eagle Vision TSI (LH same as Intrepid) with 57K miles that
needs some front end work. Can someone who has done these jobs let me know:

How difficult is it to replace the inner tie rod bushings? What is involved
and roughly how much time?

How difficult to replace a front wheel bearing?

Are the above common points of failure on the 1st generation LH body style?
I believe the tie rod bushings are indeed bad given the high amount of
torque steer that I experience upon acceleration and sloppy steering. But, I
am surprised that the wheel bearing is bad since I have not heard much about
this defect in this newsgroup for this type of vehicle.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

 

its an easy job, IF you buy the "two piece" style replacement bushings.
Also, make extra room for yourself by removing the windshield wiper
assembly (the whole thing comes out as a unit) and the air intake
plumbing (if you have a 3.5L). You can have a helper swing the steering
wheel side-to-side while you look at the inner tie rod area and visibly
see the play if the bushings are bad.

Well, my wife's 93 has 207,000 miles on the original wheel bearings, so
I can't tell you.

The inner tie-rod bushings are, as are the big bushings that mount the
steering rack to the chassis (in fact, you'd do well to check THOSE
before you waste time on the inner tie rod ends!). So are stablilizer
bar end-links, but those are a very easy bolt-in replacement. Wheel
bearings are not a common problem, but that doesn't mean yours didn't
fail early for some reason.

 

Hi Bob,

I also have a '95 Eagle Vision and I tried to do the inner tie rod bushings
myself but then I discovered that I had a failed steering rack. I therefore
had the job completed at the repair shop. Look in www.dodgeintrepid.net for
additional discussions about this common repair.

cheers!

Bill D

 

Steve and Bill,

Thanks to you both for your thoughts. The sway bar bushings were done once
before about 2-3 years back. I see that the replacement tie rod bushings
come in both single and two piece designs. The labor to install is the same
in the book and the two piece parts are about double the price ($33 vs $16).
Why are the two piece superior?

Bob

 

My understanding is that the two piece bushing is easier to install.
The single piece requires removal of the rack - that's what I remember
reading. If this is incorrect, someone will no doubt correct me. If
correct, they probably cost more because people will be willing to pay
the extra for the part to save labor - not because they cost that much
more to make.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

The left front wheel bearing went out on my '99 Concorde (2nd gen LH -
same chassis parts as 1st gen LH) - not a major failure - just started
making vibration/noise which I am very sensitive to. Mine went out at
about 67k miles IIRC. The process and degree of difficulty is identical
to every other FWD front wheel bearing replacement I have ever done on
my own vehicles - everything from a Subaru to a Cadillac - pretty
standard designs with minor variations.

Basically, unbolt and hang caliper, remove brake rotor, remove axle stub
nut (maybe loosen with someone holding the brake before removing the
caliper), remove hub-to-knuckle bolts (3), disengage lower control arm
ball joint from knuckle (remove keeper bolt first, ball joint stud comes
out easily because it's not even tapered), press axle out of bearing ID
with a proper puller, pry/knock hub out of knuckle (if you're careful to
coordinate the last two steps, you might even preclude having to
separate ball joint from knuckle). Reverse procedure to install.

Be careful not to damage CVJ boots. When putting ball joint stud keeper
bolt back in, be careful to vertically line the groove on the stud with
the bolt holes in the knuckle - bolt should slide in - do not force in
with a hammer (I learned that the hard when when I recently ruined the
knuckle by not following that advice).

The inner tie rod bushing are a fairly common failure item according to
what I read on various Chrysler forums, though mine are still original
with no play whatsoever at 100k miles. Someone mentioned in this ng
that if the outer tie rods are not oriented vertically before the lock
nuts are tightened when alignments are done, they can cause the inner
tie rod bushings to wear out - it is easy to see how that could be when
you look at the steering system, and I wonder how many of the failures
that I read about are due to that oversight on the part of the
technicians.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Thanks for the great detail on the bearing removal procedure.

Bob

 

You're welcome!

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Because "the book" lies. The two-piece type can be installed with the
tie-rods in the car just by reaching down behind the engine and working.
The one-piece type have to be pressed in with the tie-rods removed from
the car, unless you have vice-grip fingers of steel.

 

Ended up having to replace one of the tie rods as it was damaged as well as
the bushings. Went with two piece. Thanks again to you both.

Bob

 

Visit the following link
http://www.allpar.com/fix/intrepid-steering.html
this is a very detailed site at the bushing replacement.
The rack doesn't need to come out in any case, there is a special tool
required to install the one piece bushing. the two piece doesn't
require the tool.
Having said that, I have very succesfuly installed a ton of the
bushings without the special tool. Also look at the K frame bushing if
you have a clunk sound. That is the usual suspect not a wheel brg.

 

Apparently the tie rods have to come out for the one-piece bushings, not
the rack as I incorrectly stated. FWIW, I don't think the OP related a
wheel bearing failure to clunk sound - he was just asking how to replace
the bearing as he suspected it was bad for some unstated reason.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Bill,

You are correct that the steering problem was not related to the wheel
bearing issue. While looking at the steering problem, I noticed that the
front passenger wheel made a slight "growling" sound when it was rotated.
My guess is that the wheel bearing was just starting to go bad so I replaced
it. (I probably could have let it go till it got worse, but I would rather
make sure the vehicle was safe and everything was operating as designed.)

Bob

FWIW, I don't think the OP related a

 

The link to the allpar steering fix has alot of detail. One thing the
author mentions (in photo 4) is that he found his rack clamps to be loose.
I believe I have this problem. Is the fix as simple as he says: remove,
clean, locktite, and re-install with correct torque? Or is this a symptom
of some other problem?
J.S.