2006 Nissan Sentra inner tie rod ends

I took my car in for an alignment and was told they wouldn't do it because my inner tie rod ends were bad and needing replaced, (inner and outer were quoted at $500)
I went to you tube and watched 3 videos of inner tie rod replacement and it looked fairly easy. I bought new inner/outer tie rods, borrowed the tie rod ratcheting tool from Orileys and started the removal.

I got the outer tie rod off with no problem, then the boot. Then I ran into trouble. The inner tie rod extension removal tool I borrowed didn't work. The big end that screws into the rack and pinion didn't have a notch for the crows feet to attach to and ratchet it off. Looking at the new replacement showed the same thing.

I saw notches in the shaft of the rod & I figured I was to put an open ended wrench on that to twist the inner tie rod off the car. When I did that the complete rod just kept spinning. It was very loose, but the big end of the unit that screwed into the rack & pinion wouldn't budge.

My neighbor suggested a pipe wrench, but i was able to use a large curved vise grip much like a bull nose vice grip to dislodge the rod and unscrew it without any problem.

Now my question is...... should i use some kind of lock tight stuff on the threads when I put the new rod on? And do I use the same vice grips to make sure the rod is firmy in place? I attached a wrench to the indentation on the rod, but that just turned the rod into the elbow joint. What do I need to do to make sure it's tightly attached and not have to worry about it falling off or coming loose as I'm driving down the road?

I also bought myself a Haynes manual but it only covers removal/installation of outer tie rod end and boot replacement, Didn't cover anything about inner rod.

What is your advice?

 

they normaly come with a way keep in place. if not lock tight will work.

 

inner ones are held in place, after screwed back in, by complete system structure. As in - outer tie rod ends are secured to hub knuckle and, in its turn, prevent inner ones from coming out. Unless you missed a locking spring or something. Several I had done simply screw in and out.

 

I've had fun with inner tie-rods. A pipe wrench is your friend for those.

Although too late, I would have told you before hand to mark the lengths of both the inner and outer tie-rods. This way, you can closely match the replacements and have your car fairly close to align or close to where it was. This would reduce stress on the system if you have to drive a distance to get the alignment.

 

I did count how many turns it took to get the outer tie rod off, thanks for the assistance.

 

no, no. You MUST do alignment now.