Hi all! I have a question for some of you experts.

On my workhorse Maxima, the inner tie rod boots/Steering rack boots have been torn for over a year now. Over that year, the car was driven daily over very dusty dirt roads.

I've purchased a new set of inner and outer tie rods along with the boots, and am getting ready to install them.

My question is, is there any need to disassemble and clean the rack completely, or can I simply replace the inner tie rods, put the boots on, and call it good?

The steering currently functions just fine.

-Chiem

 

Me? - I would first strip and clean it.

 

The grease will probably be full of dirt, so idealy, you should remove the rack arms and give the a good clean and regrease. I haven't ever done this before, but I believe it is not a simple job. If it was my car, I would be tempted to clean up as much dirty grease as I could from the end of the rack arms and regrease, then put new boots on. But it really depends if you want to risk it or not.

 

FWIW I drove my 91 from 126k to 180k with no boots. However, the inner rod ends are now worn out.

 

'94 everytime i turn left or right i hear a clicking noise, any ideas?

 

cv axles: replace that side (soon!)

 

axles. is it louder one way than the other? go under the car and carefully inspect all 4 CV boots for tears. if any boots are torn then replace that axle. may as well do both since you're going to probably need to do the other one soon if one is already failing, unless you know for a fact one is pretty new still.

 

allright thanks, ill check it out

 

I only replaced one on my car, but the boot was ripped on that side. if the other one needs to replaced, I'll know then.

 

no it sounds the same either way i turn, it is like a slow steady click, loud enough to hear

 

may need both then. unusual but it does happen

 

iirc, mine did it both ways but needed one side.?(iirc)
but that was six months ago, mebe...

 

did you replace with stock or part from auto zone or something, recommendation?

 

if the boots are bad, ur gonna need a new axle on that side, better to do both. i would know, because i need them myself.

 

daily driver, autozone should be okay.

 

should i change the halfshaft too or just the boot

 

halfshaft

 

have you guys ever purchased anything on rockauto.com before, really good prices, but what about quality

 

Just go down to your local big box parts retailer. They'll charge you ~$135 for the axle, but give you $75 back when you return the old one. If they give you the wrong one there's now 1 week wait as you ship it back and they ship you a new one. It happens. There are a LOT of variables to the Max platform. Manual/Auto, ABS or not, SE or not. That's a lot of stuff for a $6/hour parts dweeb to remember.

Don't forget to get new seals from Nissan before you start the job. Nothing like spending the time to change out axles only to notice that you're leaking tranny fluid now.

 

must have been clacking for a while then it usually starts out clacking one way but not the other.

 

Peek in before sh it happens: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/25 ... I am very satisfied with the pull over neoprene boots. As the outer wear out first, it will take another ten yrs before action needed on the inner boots...

 

yeah, now i remember. just one way at first. I was broke at the time, (axle was 1/2 a paycheck!) so i had to wait, and it got worse. Its fixed now.

 

when it is not clacking a new boot is a cheap but more labor solution.
once it is clacking, joint needs to be replaced.

 

If projected lifetime is 2yrs, I'd go to Wallsmarty and buy two plastic bags, install... in a way that CAT cannot eat em. If time-windows is longer, then sink money and tears into licensed update.

 

okay, back to rockauto.com, is their quality legit???

37 dollars for injectors sound wicked.

 

"$37" is too low. i havent heard any bad things about rockauto, but new injectors are over 100 easy. reman[ufactured]/used injectors are scarry(bad) for our cars( or is it nissan in general?). their design does not support remanufacturing.

 

They are remanufactured injectors, not much different then buying used, as a matter of fact, i would rather buy a used injector.

Buy new injectors only unless you want to tear back into the engine again in a few weeks/months.

 

well, im'a try it out, nd see how it goes, i drive 100 miles a day, 5 days a week, and my car is running really crappy.

when im done with lincoln tech in the last quarter of the year, then my maxima restoration/rebirth (whatever you wanna call it) will begin.

and plus, i am about to land a big *** job at F.C Kerbeck in Jersey, wish me luck.

 

and plus, i had put in remanufactured injectors in my old 1993 nissan sentra se-r {R.I.P} {AND YES, ALL 4}. they worked perfect.

dang, i miss that car

 

since ive posted about that, a rockauto review thread.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=398484