I went to get the car aligned and they told me that the inner tie rod end was bad. I'm now in the process of removing the tie rod but I'm stuck. If you've removed your tie rod or know how to do so, any help would be appreciated. I can't figure out how the inner end comes off the rack. It seems like it has to screw off but no spanner that I have can fit in the space. Is there some special tool to remove it? I took the picture below from the front of the car under the oil pan. Thanks for any help.

 

there is a special tool. look up tie rod tool or similar. nick made a thread about it:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hlight=tie+rod

 

If you have an AutoZone or AdvanceAutoparts near by, they have a tie-rod/ball joint removal tool.
The tool is something similar to this:

 

Here is a picture of it in action:



Credit: www.michiganjeepers.com Make sure you measure the distance of the tie rod and install the new tie rod as close to it as possible, otherwise your alignment might be off.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, but it wasn't the outer tie rod end that I wanted to remove. I got the tie rods out but I had to remove the stabilizer bar to get a spanner to fit.The inner tie rod tool in nick's writeup is what I needed it seems. Looks like that would have saved me hours!! Now I got to go find one of those for when I have to do the other car.