$200 to replace inner tie rod, and rear engine mount?
 

Ok my 02 I35 needs rear engine mount and inner tie rod ends, ive never done either job before myself, ive done outer tie rods, hubs, axles but never engine mounts or inner tie rod. So went to a shop to get a price on labor, they told me $200, another said $170, is this reasonble??

That price doesn't sound unreasonable.

If you've done those other jobs you can do these. The rear mount is easy.

How do you know the inner tie rods are bad?

Inners and mount are ridiculously easy.

inner rods:Hammer back the locking tabs and use the removal tool (rent from auto store for free). Zip tie the boots back on.

mount: Remove mount bolts and crossmember. Swap out the mount on it and reinstall.

sounds easy lol but id be afraid that the engine might fall out lol removing the crossmember. can i do the inner tie rod with just the driver side wheel off the car? IM may attempt to do this and get my skills up more and save some money in the process.

The engine/tranny can't go anywhere. There's still both side mounts.

Yes, inners are that easy. They just spin off. The tool is only used b/c there's very little room (if any on some cars) to wrench it off from the bottom.

The only caveat is that you must install the outers in the same spot or your alignment will be off. This is fairly easy to do by marking the thread where the nuts goes/counting the number of spins to remove the outer. A complicating factor is if the replacement part is a different size (outers are always different it seems like...haven't paid much attention to inners). Some shops will say it cost x dollars for inners, then hit you with the "it needs to be aligned and that's 100 dollars" later. You know, your typical bait and switch.

To check if the inner is bad, remove the rod from the knuckle and push/pull to see if there's any play in the joint just like you would any ball joint. If both are tight, then you don't need new ones.

Yeah thanks for that info man, someone told me it was bad bacause the driver side shakes a little bit when going high speeds of 70 and up, and then i took the wheel off to look at the tie rod and grabbed it was loose, which i dont think it should be. Also to my surprise my axle nuts were loose also.

BTW, I have 1.5 years on my window weld filled mounts (I did not remove the old rubber). They look the exact same as the day I installed them. And everyone should know that I drive my cars hard lol
IIRC, it only took one tube to fill both. 15 dollars on ebay currently.

Yeah i was reading up on that filling with window weld, i may try that once i replace one, and just keep the old one and do that experiment with it lol. Mine has the plugs on both front and rear mounts, I saw one rear mount on amazon for about $10-$28 without the plug, but it states its for the 95-99 maxima.

I can feel the wheel shake at high speeds on the driver side, and when i grab the tie rod, it is loose/ moves back and fourth.

That's what I did, fill 'em up with some Urethane, and they've been good for years, since at least 2007 and about 100k. I just ended up getting an MT front mount and using it instead.

Dropped the cross-member when I had to repair my rear header and decided to do the mounts at the time. It's one of the easiest jobs I've done. (mounts)

Unplug 'em both and fill 'em. Mine was only the front that had a plug. 95-99 are the same mounts (housings) as ours, in fact I'm using 4th gen mounts on mine.

Quick question to all you guys filling your mounts. How long did you wait for them to cure.

And OP that's a fair price for a shop to do it all. But you can DIY on the motor mount if you have the tools fairly easily

2 days. You can tell by poking them if it's still runny inside. I'm sure it's longer if you remove the rubber.

I found one in a junkyard and filled it with Window Weld. It took several days to feel hard all the way through and I wanted to install it.

They also make a two part epoxy that's made for making mounts. It's available in different hardnesses and sets up quickly.

https://maxima.org/forums/supercharg...or-mounts.html

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...or-mounts.html

Thanks for the reply. I'll be filling in my 2 old side mounts, so I just needed an estimated time since usually people do gut these out first.

Cool thanks for the info. I wish there was a yard around me for me to grab some from.

Thanks for the refresher. Saw these posts when I had my 4th gen but everyone has a varying curiring time that they need. Was just trying to get a feel for that here.

Same mounts, same process. Toss them in the oven for a bit, speeds up the cure.

Thank you sir gonna order the rear since its only $10 on amazon, and just fill the original one with the plug and see how it comes out.

Ok i get my inner tie rods tomarro, So does it screw in first, and then hammer the locking tabs back towards the rack or the outer tie rod? I may do it myself because shops want $100 for both sides.

You have to knock back (towards the rack) the tabs to remove the originals (there is a tool somewhere). I guess manufacturer's are paranoid. They prevent the rod from loosening. Paranoid people will use thread locker for installation, but I think it's just absurd. The rods don't spin. I just crank them down hard (like everything else LOL).

Oh ok kool i ordered the moog brand, so i guess to install would be to bend the tabs back toward the outer tie rod, but like you said just tightnen them down really good lol.

I actually went to another shop and they wanted $100 just to do one engine mount lol and $100 for both inner tie rod ends.

Is the alignment free or do you not need one after doing inners? Thats a peety high quote, i just got quoted 4 engine mount replacements, i paid 84 for all 4 mounts and the mech wants 240 too replace then all. 60 a mount in labor isnt bad.

It's not too bad in the grand scheme of things but it's literally such an easy job that it one has a jack, jack stand and hand tools it's very easy

Its too cold to crawl under the car and bust knuckles at the moment otherwise i have no issue doing it me self.

Yeah I dont think he included an alignment in the price, which I am going to need after replacing inner tie rods. I may just do them myself as well as the. Engine mount also, as I cant justify paying $100 to remove a mount with air tools would prob be under an hour on these cars.

Ok I received my inner tie rods today, they only came with locktite and no locking tabs. Waiting for the new boots to do the install. What type of grease do I use to lubricate them?

They're already packed with grease in the joint.

oh ok i thought you had to spread grease over the entire tie rod lol. Thanks man. This seems like an easy job.

quick question, what is the best way to remove the rear engine mount bolt? I can remove everything else, just trynna figure out the easiest way to get a socket on that bolt. I have a pair of ramps should i leave the driver side wheel on or take it off.

i think you either take the wheel off or crank it to one side and use a bunch of extensions to get to it. probably take the splash shields off too

Gotcha!! thanks alot!

I do it directly from below. I have big hands and arms and can do it. I don't remember what tools I used, though lol

I can access it from the botton somewhat but i may need a shorter 17mm socket for my torq wrench

You are talking about the rear mount on the engine cradle right? Center of the car under the firewall?

This could be a problem. Any time I've seen an axle nut loose it's resulted in a failed wheel bearing. Even for a short drive after a repair.

Can confirm. Someone didn't tighten it correctly on one I bought and wheel bearing went bad pretty fast. It was finger loose. Even worse is that it exhibited no wheel bearing symptoms! It sounded like a CV when turning, which led me to put it off. The entire knuckle had to be replaced. The heat had welded the hub to the knuckle.

So what are the symptoms that the wheel bearing has gone bad. Would the wheel lock up? I know usually if the bearing is bad there is a loud annoying hum that gets louder the faster you drive.

Yes the rear engine mount on the crossmember.

It should make a whirring noise that progresses to grinding if you don't fix it.

Mine clicked a little when turning right...yeah, wtf.

hopefully mine is still good, as i dont hear that noise yet.