Tie rods on front wheels need replacing, also need 2 new front tires. Can I have the front tires installed and then put the new tie rods on at home?

1 PUT ON YOUR EMERGENCY BREAK, LOOSEN THE WHEEL NUTS ON THE FRONT WHEELS,JACK UP THE CAR AND REMOVE THE FRONT WHEEL. WITH SOME YELLOW PAINT ,MARK THE THREADS WHERE IT SCREWS INTO THE TIE ROD END SO YOU KNOW HOW FAR TO SCREW THE NEW ON ONTO. TAKE OUT THE COTTER PIN AND REMOVE THE CASTLE NUT FROM THE ROD. USE A PRY BAR TO SEPERATE THE BOLT FROM THE TIE ROD END. ONCE SEPARATED YOU SHOULD BE ABLE UNSCREW THE OLD TIE ROD END OFF THE SHAFT..TAKE THE NEW ONE AND SCREW IT BACK ON ONLY TO THE YELLOW PAINT MARK THAT YOU MADE ON THE ROD EARLIER. THEN JUST REASSEMBLE THE SAME WAY YOU TOOK IT APART. MAKE SURE YOU TORQUE THE NUT TO 50 LBS.AND BE SURE TO USE A NEW COTTER PIN ON THE CASTLE NUT..

Jack the front of the car up high enough to get under it, put jack stands under the car for safety.

Start on either side and check the tie rod ends for looseness. If you have someone to help, have them hold one tire with hands at 3 and 9 o'clock while you grab the other tire the same way. Try to move the tire by pushing and pulling. If you feel movement, have your helper sit in the car and move the steering wheel 1/4 to 1/2 turn left and righ as you check the tie rods for which one or ones are loose.

Once you have found out which to replace, after they are replaced, you will need to have the car aligned.

Replacing tires every six months is not the worst--Sooner or later a sloppy tie rod let's go. They don't always go out all at once, but sooner or later they all need replaced.

Sounds like you need some front end parts. You can narrow down the parts you may need though. Get a jack and some jack stands and raise the front of your vehicle so the front wheels are off the ground. The first thing I would check is the tie rod ends as this would give you loose steering. Now that your wheels are off the ground, take both hands and grab each side of a front tire and wiggle it side to side. Keep your eye on the other front tire. If you can move the tire side to side at all, even a little bit, and the other tire does not move side to side with it, you have bad tie rods. Locate the point where the tie rod end connects to the steering knuckle at the wheel. The tie rod end will have a rubber boot with a bolt going through with a nut and probably a cotter pin holding the nut in. Now wiggle the tire again and keep your eye on this spot where the rubber boot meets the steering knuckle. If your knuckle moves (even a little) and the tie rod end does not, THAT tie rod end is bad. There are inner and outer tie rod ends. You want to check the pivot point (the place that the tie rod end is connected) on the inner and outer tie rod ends on both wheels. Again, you are looking for one side to move and the other to not move. Even if it only looks like a couple mm, it is bad. There should be NO movement whatsoever. Once you have identified all loose parts by moving the wheels side to side, we can now check ball joints and bearings. To do this is very similar to what we just did only this time we grab the top and bottom of the wheel and try to move it back and forth. Pull the top of the tire towards you and push the bottom of the tire away from you then vise versa. There should be absolutely no wiggle. If you do get a little play here, locate your upper and lower ball joints. these too will have rubber boots on them and just like the tie rod ends, you are going to keep your eye on the point where the boot meets the A-arm. If you see any movement here, that ball joint is bad. Now, if your wheel wiggles back and forth but your ball joints are tight (zero movement) then you have issues with the wheel bearings. If you have to replace any tie rod ends you will have to have an alignment done because your toe will be off and you will wear out your tires. When replacing a tie rod end, prior to taking it off, count the number of threads that are visible. You want to leave that same number of threads visible when you install the new one. Keep in mind, this only gets the alignment close enough to get to the shop to have it aligned. Good Luck!!

could be tie rod or ball joint or bushing. I would put it on a rack and pull at every joint. You can even check at home by jacking up the wheel and pulling it in each direction. There should not be any play. In/out play at side of wheel is due to tie rods or bushings. In/out play at bottom is due to ball joint.

The most common reason for this problem is that you haven't got a proper tie rod adjustment. The tie rods need to be adjusted so that you have the same distance. You can use a standard tape measure and with the car on a flat level surface with the tires straight, have a friend help you measure from the one wheel to the other. You need to measure from the front of the tire using the same reference points on both tires ( like the farthest outside tread groove.) once you have the measurement on the front of the tires then move to the back side of the tires and measure again, using the same reference points, the outside tread groove. The measurements should be within 3/ 16 of an inch and should be slightly shorter in the front. For example if you measured the front @ 4' 41/2" then the back of the tire should be from 4' 4 1/2" to 4' 11/16". The front wheels will be slightly toed in of pointing at each other but no more then 3/ 16 of an inch. If you measurement are off then you will need to adjust the tie rods to get a even measurement. Also you may find that your steering wheel is off center if you don't have them adjusted correctly.
I would really recommend that you just take this and have an alignment done, they are relatively inexpensive considering you have replaced the tie rods and this will make for easy adjustment.

The new tires could be out of balance,or even though they are new could have a bad belt in one of them,If it was doing this,the problem,if it was there before the tires were installed,have the front end checked.And you may need a front end alignment.If the tie rod,and ball joint were bad on that side,then chances are the other side may have bad front end parts also.You know it needs alignment after replacing tie rod ends don`t you?Eye balling the tie rod end does not get it back in line,and it may have needed the alignment anyway,Have a 4 wheel alignment done to make sure that is out og the equation while diagnosing the problem.

This sounds like tie rod ends are going out. Before you remove the old ones, mark on the threads where it currently is seated or you will throw it out of alingment when you put new ones on. You may need to borrow or buy the tool for poping out the tie rod end. They aren't a big deal to change if you have some basic tools and sometimes you don't need the wedge tool either. Once you get the old one out, try moving it around. If it is real loose and moves easily, thats your problem. But the swaying you are describing sound like this is the problem. Could be you steering control arms as well but because the inside of the tires are worn I doubt it.

Btw, I’m available to help over the phone in case u need at https://www.6ya.com/expert/matthew_d24b835e574ef6ca

if fluid is flowing out the bellows, you need to replace the steering rack assembly. There is no fluid in the area of the inner tie rod. The seal is just before the tie rod.

Steering Gear
The power rack and pinion steering gear is serviced as a power steering short rack (3L547). The front wheel spindle tie rods (3280) and tie rod ends (3A130) are serviced individually. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• The power rack and pinion steering gear incorporates quick connect fittings for the power steering pressure hose (3A719) and power steering return hose (3A713) that allow the lines to swivel. This is normal and does not indicate loose fittings.
• If the fittings leak, check to make sure they are tightened to 14-20 Nm (10-14 lb-ft). Do not overtighten.
• If the leak is not corrected, replace the fitting seals.

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Section 11-02: Steering System, Power 1997 Windstar Workshop Manual
REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION Tie Rod End Steering Gear Installed
Removal

1. Remove and discard cotter pin and nut from worn tie rod end (3A130).
   

1. Disconnect tie rod end from front wheel knuckle (3K185), using Tie Rod End Remover TOOL-3290-D or equivalent.
   

1. Hold tie rod end with a wrench and loosen tie rod end jam nut.
   

1. Note depth to which tie rod end was located by using the jam nut as a marker. Grip tie rod end with a pair of suitable pliers and remove tie rod end from front wheel spindle tie rod (3280).
   

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11-02: Steering System, Power 1997 Windstar Workshop Manual
REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION Steering Gear Removal

1. Raise vehicle on a twin post hoist and remove wheel and tire assemblies. Refer to Section 00-02 .
   
   
   
   
   

1. Support vehicle with jackstands under front jack pads.
   

1. Remove tie-rod end cotter pins and nuts and remove tie rod ends (3A130) from front wheel knuckle (3K185). Refer to Section 04-01 .
   

1. Remove front stabilizer bar (5482). Refer to Section 04-01 .
   

1. Disconnect heated oxygen and catalyst monitor sensors.
   

1. Support flex pipe.
   

1. Remove bolts and disconnect flex pipe from the converter.
   

1. Raise dash opening steering column opening weather seal (3513) (secondary) above the steering gear housing (3548).
   

1. Remove pinch bolt retaining steering column intermediate shaft coupling (3A525) to power steering gear input shaft and control (3D517) and disconnect the shaft.
   

1. Remove nuts from steering gear-to-front subframe retaining bolts. Remove bolts.
   

1. Remove rear subframe-to-body retaining bolts.
   

1. Lower twin post hoist carefully until rear of subframe (5R003) separates from body, approximately four inches.
   

1. Remove heat shield band and fold shield down.
   

1. Rotate power rack and pinion steering gear to clear bolts from front subframe (5C145) and pull left to facilitate line fitting removal.
   

1. Place a drain pan under vehicle and remove line fittings.
   

1. Remove power rack and pinion steering gear through LH wheel well.
   

1. Remove and discard the O-rings.
   

Installation

1. Install new Teflon® O-rings on line fittings as outlined.
   

1. Place steering gear retaining bolts in steering gear housing.
   

1. Install power rack and pinion steering gear through LH wheel well.
   

1. Install power steering line fittings to power rack and pinion steering gear.
   

1. Position power rack and pinion steering gear into front subframe.
   

1. Install ******** heat shield.
   

1. Install tie-rod ends to front wheel knuckle. Install nuts and new cotter pins. Refer to Section 04-01 .
   

1. Install LH front stabilizer bar. Refer to Section 04-01 .
   

1. Install steering gear to subframe mounting nuts. Tighten to 115-135 Nm (85-99 lb-ft).
   

1. Raise hoist until rear subframe contacts body.
   

1. Install rear subframe to body retaining bolts. Tighten to 113-153 Nm (83-112 lb-ft).
   

1. Install exhaust system flex tube to dual converter Y pipe (5F250) and remove flex tube support.
   

1. Connect heated oxygen and catalyst monitor sensors.
   

1. Install tire and wheel assemblies. Tighten lug nuts (1012) to 115-142 Nm (85-104 lb-ft).
   

1. Using a new pinch bolt, install the steering column intermediate shaft coupling on the power steering gear input shaft and control and the lower steering column shaft. Tighten the pinch bolt to 34-46 Nm (25-33 lb-ft).
   

1. Position steering column opening weather seal (secondary) over the steering gear housing. Tighten nuts to 4.5-6.3 Nm (40-55 lb-in).
   

1. Remove jackstands and lower vehicle.
   

1. Fill power steering oil reservoir (3A697) with Premium Power Steering Fluid E6AZ-19582-AA or equivalent meeting Ford specification ESW-M2C33-F. Refer to Section 11-00 .
   

1. Check system for leaks and proper operation.
   
   

loosen nut on tie rod..22mm wrench,remove nut from tie rod end..18mm socket,hit side of knuckle with hammer to seperate tie rod end..unscrew tie rod end from tie rod..reverse procedure to install..you will to hold down on tie rod end to keep stud from spinning

why ???? somebody. see you like a rich person. ask you self the steering wheel shakes when you brake. have somebody to helpyou jack the car from the front put the parking brake on move the front wheel side to side(dont losing the nuts from the tire) and up and down you fell some play on both tires maybe you need tie rods