ball joints replacement

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2003 Mazda Protege5
I found a splatter of grease on my driver side wheel, when I took it off to see where it was coming from I came to find out it was from what looks to be a ball joint on the tie rod.

I been trying to see if I could just replace the ball joint itself or if I will have to buy the entire tie rod but I can't even search for the right part. Which brought me here. If anyone can help me find the part number or any reference to fixing this problem I would greatly appreciate it.

pictures below:

IMG_20180623_224249643.jpgIMG_20180623_224253940.jpgIMG_20180623_224249643.jpgIMG_20180623_224253940.jpg
 
Awesome, thanks very much for pointing me to the parts. My next question is, how hard is it to take off the tie rod ends? this would be a first for me. I will have the alignment done after wards. I am more concerned if any special tools are needed. but by the looks of it I'm guessing you don't. Again thanks for the help, and I'm gonne go w the moog as these look like they can be greased.

also just to be clear I'll be buying two of the same rod ends as they're not marked driver side or passenger side, correct?
this would be the moog https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=202163&cc=1416833&jsn=26
 
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Awesome, thanks very much for pointing me to the parts. My next question is, how hard is it to take off the tie rod ends? this would be a first for me. I will have the alignment done after wards. I am more concerned if any special tools are needed. but by the looks of it I'm guessing you don't. Again thanks for the help, and I'm gonne go w the moog as these look like they can be greased.

also just to be clear I'll be buying two of the same rod ends as they're not marked driver side or passenger side, correct?
this would be the moog https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=202163&cc=1416833&jsn=26

yeah that's the correct part to buy two of. so what you would do is undo the jam nut at the end of the tie rod, cut/take off the cotter pin on the other end of the tie rod by the ball joint, take off the castle nut, then you'll have to separate the tie rod from the knuckle. it will most likely be stuck on there pretty good. i use a pickle fork which is fine for bad tie rods since this tool tends to rip up the boot anyway: https://www.harborfreight.com/16-in-ball-joint-separator-63420.html

Or you could use something like this which won't destroy the boot if that's a concern for you: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html

installation is the exact reverse with no surprises. try to install the new tie rod in the same position as your old one since it's responsible for your toe alignment. some people mark theirs, some people count the turns it takes to take off, so whatever works for you. i believe the torque spec for the castle nut is about 53 foot pounds.
 
... how hard is it to take off the tie rod ends? this would be a first for me....

The biggest problem you're probably going to have is getting the tie rod out of the steering knuckle.

You can remove the nut then flip it over and thread it back on till it's flush with the stud then pound the hell out of it.

It doesn't matter if you crunch the threads because you're not reusing your old tie rod.

If the new tie rod doesn't come with the nut then don't use it to pound on.



PS... Just because the tie rod end boot lost some grease, doesn't mean the tie rod is bad. If there is no play in the joint, it's probably still OK.

I've got a grease needle that plugs onto my grease gun and I poke through the grease boots all over my car and inject them with grease.
The grease always oozes out somewhere but the boot is packed and I just wipe off the excess.





I personally like the Moog because they're greasable. You can pump grease in the top till it comes out the boot at the bottom.
It's not so much that it's lubed but more like completely filled giving no space for water or dirt that would lead to rust and a worn out tie rod.
 
I've always managed to get my tie rod end off by just hammering on the stud but a pickle fork would certainly make things easier.

Make sure you buy the right kind of pickle fork...



lol

lol. i tried the hammering method my first time around. it ate up about an extra 40 minutes of my time. so never again!
 
The biggest problem you're probably going to have is getting the tie rod out of the steering knuckle.

You can remove the nut then flip it over and thread it back on till it's flush with the stud then pound the hell out of it.

It doesn't matter if you crunch the threads because you're not reusing your old tie rod.

If the new tie rod doesn't come with the nut then don't use it to pound on.



PS... Just because the tie rod end boot lost some grease, doesn't mean the tie rod is bad. If there is no play in the joint, it's probably still OK.

I've got a grease needle that plugs onto my grease gun and I poke through the grease boots all over my car and inject them with grease.
The grease always oozes out somewhere but the boot is packed and I just wipe off the excess.





I personally like the Moog because they're greasable. You can pump grease in the top till it comes out the boot at the bottom.
It's not so much that it's lubed but more like completely filled giving no space for water or dirt that would lead to rust and a worn out tie rod.

ok that a great idea. It looks like the moog kit comes w new nuts anyways.

Aside from the grease spewing out, I started hearing a light popping sound turning. the grease just confirmed the tie rod was bad. Unless that popping sound comes from somewhere else, I think the ball joint is the culprit. It also doesn't help that my car has been lowered and is running on 17" rims. matter of fact when I took off the driver side wheel I also found out the wheel has a slight bend. So I must of hit a pretty nasty bump or pot hole that also screwed up the tie rod end. I'll see if anyone here has a spare rim I can buy, they're rx-7 rims, i'll snap a picture tomorrow.

As for the grease Ill have to buy a grease gun and just generic automotive grease, I presume?
 
yeah that's the correct part to buy two of. so what you would do is undo the jam nut at the end of the tie rod, cut/take off the cotter pin on the other end of the tie rod by the ball joint, take off the castle nut, then you'll have to separate the tie rod from the knuckle. it will most likely be stuck on there pretty good. i use a pickle fork which is fine for bad tie rods since this tool tends to rip up the boot anyway: https://www.harborfreight.com/16-in-ball-joint-separator-63420.html

Or you could use something like this which won't destroy the boot if that's a concern for you: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html

installation is the exact reverse with no surprises. try to install the new tie rod in the same position as your old one since it's responsible for your toe alignment. some people mark theirs, some people count the turns it takes to take off, so whatever works for you. i believe the torque spec for the castle nut is about 53 foot pounds.

I'm probably going to buy both tools just in case. I want to spend as little time as possible on this. I'll mark the length on each tie rod before taking it off. Afterwards ill just have to get the alignment done. Thanks again for the help on this, I really appreciate it.

out of curiosity what does your p5 look like?
 
so I got the Moog tie rod ends bu they did not fit.Moog ES3197RL Tie Rod End the stud was bigger and the threading wouldnt even go on the rod. Im returning them now what did I miss here? roackauto and amazon said they fit my car.
 
strange. only thing i can think of is the inner tie rod being aftermarket but i wouldn't think it would be that much of a difference. guess you might have to bring your old tie rod to a store to find out the thread pitch and order one based off of that. pcb, any ideas here?
 
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... pcb, any ideas here?

Not really,.. That's weird.
Only thing I'd add is to maybe take your old tie rod end to a hardware store and find a bolt that will thread into it.
That way, you can try to thread it into a replacement at the parts store.
Bringing your whole inner tie rod with you would be too involved.
 
Hey Guys,

So just to update, it turns out Amazon sent me the wrong tie rod ends. I have no idea what vehicle these are for but the part number on the box was ES3660. I have no idea how they got that mixed but it was a completely different tie rod. i took pictures but having to host them somewhere to post them here is kind of a pain. unless I'm not doing something right. But anyways, I ended up getting the AC delco tir rod ends and these fit correctly and got them in no problem.

However, The pop noise did not go away so what I've been told now is that it is going to be the CV axles. In the past I did a swap on a honda civic and from what I remember it wasn't very hard. But having said that if there's any links/videos/tutorials on how to replace these on the P5 I'd appreciate any info on this as this will be my next task on this car. As always thanks for your help!
 
Hey Guys,

So just to update, it turns out Amazon sent me the wrong tie rod ends. I have no idea what vehicle these are for but the part number on the box was ES3660. I have no idea how they got that mixed but it was a completely different tie rod. i took pictures but having to host them somewhere to post them here is kind of a pain. unless I'm not doing something right. But anyways, I ended up getting the AC delco tir rod ends and these fit correctly and got them in no problem.

However, The pop noise did not go away so what I've been told now is that it is going to be the CV axles. In the past I did a swap on a honda civic and from what I remember it wasn't very hard. But having said that if there's any links/videos/tutorials on how to replace these on the P5 I'd appreciate any info on this as this will be my next task on this car. As always thanks for your help!

Check your endlinks too. The little knock I was getting in curves went away after I replaced mine.
 
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