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Decided to install some tuned inner tie rods to correct the issues I was having with being lowered.
The tuned are adjustable inner tie rods meaning you can adjust the length to either bring your toe in or push it out getting your tires straight.
It is a common problem for people who lower their cars to have toe problems and to compensate you would either need extended tie rod ends (Moog-ES2382) or shorter tie rods.
The solution to my problem was the latter.
This DIY would always seem very daunting to me as every person I'd heard talk about it made it sound much harder than it actually is.
Plus, to make things more confusing a lot of the info on here is people mixing up the terms TIE ROD (inner tie rod) and TIE ROD END, so you end up being misguided on how to perform this DIY.
All in all, if you have some knowledge of how everything is put together before going at it the job is pretty basic.
So here's a DIY with some helpful tips:
You may be able to do everything from the top but this is how I went about it.
I'm running a cold air intake so you may want to remove the stock air box to clear the room up top.
My header is stock and I still have the heat shield so if you have a race header I believe you'd have even more room.
Unfortunately, an inner tie rod tool (tube kind) such as the ones you can rent from your local auto parts store won't clear the gap from the tie rod to the steering bracket.
Fortunately, once you bend the lock washers a crescent wrench with some leverage will do just the trick.
Remember that you can turn the steering wheel to move the steering bracket from side to side if you need a different angle at it.
If you're able to get your hands on a steering bracket riser (such as the 0857; fixes the geometry of the tie rod if you're slammed) this would be a great time to install it.
Tools I used:
Jack and jack stands
Crescent wrench
Ratchet
10, 12, 19 sockets and extensions
Small sledgehammer
Long pry bar or chisel
Needle nose pliers
and not necessary but to make things easier and faster I used PB blaster, an impact wrench and a cordless ratchet.
1. Jack's front end up. Place stands. Remove wheels. the obvious stuff.
2. To gain maximum clearance from under the car, remove the heat shield under the tie rods (four 10mm bolts) and the mid chassis brace (four 12mm bolts, two on each side).
The two upper bolts on the heat shield connect it to the mid chassis brace and I believe you only need to loosen the bottom bolts as the heat shield can then slide up and out.
3a. Bend lock washers (blue arrow) away from the steering bracket.
There are 4 bends in total that need to be bent back, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom of each washer.
This is probably the hardest part of the DIY; you need to find the right angle and use the right tools which will make it a lot easier.
I used a long pry bar and a small sledgehammer wasn't pretty but got the job done. (3rd picture below)
The reason we need to do this is that there is a thin hex embossed on the nut of the tie rod beyond the threads holding the washer in place. (4th picture below)
If you need new lock washers the part number is 53536-S5A-900 and I provided a link at the bottom of the DIY.
*K-Tuned does supply new lock washers with their tie rods, so if you're upgrading like I was you'll be covered.
eadhorseeadhorseeadhorse
3b. Loosen both nuts (red arrow) on tie rods.
The nuts are 24mm, I used a pry bar against a crescent wrench to loosen them.
I'd recommend using a cheater bar that fits around the grip of the crescent wrench if available.
..Just want to clarify that both nuts are turned regular (left) to loosen as I saw some other posts stating otherwise.
You may want to spray some PB blaster on those nuts to make it a little easier on yourself.
4. Remove the tie rod end.
if you're trying to use the same tie rod end on your new tie rods be sure to loosen the locking nut (clockwise, away from the tie rod end) before popping the tie rod end out of suspension.
PB blaster always helps.
mini DIY on popping tie rod end.. as I'm sure there are plenty on here.
remove nut. (19mm)
flip nut. (install flush with the end of threads)
bang nut. (with a hammer)
done. :thumbs up:
*if it's been a while, you may mess up the threads this way. at this point I'd recommend a tie rod separator tool of some sort.
5. Remove the tie rod assembly. :aww yea:
6a. All that's left is to do everything backwards and reinstall everything.
torque tie rod end to 40lbs as well at the tie rod if you are able to.
6b. Upon reinstallation, bend the lock washers around the steering bracket as they were before. (as seen on the right lock washer below)
I did this again with the hammer and pry bar, and came at it from the sides.
All done looking like a diamond in my dirty-ass engine bay. :Giggity:
7. Go get yourself an alignment and enjoy being at whatever ride height you prefer and not destroying your tires!:fistbump:
sidenote:
I highly recommend you do a self-alignment to get yourself to a professional alignment shop in which case I'd recommend watching this video:
follow instructions from about 10:35, and then head on over to an alignment shop.
Links to products and parts mentioned:
K-Tuned Inner Tie Rods:
KTD-TRI-RCE-NEW Inner Tie Rod</br>EM2/EP3/RSX
Moog-ES2382:
https://www.amazon.com/Moog-ES2382-Tie-Rod-End/dp/B000C59VX0
(technically these are Celica tie rod ends, they just happen to fit the dc5 threads and are longer than our tie rod ends.
Tie Rod Lock Washer (53536-S5A-900):
https://www.acuraoemparts.com/oem-parts/acura-washer-tie-rod-lock-53536s5a900/?c=Zz1jaGFzc2lzJnM9cC1zLWdlYXItYm94Jmk9UzZNNEIzMzEwQSZyPTgmYT1hY3VyYSZvPXJzeC1oYXRjaGJhY2smeT0yMDAzJnQ9dHlwZS1zJmU9Ni1zcGVlZC1tYW51YWw=
Much of this info was obtained from these posts:
DIY: 0857 bracket install
Inner Tie Rod Removal Tool
Should be all the info for the day, if there is any concern regarding clarity feel to address it so I can make changes as needed.
The tuned are adjustable inner tie rods meaning you can adjust the length to either bring your toe in or push it out getting your tires straight.
It is a common problem for people who lower their cars to have toe problems and to compensate you would either need extended tie rod ends (Moog-ES2382) or shorter tie rods.
The solution to my problem was the latter.
This DIY would always seem very daunting to me as every person I'd heard talk about it made it sound much harder than it actually is.
Plus, to make things more confusing a lot of the info on here is people mixing up the terms TIE ROD (inner tie rod) and TIE ROD END, so you end up being misguided on how to perform this DIY.
All in all, if you have some knowledge of how everything is put together before going at it the job is pretty basic.
So here's a DIY with some helpful tips:
You may be able to do everything from the top but this is how I went about it.
I'm running a cold air intake so you may want to remove the stock air box to clear the room up top.
My header is stock and I still have the heat shield so if you have a race header I believe you'd have even more room.
Unfortunately, an inner tie rod tool (tube kind) such as the ones you can rent from your local auto parts store won't clear the gap from the tie rod to the steering bracket.
Fortunately, once you bend the lock washers a crescent wrench with some leverage will do just the trick.
Remember that you can turn the steering wheel to move the steering bracket from side to side if you need a different angle at it.
If you're able to get your hands on a steering bracket riser (such as the 0857; fixes the geometry of the tie rod if you're slammed) this would be a great time to install it.
Tools I used:
Jack and jack stands
Crescent wrench
Ratchet
10, 12, 19 sockets and extensions
Small sledgehammer
Long pry bar or chisel
Needle nose pliers
and not necessary but to make things easier and faster I used PB blaster, an impact wrench and a cordless ratchet.
1. Jack's front end up. Place stands. Remove wheels. the obvious stuff.
2. To gain maximum clearance from under the car, remove the heat shield under the tie rods (four 10mm bolts) and the mid chassis brace (four 12mm bolts, two on each side).
The two upper bolts on the heat shield connect it to the mid chassis brace and I believe you only need to loosen the bottom bolts as the heat shield can then slide up and out.
3a. Bend lock washers (blue arrow) away from the steering bracket.
There are 4 bends in total that need to be bent back, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom of each washer.
This is probably the hardest part of the DIY; you need to find the right angle and use the right tools which will make it a lot easier.
I used a long pry bar and a small sledgehammer wasn't pretty but got the job done. (3rd picture below)
The reason we need to do this is that there is a thin hex embossed on the nut of the tie rod beyond the threads holding the washer in place. (4th picture below)
If you need new lock washers the part number is 53536-S5A-900 and I provided a link at the bottom of the DIY.
*K-Tuned does supply new lock washers with their tie rods, so if you're upgrading like I was you'll be covered.
eadhorseeadhorseeadhorse3b. Loosen both nuts (red arrow) on tie rods.
The nuts are 24mm, I used a pry bar against a crescent wrench to loosen them.
I'd recommend using a cheater bar that fits around the grip of the crescent wrench if available.
..Just want to clarify that both nuts are turned regular (left) to loosen as I saw some other posts stating otherwise.
You may want to spray some PB blaster on those nuts to make it a little easier on yourself.
4. Remove the tie rod end.
if you're trying to use the same tie rod end on your new tie rods be sure to loosen the locking nut (clockwise, away from the tie rod end) before popping the tie rod end out of suspension.
PB blaster always helps.
mini DIY on popping tie rod end.. as I'm sure there are plenty on here.
remove nut. (19mm)
flip nut. (install flush with the end of threads)
bang nut. (with a hammer)
done. :thumbs up:
*if it's been a while, you may mess up the threads this way. at this point I'd recommend a tie rod separator tool of some sort.
5. Remove the tie rod assembly. :aww yea:
6a. All that's left is to do everything backwards and reinstall everything.
torque tie rod end to 40lbs as well at the tie rod if you are able to.
6b. Upon reinstallation, bend the lock washers around the steering bracket as they were before. (as seen on the right lock washer below)
I did this again with the hammer and pry bar, and came at it from the sides.
All done looking like a diamond in my dirty-ass engine bay. :Giggity:
7. Go get yourself an alignment and enjoy being at whatever ride height you prefer and not destroying your tires!:fistbump:
sidenote:
I highly recommend you do a self-alignment to get yourself to a professional alignment shop in which case I'd recommend watching this video:
Links to products and parts mentioned:
K-Tuned Inner Tie Rods:
KTD-TRI-RCE-NEW Inner Tie Rod</br>EM2/EP3/RSX
Moog-ES2382:
https://www.amazon.com/Moog-ES2382-Tie-Rod-End/dp/B000C59VX0
(technically these are Celica tie rod ends, they just happen to fit the dc5 threads and are longer than our tie rod ends.
Tie Rod Lock Washer (53536-S5A-900):
https://www.acuraoemparts.com/oem-parts/acura-washer-tie-rod-lock-53536s5a900/?c=Zz1jaGFzc2lzJnM9cC1zLWdlYXItYm94Jmk9UzZNNEIzMzEwQSZyPTgmYT1hY3VyYSZvPXJzeC1oYXRjaGJhY2smeT0yMDAzJnQ9dHlwZS1zJmU9Ni1zcGVlZC1tYW51YWw=
Much of this info was obtained from these posts:
DIY: 0857 bracket install
Inner Tie Rod Removal Tool
Should be all the info for the day, if there is any concern regarding clarity feel to address it so I can make changes as needed.
