02 ES ATX Tie Rod Question

[Aptiva]

So after extensive searching, I am unable to find any torque specs for the inner tie rod to rack. Would 70 ft lbs be sufficient or overkill?

Had to do wheel bearings and decided to do tie rods while I was in there and taking the knuckle off.

[occasional demons]

I just got mine as tight as I could given the space to work in. (Working with it in the car)

There are no factory specs, because Chrysler never made, or sold inner tie rods for replacement. You are "supposed to replace the rack" (steering gear) when they wear out.

While that might seem a bit extreme, you have to see it from the dealer's perspective.

While for the most part, you can get a decent amount of life out of the rack after replacing the inner tie rods, there are also times when you don't. My '01's rack is one of those don't cases.

If you paid a dealer to replace the inners, and 5,000 to 10,000 miles later the rack began giving issues, you are not going to be a happy customer. You might even accuse the dealer of ripping you off. It's not like there is going to be any warranty on the rack, just the tie rods.

And any sort of factory warranty is long run out by the time most inner tie rods wear out. It's always fun trying to explain to a customer that recently paid you hundreds to replace a part, that the rest of the component failed soon after, and there isn't any way the technician could have known.

I ended up finding a low mileage 2004 rack on Ebay, and swapped that into my '01 for about the cost of the inner tie rods.

On my '99, the rack is in much better shape than the '01 was at half the mileage. It has 265,000 miles and is still like new, as far as tightness, and response.

But from an overall customer satisfaction standpoint, I get why Chrysler/Daimler never offered any sort of fix, other than a new replacement.