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TRW or Saginaw Rack and Pinion?

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:29 am
by RespecttheLebaron
I have a 1986 LeBaron convertible 2.2 TBI. The front tires are wearing heavily on the inside, and the mechanic says the inner tie rods are the culprit. But on rockauto, they list a TRW or Saginaw design inner tie rod end. How can I tell which rack I have? Does it vary from assembly location or body type? It is a St. Louis built convertible. Any help is appreciated.

Re: TRW or Saginaw Rack and Pinion?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:12 am
by stevek
For anyone else that comes across this thread.

From this thread:
I read this: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5222
TRW has a screw in dust cap, Saginaw has a pressed in one.


But I didn't know what a "dust cap" was. Turns out the dust cap is the cap at the bottom of the rack and pinion unit, where the steering shaft would exit if it went all the way through.
Image

On my 1985 LeBaron Turbo Convertible I had TRW, here is what it looks like:
Image

I purchased the inner tie rod removal tool from Harbor Freight and it worked GREAT! I'm not a big harbor freight fan, but sometimes you do get a really decent tool for the fair price and this is one of those cases.
Item#69619
http://www.harborfreight.com/inner-tie-rod-removal-set-69619.html