lower ball joint/steering boot

[winkie45]

i don't know if its called a steering boot, but there is one boot on each side of the steering rack, and both of them are torn. Is this something that needs to be fixed right away?

And while my car was jacked up, i noticed that if i grabbed the tire, i could move it back and forth, while the other side did not move. So i looked and saw what the problem was. I think it's the lower ball joint. It's at the end of the steering rack. So if this is the lower ball joint...

Do i need to replace both at the same time?
Is it something that anyone can do?

thanks in advance

[CASH24]

yes replace your boots as quick as possible, if you wait to long you can ruin your axles and that will cost alot more to replace. I changed all four of my boots (two on each side) by myself using a haynes manual. it only cost like $15 and a little elbow grease. if not you should take them in to repair shop and have them replaced it might be somewhere between $80-150.

[winkie45]

two on each side? i'm not talking about cv boots now. i only see one boot on each side

[CASH24]

you should have one inner and one outer on each side of the axles.

[ELM'sLX+CHL'sDX]

You're most likely refering to your steering rack. You have an outer tie rod with a small rubber boot and an inner tie rood with a very very large rubber boot.

I believe both are replaceable but, if they have started to leak you'll probably need to replace them. See if there is any play in the outer tie rod. If there is any play, then you need to replace the outer tie rod. I'm not sure if the inner tie rod is replaceable.

Claude

[AccordEpicenter]

inner tie rods rarely go bad, like inner cv joints. You should do lower BJ's both at a time, but if youre on a budjet and one is good you can just do the one.