Is a tie rod replacement something that I, a beginner, can do myself?

It's a good project to start out on. You'll still need an alignment, so as long as you don't spend ($350 - cost of alignment) on the tools and parts, you'll save money. Plus the tools will be used for almost any other job you wanted to do in the future whereas paying a mechanic to do it is burning money. Getting the old tie rod out can be a royal PITA especially if you're new and maybe don't have exactly the right tool, but the video shows you some things to try. Otherwise it's a pretty simple job.

Speaking from personal experience, it's gonna be a process if it's your first time. Not to discourage you, but somethings gonna go wrong, something will break, a bolt will be stuck, etc... It's never easy learning, but it's well worth doing.

Yes, just watch youtube videos. It's not that hard

Yes I believe it is something you can do yourself. Watch a YouTube video if you are still unsure but here goes

Important things to remember here! Saftey! Proper jack stands

Next big fucking hammer. This job is stupid easy except for like two steps.

Use the correct size socket on the castle but (throw away cotter key and use new ones they cost pennies)

Use an air or electric impact to break the nut free. Back the nut off the tie rod until the end of the threaded part is flush with the end of the nut. ( protects the threads for the next part)

Next use the big hammer but you are going to hit edge/flat part of knuckle. You want to hit near the tie rod but not the tie rod itself. The knuckle is hardened and can take it. After a few good blows the tie rod will pop free. That was hard part #1

Hard part #2

The tie rod has a jam nut against it. Break it free and leave it be. Thread the now loosened tie rod off the shaft counting how many turns it takes to remove. (Keep in mind just in case) Now thread new tie rod on exact number of turns it took to remove old one. Now install castle nut in place. Tighten up castle nut and then tighten jam nut.

This will get the job done but you will still need an alignment after

Be sure to compare new parts with old parts very carefully before even starting. Shouldn’t take more than 2-3 hours total for first timers

I'm gonna assume everything that can go wrong will and will list them out for you. Your castle nut on tie rod end will be rusted over and not budge. Apply heat and penetrating oil and tap with hammer. Then your castle nut is gonna get stuck and the threaded ball is gonna spin instead. Apply heat and penetrating oil and using a prybar force the tie rod in towards the knuckle to create more friction on the threaded ball part. If that doesnt happen your gonna have the opposite problem and the threaded ball isnt gonna release from the knuckle. Apply heat and penetrating oil to the knuckle and seperate the tie rod using a "pickle fork" a two pronged shaft of iron you put betwixt the knuckle and tie rod and hammer on. Probably available for loan from an autopartsstore.

Ok so the tie rod is away from the knuckle right? Dang! Before you seperated the tie rod you should of loosened the jam nut and inner tie rod! Now you'll have to put the tie rod back into the knuckle and hope you can put the castlenut on a few threads at least. Now with the outer tie rod secured from spinning, loosen the jam nut... Ok sorry, I meant apply heat and penetrating oil then loosen the jam nut... What its still not loosening? Apply more heat. Ok so youve got the jam nut a bright cherry red, now wrench on it. Is it still a bitch? Does it turn while screaming like a rusty banshee? Well then your gonna want to replace the inner tie rods. Thats gonna require another tool called the... Seriously? We cant come up with a better name than inner tie rod tool? Its a bit on the nose... Any ways remove the outer tie rod by wrenching the inner tie rod out from the out tie rod while its secured in the knuckle. If you have applied heat do not grab the inner tie rod and twist off the outer by hand, ask me how I know thats a bad thing to do.

If your jam nut and inner tie rod are not completely rusted to hell, congrats the job is half way, twist on the new outer tie rod to about where it was before and if you cant remember then just try to make the tire point roughly forward, torque the castle nut to one and a half ugga duggas, and cottorpin that bitch, install tire, ugga dugga torque lugs on the ground and take it to be aligned. And be honest with them guys, say you'd like them to check your work before aligning. That shouldnt cost anything but might find a different problem so you can have more fun!

So what if your replacing the inner tie rod as well because its a rusty p.o.s.? Ok we're back at our halfway point with the outer tie rod removed. Your inner tie rod is inside a boot, the boot is clamped down so that pwr steering juice doesnt come out(oh yeah if you remove this boot and like a quart of pwr steering juice comes out then the seals on your steering rack are bad. But not today, today only a few drops were inside the boot, after you unclamped it... Oh yes! To unclamp it, if its got the original metal bandy things, shove a flat head into the folded clampy part, twist, and it should now break off. We'll replace them with zip ties, if yours is already zip tied then remove them with diagonal cutters, long reach dykes are nice. Pull the unclamped boot off the inner tie rod. Familiarize yourself with the inner tie rod tool, it might have threaded rod opposite a flat, might have multiple threaded rods, might have a spacial sized insert, how ever it does, it grips the flats on the inner tie rod. The flats are located behind the ball and socket joint, the inner tie rod tool slips over the tie rod, over the ball and socket joint, grips the flats and let's you twist the inner tie rod out of the rack. Make sure your squarely on the flats, and it still might take some oomph as it was installed with thread locker... Got it out? Good! Now remember to put thread locker on your new one and screw it in, reinstall the booty with zip ties, and your ready to finish up with the outer tie rod end.

See look at that... Worst case scenario and you still did it, took you the full day, a few loaner tools, your buddies oxy/acetylene torch, but you did it yourself...

Except for the alignment, the alignment machine costs round 10Grand and is not something a non business entity should have, you'll never use it enough by yourself to justify that cost.

It - among other parts - was my first job.

Nowadays with tool rentals it's an easy place to start. Just get an alignment immediately after you're done and mark where the bolts for the alignment were before so you can drive to the shop to get it aligned

keep wd-40 on hand. useful for hard rusty bolts and nuts.

As others have said, this is pretty easy as repairs go, as long as the rust hasn't frozen everything solid. You'll probably want to get an alignment afterwards, but that's only about $100. Tie rod ends at most will cost $80 for a pair. If you can buy or borrow the tools for less than $350, I say go for it. If you know an amateur or professional mechanic it might be good to have them on call to help if everything goes to shit.

You'll need some metric wrenches, a ratchet and sockets, a hammer, and a jack and jackstands. You'll probably need penetrating oil and/or a blowtorch, and it wouldn't hurt to have an impact gun.

Be careful when hammering on the castle nut or the threads that hold the tie rod end to the knuckle: you can mushroom it out and get things stuck. Heat, oil, and vibration are your friend here: you want to shake loose the tapered cone joint that holds the tie rod end to the knuckle by hammering on the knuckle. You can also use a pickle fork (about $15 at Harbor Freight) to break it loose.

I've done this myself on my Toyota and it made a noticeable difference in the car's handling. It ended up taking longer than I expected but nothing was too difficult.

Just watch some youtube videos and learn as much as you can before, prepare for bolts to be stuck so have a torch nearby to heat them up! Autozone has a loan a tool program (you pay a fully refundable deposit) to do this job, so that is a cost saver there.