I recently had to replace the inner tie rod on my wife’s 2005 Escape. After doing a little research for an inner tie rod tool I found one that had very good reviews and was suppose to work with MOST Ford vehicles. I guess the 05 Escape doesn’t fall into most. The crowsfeet on the tool are made to fit on an inner tie rod that has two flat sides, the tie rod in the Escape was completely round and smooth.
The quick solution to my problem was to get one of the bigger crowsfeet that fit snug onto the tie rod and weld the crowsfoot to the tie rod. Then use the tool as you were suppose to in the beginning.
I am sure they make some special tool to remove this. But I didn’t have it and wasn’t going to buy it. This method may not be best practice but it will work if you are careful.