Tie Rod Ends

[JeepAngel]

What all is involved in replacing these?

[jeepsr4ever]

Well great question jeepangel!

Replacing the tie rod end is a must and can be done by anybody if they are carefull

1. loosen the clamp that hold the tie rod end in(if it doesnt have a clamp yippee go to step 2 !!)
2. unscrew tie rod (Count the times it goes around)
3. since tie rods are sold per end we know they are threaded standard and opposite for the opposing side, make sure you remember which tie rod end and what side you got it from
4. Make sure you use your castle nuts or get new ones, regular nuts will not work for long!!(unless you use some loctite)
5. so you need to use a pickle fork or pound on the threaded side of the tie rod end your going to replace to kick it out
6. Just because your a good listener and you screwed the tie rods in the same amount of turn they came out doesnt mean your wheels are centered, i said to make sure you count and replace them the same amount of turns just to make it up to a alingment shop, bad alingment can cause BIGTIME issues for knuckles and balljoints and it puts MAJOR stress on your new tie rods, so lets get that pupper alinged.
7. Good luck, this process isnt really all that hard and with a little patience you can chuckle your way through tie rod replacement

[Tigger]

.......with a little patience you can chuckle your way through tie rod replacement

That is the key to working on vehicles regardless of the part :D

[JeepAngel]

Thanks MC, tie rods have been replaced. :D
Next job... replacing the clutch <-- think i need to do a bit of this first... lol

[diddycj5]

When you are replacing the tie rods think about a flip-kit. After twisting a couple tie rods, I did this mod. It also helped reduce some of the bumpsteer since the tie rods end up more parallel to each other. Ground clearance and improved handling - why didn't jeep do this from the factory?

Use a hand reamer to ream out the tapered tie rod holes in the knuckles and drive in the sleeves. (Be careful not to remove too much material) The only place I could find sleeves was http://www.ok4wd.com/product.asp?id=208. The only bummer is that they want $9 per sleeve and 3 are needed. They also charge ~$20 shipping for 3oz of weght (never ordering from them again). I wish I had a lathe, they would be so easy to make.

MC - here is another product for to you make for bulltear.

[jeepsr4ever]

That is like a .80 part..LOL 9.00 they have got to be kidding, but to be honest i dont really want to get terribly agressive and knock business'es down.

[diddycj5]

I knew $9 was a rip, but without the tooling necessary to fab anything myself... As I mentioned, another product for bulltear.

I guess some people just drill out the knuckle so there is no longer any taper so they can flip the tie-rods. I wouldn't do it with stock tie-rod ends. I guess if you were going with heim joints and then use bolts then you wouldn't need a tapered hole.

[Tigger]

I want to do the tie rod flip on the YJ when I replace them, if I am not swapping axles and going SOA by then.