New tie rod oozin' grease

Just did the tie rods. I was hanging out under the truck today & noticed the grease. I am picking up the replacement tomorrow. It could just be a defective part. If so, PITB (well, PITB no matter what), however it happens.
Question - would anything else with the truck cause this? & if so, whilst I am replacing the tie rod, what should I look for?
Question - I had followed the videos & torqued the castle nut to 56 or whatever it was. Might have been in the low 60's. So then came the lining up of the cotter pin. As I understood it, one does not back off the nut to line it up. Whelp by the time I got it to move the what looked like nothing amount, I was up to 88 or actually I think it was 93. & I paid attention & did not bypass the hole thinking I had not. Is this typical to have to use that much torque?

 

Depends on where the grease is leaking from. If it's between the boot and the stud pin, that's OK. If the boot has a tear in it, then not OK.

Most mechanics just run the castle nut down with an impact wrench until the cotter pin hole lines up. The stud pin can spin if you use regular wrench or ratchet.

 

Did you get OEM tie rods or an aftermarket brand? Is the boot torn or is the grease coming out the bottom? Either way it shouldn't be happening on brand new tie rods. Most aren't greasable so if it's losing grease that's a problem. As for the torque I think you're fine, you are correct that if the cotter pin won't line up you're supposed to keep tightening it until it does (do not back off to line it up). I had to torque mine past the recommended amount to line up the cotter pin as well

 

I went with Sankei 555's. I did not see a tear & the grease is more toward the top. I took a pic, however I just checked it out & it did not come out well at all....

 

I know some aftermarket outer tie rods have a zerk fitting for adding grease...not sure if the 555s do or not. But if they don't then I'd suggest seeing about replacing the one that's leaking, if there's no fitting for adding more grease then you don't want the grease that's in there to be coming out.

 

Not greasable. The one I just removed was duck taped & zippy tied. I had a serious fight with the duck tape trying to get it of so I could secure the puller & the tie rod was still well greased. I might just wrap some around the new boots for added protection....

 

Took the flashlight & managed to get this. Is it supposed to be scrunched like that in the back? The other one is uniformly expanded. Tires are straight. Can't say as my driveway is perfectly flat though.... Why do I not think of painting parts before I install them....

 

Nope that aint normal...looks like it got scrunched somehow during installation. I would take it apart and throw a new one on, outers are relatively cheap and its worth the peace of mind IMO

 

I am getting a replacement tomorrow from NAPA. The scrunch is why I was asking about the torque. Or rather I was wondering about the scrunch/grease/torque connection....

 

I mean everything else seemed to go smoothly & so I can't imagine how else it could have gotten scrunched.

 

I don't think the extra torque would do that to the boot, it really looks like it just got scrunched somehow during install. I could be wrong but in my experience I had to use extra torque on mine too and it didn't effect the boot. I used OEM outers though for what it's worth

 

Do You know what I could have done to cause that? Cuz I certainly want make sure not to do it again.... I mean I screwed it on, got it up through the housing, tightened nuts & got an alignment two days later.

 

Honestly it could have just been bad out of the box and got worse after driving around on it. Hard to say

 

Ok. Thank you. I have to get better about checking installs. I did them 2? weeks ago & this is the first time I looked at them & actually, I was under the truck for an unrelated reason. It's one of those "don't even think about doing it" things.

 

When the front wheels steer, the tie rod end boot face slides on the contact surface on the spindle. If the boot is pinched or if there's a burr on the contact surface, it can bunch up. Try lifting the boot face with a pocket screwdriver and see if you can unbunch it.

Another possibility is just the aftermarket boot is bulkier or stiffer than OEM

 

The boot just twisted when you tightened the nut down. Once you unscrew it a bit, it should un twist.

 

I switched it out today. There was zero play. Stiff, stuck, frozen.... There was a little tear in the front. I could have done that whilst struggling to get the puller to stay put. There was no sign of grease though. I mean nothing came out of the tear, nor was it coated on that side as though it had already ripped.

 

Made a new posting - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tie-rod-install-post-install-positioning.647822/#post-22487343

Question & if need be I can start a new post - On the Timmy vid, he has you mark the outer, the nut & the inner. Yet at the end, he does not seem to make a point of using the mark on the inner. He simply screws in the outer & says "they're all lined up." He does not for instance, make a point of turning the steering gear so when you insert the outer it lines up with the inner. & darned if I can't see the mark he made on the inner, which was in vivid color. So now that I am all done & pulling a bit to the right, was I supposed to match the inner mark to the outer mark? & if so, am I correct in thinking I can go out in the 20 degree weather tomorrow, lie on the frozen asphalt & simply loosen the two nuts, line 'em up & tighten?
Grateful it was in the 40's today.

 

Yea gotta be careful with the puller...I ruined a brand new lower ball joint by tearing the boot with a pickle fork. F pickle forks lol

 

The idea with lining them up, marking them, counting threads etc is just to get them 'close enough' so that the truck is driveable after the install. You have to get an alignment after you do your tie rods no matter how closely you get them back in...no way around it