Loose Steering and Tie Rod Play

Hey y’all, can you tell me if you think I have both an inner tie rod or outer tie rod problem or both? I have a lot of wiggling in the steering wheel and not sure how much of it is related to tires, tie rods, entire steering rack or the collapsible steering column. Should I be able to twist the outer tie rod like that? I hear no noises/clunking and it doesn’t budge when pressing on the outer tie rod ball joint with a pry bar nor is it leaking. It seems like the outer is solid but not sure that twisting means anything.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0TQvIMbY6fQ?si=4rYBaAJq4C_8FFgH

https://youtube.com/shorts/V7NxeJd_5VE?si=7mJbP8scn1IfdIHU

 

That is more play in the OTR that I have Ever seen
Get that repair before it might snap break on you lose steering out of control

 

That does not look good. For sure that outer tie rod is shot. Hard to say for sure on the inner TRE. It is possible there is something happening with the steering rack too. Slide the boot off to watch the iTRE and that end of the rack to see exactly what is happening when you wiggle that wheel.

 

Before you tear her apart look at the tread/tire for uneven wear, if there is unusualy tread block scuffing get the new lenghts of thje replacement parts close enough and get an alignment. If the wear isnt an issue, sight along the D/S front tire and keep knocking it until the your line of sight along the outer edges of the front tire aligns with the back tire. Walk to the passenger side and see what that looks like. You could always take a string and bring it from the back tire to the front and see what is going on that way to get it close. String lines are used all over the world to straighten and line things up... this could save you a few $.

 

The wear on the tires seems fine and I rotate them regularly. Got them balanced not long ago as well as aligned.

I’ve seen conflicting info stating that the only real play that matters in a ball joint is in and out. Should I be able to move the steering rack in and out like that? It doesn’t look like the play is in the OTRE ball joint but the movement is in the rack.

 

to me its seems like theres something going on inside the steering rack. Can be a combination of tie rods and steering rack.

 

Vid doesn’t look good for ties but not definitive

Jack taco up
Place hands on tires at 3oclock and 9oclock
Shake tire
That will show just how much play on both inr and otr ties

 

have you separated the OTR and ITR
if you have, does the ITR stay firm or does it flop around limp like

is that an OEM OTR?
i would not think it to move so much at the joint behind the boot like that, it looks like you are barely putting any force onit!

 

It doesn’t take much effort to twist them but it seems like this is normal play for an OTR from what I’ve researched.

I replaced the original steering rack a year ago but kept the OTR that were on the truck as they felt fine. I couldn’t identify any significant play in the ITR at the time. The steering rack I swapped onto the truck was a used rack but it definitely improved the steering wheel play at the time.