Tie Rod

So went to get an alignment and was told that both the inner and outer left hand side tie rod were bad. The place i went to (Firestone) told me it would be 300 for labor and parts. Called two dealerships and they quoted me for 300 just for parts.

Question-is the tie rod that I get from the dealership that much better?

Is it worth the price? or should i just get the ones from Firestone?

How hard it is to do it my self? (as a point of reference the most mechanical thing I have done with my truck is change the brake pads, also at 102k miles)

Thanks

 

typically, the dealership is just that much more expensive... I got the same story for my first gen - $800 for a new steering rack and tie rods - I can buy the same thing off rockauto for $500 - my dealership wanted 1350 for parts and labor to replace the steering rack and tie rods on my FIRST GEN! INSANE!

As for doing the work yourself - the hard part is the ball joints so get a friend who has done more mechanical work and have him teach you a thing or two... That is also my plan, and I've done a bit more than just brake pads...

 

moog tie rod ends off rockauto

rent a Tie rod end puller and a torque wrench, should be free with a deposit and you get your deposit back when you take it back. Check and make sure nothing is broke before you take it.

Or if not there are a couple tricks to knocking out a ball joint without destroying it, course it shouldn't matter for your application.

Then google NCTTORA FSM and find the torque specs for those TREs. I have it somewhere but can't remember off hand.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...el-bearing-replacement-part-s-general-bs.html
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...ll-pro-heavy-duty-steering-links-why-how.html

this should get ya started

 

I don't think the OP said anything about ball joints. $300 installed would be a KILLER price for tie rod ends and ball joint replacement - so I think we're just talking about tie rods or tie rod ends.

The trick to it is: you need a tie rod end puller. They're like $30 at Kragen, but they loan out tools, so if you don't want to buy one, you can just put down a deposit and bring it back later.

And you may need some PB Blaster on an older truck. What makes the job hard is accumulation of rust and corrosion so those parts DO NOT want to let go.

If everything break loose easy, it's an easy job. EDIT - I just realized I've only pulled the ends - never done the end at the steering rack. So I may be exaggerating a bit on the simplicity. Still, at 300, they're booking you at most two hours shop labor; and a two hour mechanic job can typically be accomplished by a first time DIYer in a single day, even with setbacks.

The final trick is: after it's done you need an alignment. So figure your cost for parts, add in the cost for the alignment, and then decide if what's left pays for your aggregation or not.

 

I was referencing the ball joint at the outer TRE.

You can also hold a sledge on one side of the steering arm holding the TRE ball joint and then smack it on the other side with a slightly small sledge. Give it some good whacks and it usually will fall out.

Since you're not actually concerned about the ball joint you can just smack it on the threads until it pops out if you want, you'll be tossing it so...

I'd also go ahead and wire brush off the end of the ball joint (the threads) before you pull the castle nut off. Then hit it with PB, then take her off. On the other end just do like he does in the FJ link

Inner side shouldn't be too bad because you're not dealing with the tapered fit and it's sealed inside the boot so shouldn't be dealing with corrosion either.

On re-assembly, coat all threaded parts in anti-sieze.

Ought to also add to count how many threads the stock guys are at so you can then get it within reason when you put the new ones on. You'll need an alignment still though.

 

Another trick is to take the castle nut off and flip it over. Put it back on an then hit it with a hammer. Hitting the threads alone can cause them to bend if they are stuck. It happened to me once and almost didn't get it out. Hitting it with PB first will help too.

 

Thanks you for the response

 

I would recommend you start learning to wrench on the truck or sell and get a newer one. If the tie rod ends are shot then there will be other front end work in your future. Might as well learn how to do it yourself. One thing to keep in mind is sometimes it takes extra parts runs or you damage something else. But next time you'll have it apart in nothing flat. I haven't worked on the newer suspension vehicles like these but tie rod ends are not usually to bad. One thing I wouldn't do is have Firestone touch my vehicle, ever. Moog makes good stuff. Don't forget you need an alignment after doing tie rod ends.

 

As far as I know OP our truck has only two tie rod ends (driver and passenger). Are you referring to the steering rack ends also ? I have changed mine and the OEM tie rods are just $40 each, the steering rack ends are much more expensive ($120 each OEM). I went with aftermarket rack ends before and they didn't last 6 months so I bought OEM, Moog is a very good aftermarket brand though if you want to go that route.

 

I took this to mean that both the inner tie rod end (which is basically the whole tie rod minus the ball joint on the steering knuckle) and the outer TRE were bad, on the left side, whichever side that is.



OP should probably also spend some time to visually check they are worn.

 

It's really not that difficult at all. Here's a shot of my lift 2 weekends ago with most of the IFS broken down so I could remove the coil assembly. As someone said earlier, once you get it pulled apart, you see how it really works and it's not difficult at all to reassemble. The old 'flip the nut and a few good smacks with the hammer' worked fine for me, just don't smack too hard.

 

If you go to re-use it, I've sometimes found that it's a real PITA to get the nuts all the way torqued down after doing that, without the use of a jack under the TRE. Just throwing it out there.




I'll say it again for good measure and not in response to anyone in particular, ANTI SIEZE those threads!

 

Ya my friend forgot to finish tightening the nut all the way down once. I could feel it driving. Pulled over and used the bottle jack in my car to tighten it down. Not sure why you wouldn't be able to torque it back down if you got the TRE in and the nut on?

 

I'm saying if you pound on it with the nut on the threads you can still damage them or screw up the nut, and it makes it hard to get it back on without putting pressure on the ball joint. Otherwise it just spins because the nut doesn't want to go on easy. Not saying it WILL happen but it can, at least in my experience.

 

OP if you do inner tie rods you might as well rebuild the rack because your trucks older and it's only $30 for the rebuild kit (seals).

 

and lets not forget to get it aligned when youre done

 

and torque everything to specs

 

this might help you for the inners .