Lower ball joints are bad, are my tie rods bad too?

I need to change my lower ball joints. That is a given, the boots are ripped and the grease has leaked out. But what about the tie rods?

One question I have is how can you tell if the inner tie rods are bad? At least with the outer tie rod you can see it. I am hearing some front end noise from the truck, I was thinking that was probably the lower ball joint. It's a grinding type sound

FYI my truck has 105k miles on it. Most of it's life with the front end at steeper angles from coilovers.

 

two different points of view on this;

replace them all, your already down there and its only an extra wrench turn on both sides. (big wrench)
this saves labor and also if you need to replace them in the future another alignment because you should get one after your LBJ change (regardless)

dont replace them because they still have life in them, save money, get an alignment for LBJ change. use them for their life period and then change when needed. additional labor, and cost of a second alignment.

 

Well, I'm doing all the work myself. And I don't pay for my alignments. I paid for a lifetime alignment plan, although they hate my truck because it takes forever to align.

Other than a damaged outer tie rod boot, is there any signs that the tie rods are bad?

 

its like this, lower ball joints are around $40 each, upper ball joints are around $12 each, and the tire rods I think are $20 each so you can replace the whole front end except for the inner tie rods for right around $150 so why wouldn't you?

the inner tie rods don't go out as often as the outers so I don't change those unless I find play in them because they are much more involved to replace.

chances are if one went bad then the rest are worn out as well and will soon have play in them plus to replace the ball joints you have to disconnect the tie rod ends anyway.