Tie Rod Questions

I just got done rotating my tires and figured I would give everything a check. I noticed by my outer tie rods were oozing a little grease and flinging it into my wheels. Didn't seem to have too much play in it. I am not too worried about the outer tie rods because they are getting replaced with the JD Fab double shear kit. What really got me to start looking is the play in the wheel. I lifted up one side and moved the tire side to side. I could almost turn the other wheel with it on the ground. How much play exactly is there supposed to be in the wheels? I am almost positive there should be none. I also noticed the inner tie rod couldn't support it weights when I moved it. I'm going to say that isn't normal either. Am I looking at new inner tie rod replacement time?

 

When one wheel turns is the other turning with it? If one wheel has a lot of play but the other is solid then you have a problem. If both are jacked up and moving simultaneously...maybe bad steering rack bushings?

 

I had one in the air and the other on the ground but the tires did move simultaneously. I was losing daylight so I couldn't go in for a deeper inspection.

 

I would jack the front end up so both wheels are off the ground, check one tire for play and see if the play is equal to both sides. Sounds like something in the steering in that case.

If one tire has a lot of play that the other doesn't, could be anything from a bad ball joint, bad control arm bushings, bad wheel bearing, etc

 

Yeah they should have 0 play. As joints get some wear they do become flexible like that but typically if it's flopping around a lot then there is probably some play

 

I just noticed my front driver tire has some weird wear on it. The inner tread is defiantly wearing more than the rest of the tire.

 

When my UCA bushings were bad that happened to me

 

I did not think about checking those. Will do tomorrow.

 

Mine looked ok visually but I could move the tire in/out quite a bit and in doing so, the UCA moved as well. Removed them and the bushings and they were real bad