Tie Rod Replacement Question

kishanSR5 said:

So I just finished installing a 3" lift on my 02 4runner and I went to the alignment shop to get the alignment done and they said they couldn't do it because my inner tie rods and steering rack bushings are toast. So I ordered new Moog Inner/Outer tire rods, boots and the poly steering rack bushings from Wheelers Offroad. I will be tackling the job this weekend.
I was looking for DIY's for replacing these parts and I pretty much know what I have to do but I had a question: With a 3" lift the tie rods are angled very sharply and I feel like that will drastically increase the wear and tear on them, is there a way to swap the right and the left sides and install them with the castle nuts facing downwards? I know this method is done on some full size trucks but I was curious to see if anyone else had done this and if so please post some pictures.
Thank you.

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JayRolla said:

If you have full 3" lift up front and you actually wheel your rig like I do you will want to get rid of those aftermarket moog tie rod ends.

I replaced my steering rack with a toyotasteering.com new rack. Was around $450 new. The inner tie rod ends failed in about a month, right after my first trip on the trail. The old rack had a bent inner tie rod end due to a failed lower ball joint previously. I took the one good old OEM 200k mileage inner tie rod end out, replaced it on one side. Then bought a new MOOG from napa for the other side. After about a month and a trip to the trail the MOOG was toast. OEM side still good. I paid about $120 I think for a new inner tie rod and its solid still to this day.

I have now installed new OEM uppers, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends with my 3" front lift and its solid as a rock finally. After multiple trips to auto parts store and alignment shops I learned only OEM. Others have had luck with non oem inners but I dont know how much rock crawling others do. I was thinking about limiting straps but my setup in front should be safe without them.

Never heard about flipping the outers, they have an angle but mine have lasted for a bit. Not like the upper balls. They like to split the rubber from the angle. Best way to fix is aftermarket upper control arms.

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ajonesnv said:

Uni-Ball Upper control arms will fix that problem right up.

And a big x'2 on the Moog crap. they will fail and they will do it quickly. I meant to bring that up.

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kishanSR5 said:

So I just finished installing a 3" lift on my 02 4runner and I went to the alignment shop to get the alignment done and they said they couldn't do it because my inner tie rods and steering rack bushings are toast. So I ordered new Moog Inner/Outer tire rods, boots and the poly steering rack bushings from Wheelers Offroad. I will be tackling the job this weekend.
I was looking for DIY's for replacing these parts and I pretty much know what I have to do but I had a question: With a 3" lift the tie rods are angled very sharply and I feel like that will drastically increase the wear and tear on them, is there a way to swap the right and the left sides and install them with the castle nuts facing downwards? I know this method is done on some full size trucks but I was curious to see if anyone else had done this and if so please post some pictures.
Thank you.

Click to expand...

JayRolla said:

If you have full 3" lift up front and you actually wheel your rig like I do you will want to get rid of those aftermarket moog tie rod ends.

I replaced my steering rack with a toyotasteering.com new rack. Was around $450 new. The inner tie rod ends failed in about a month, right after my first trip on the trail. The old rack had a bent inner tie rod end due to a failed lower ball joint previously. I took the one good old OEM 200k mileage inner tie rod end out, replaced it on one side. Then bought a new MOOG from napa for the other side. After about a month and a trip to the trail the MOOG was toast. OEM side still good. I paid about $120 I think for a new inner tie rod and its solid still to this day.

I have now installed new OEM uppers, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends with my 3" front lift and its solid as a rock finally. After multiple trips to auto parts store and alignment shops I learned only OEM. Others have had luck with non oem inners but I dont know how much rock crawling others do. I was thinking about limiting straps but my setup in front should be safe without them.

Never heard about flipping the outers, they have an angle but mine have lasted for a bit. Not like the upper balls. They like to split the rubber from the angle. Best way to fix is aftermarket upper control arms.

Click to expand...

kishanSR5 said:

Side question while we are talking about the front suspension/steering: how in the hell do people get the front sway bar endlinks out? I'm trying to remove my front sway bar completely and on the endlinks the slot for allen key is rusted and now rounded out. So when I wrench on it with a 17mm it just spins. I don't plan on reusing any of this stuff so should i just take a cutoff wheel to the nut and threaded shaft?

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nevada said:

you might have to cut it.

sometimes you can reach in behind the boot, with either vice grips, or a wrench. I have worked on some(not necessarily toyota) that have a hex there, meant for a wrench, other times its just round and you have to grab it with pliers of some type.

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kishanSR5 said:

I tried grabbing by the boot on some sort of metal rectangular piece but I only have small needle nose type vice grips so i cant get much clamping force on it. So I guess I will have to cut it. I've heard that lifted IFS trucks rides better without a sway bar because the suspension can cycle better since the sides are not tied together. Can anyone shed some light on this? It seems logical to me.

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JayRolla said:

I guess that could be true for offroading since you get more articulation but on the street you want both sides tired together to eliminate body roll. With that said I rib no front but kept my rear connected and it feels fine on there road.

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