I noticed that the outer tie rod ends on my 86 had a little play in them. When I was rotating my tires, I wiggled them and felt a good amount of slop. Peeked around back and noticed where the movement was coming from. I guess after nearly 30 years and 350k miles, it's expected.

I thought I'd take the time to snap some photos and do a little write up for anyone else who needs to do this job. Easy work for even beginners. I've included lots of photos so no excuses guys, do this one yourself. Takes less than an hour and I picked the parts up for $38 each.

This here is the dude in question:



When wiggling the wheel, there was about 1/8" of play right here:

Go pick up a loaner tool (tie rod/pittman arm remover)



Remove cotter pin, loosen castle nut, and put the remover on like this:



Tighten until you hear it pop loose. Some folks remove the castle nut completely. I prefer to leave it on so that nothing flies apart once it does break free.

Throw these away, the kit comes with new ones:

Slide the outer tie rod out



Pre-emptive PB blaster strike:




Loosen the 12mm bolts that hold the locking mech in place. Should just unscrew. Easy right? I wasn't so lucky. Rusted tight. I tried every type of vice grip, breaker bar, pipe wrench combo I could. No luck

Tired of fighting it so I went the easy way and totally removed the tie rod. Same procedure. Remove cotter pin, castle nut, use removal tool.



Stuck that bad boy in a vice and put a pipe to it. I slide a long pipe on the threads of the old outer tie rod end and went to work.

Now would be a good time to point out that the threads are REVERSE threaded. FSM nor Haynes manual mention this. First time I've done this job, so that little tid bit would have been nice. I only realized after about five full hulking revolutions. Doh!

Bonus tip: Count how many revolutions it takes to remove the tie rod end. When you replace it with the new one, screw it back in the same amount of rotations. This MAY eliminate the need for an alignment afterward. Technically I suppose you should get one any time you mess with these parts.

The style has changed a bit. Notice the flatter end.

Looks good right?




Now on to the next side. I didn't even bother trying to get the outer end off without pulling the whole tie rod and employing the vice. Much faster and no fuss.

I knew this job would eliminate the wheel wiggle, but the unexpected treat was that my steering is now tighter than it's ever been. I've always had a few degrees of movement in my steering wheel before I got a response in the steering. Now it's immediate and tight. Love it.

Super easy job even for noobs.

Torque those castle nuts to 67ft/lbs.

Yeah, pretty basic. Nice pics. You can always try a torch on the rusted threads to get loose. It expands the steel and probably burns off the rust, corrosion.

Did the front end on my 87 last winter, or maybe it was two winters ago, time flies. I said to hell with it, and bought inner/outers, and a new adjusting sleeve for each side and used that. The extra money is worth it in my opinion than trying to afro-engineer that rusted sleeve off, because time= money right? I had the front end completely apart, and "self aligned", and when I went to go for an alignment, he said I didn't need one, that I actually aligned it to within factory spec, by eye. No joke. Fluke? I think so. But, there is an easy way how to check and self align yourself, if you wanna save money or not scrub your tires off on the way to the shop. Take a tape measure (gonna be hard to explain without pictures, so bear with me), and jack up your front end. If you're standing beside your truck looking at the tire, from the ground, 90 degrees clockwise and 90 degrees counter clockwise (horizontally front-back) are the two points you want to measure from. measure from treat to tread on front, and SAME tread to tread on the back, perfectly horizontal (helps if you lock hubs and throw into 4x4), and there you go! Hope that helps someone and didn't confuse them too much

Nice job on the write up! Couple things though, dont rely on counting threads on the tie rod, they dont all have the same number of threads, varys by brand. You noted your self that the style of the tie rod had changed.

Use a tape measure before you take the old one out, and then youll know for sure.

And only one of the threads in the tie rod sleeve is reverse. So you can adjust alignment without poping off a tie rod.

Nice writeup.

My browser must be screwing up.....I don't see the part with the pickle fork and bfh!��

Btw - might want to check your idler arm while you're doing the work. It probably has a good bit of play in it too.

while it is a great idea to count the turns, it absolutely will need to be aligned.
after changing hundreds, and counting every one...they are NEVER the same. it doesn't make sense really, but after seeing it so many times..it is what it is.

counting will get you close enough to drive it in for the alignment tho.


be aware, the tie-rod can be installed backwards. with the long TRE to the outside. this is not good, it will hit, and possibly cause the steering to lock up.

just an FYI to anyone, ive seen it done backwards many times.

my preferred method.

Nevada: I agree don't skimp on the alignment, but at least counting threads (or measuring) will get you to the shop without the tires barking the whole way.

crash: No bfh needed with the tie rod puller, although I'll admit it's much more satisfying to swing one.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I've bent/broken those crappy parts store pullers on tie rod ends before. Propane and the Four Pound Persuader have never let me down though.

Let's not talk about pickle forks.