Outer tie rods adjusted all the way in

[texadelphia]

I'm changing my inner tie rods out tomorrow. I took a peek under the truck today to see what size cotter pins I need and noticed my outer tie rods have no threads showing. Is this normal? I'm thinking maybe a past owner replaced the inner tie rods with aftermarket units that might be longer than stock? I'm going to compare the new ones to the set that's on there just to see but it just seemed odd that there's basically no more toe out adjustment left.

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[photoleif]

i had 7 threads per side showing with OEM. i'm going to conclude as you have that there are some aftermarkets on yours.

 

[Devbot]

i had 7 threads per side showing with OEM. i'm going to conclude as you have that there are some aftermarkets on yours.

That or the previous owner replaced them incorrectly. I'm not sure how many threads I have showing but it's definitely not zero. I don't think I've ever seen a tie rod screwed all the way in tbh

 

[rdruss]

Your toe measurement should be pretty weird!

 

[texadelphia]

I pulled the driver side boot tonight and the inner tie rod is exactly the same length as the OEM one I bought to replace it. There is also like 1 or 2 threads showing, so not 0. I've had 2 previous alignments done and the alignment techs never brought it up. I'm taking it in for an alignment on Monday so maybe I'll ask them about the toe...or maybe I should go to a shop that does computer alignments. The place I've been going is old school.

By the way, those OEM inner boot clamps are now my nemesis.

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[JDG2000]

I pulled the driver side boot tonight and the inner tie rod is exactly the same length as the OEM one I bought to replace it. There is also like 1 or 2 threads showing, so not 0. I've had 2 previous alignments done and the alignment techs never brought it up. I'm taking it in for an alignment on Monday so maybe I'll ask them about the toe...or maybe I should go to a shop that does computer alignments. The place I've been going is old school.

By the way, those OEM inner boot clamps are now my nemesis.

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I've got two alignments in the past year and both times one of my tie rods was almost bottomed out. Still tracked straight and neither tech said anything about it.

 

[mtbtim]

I agree with [MENTION=441692]photoleif[/MENTION]. With OEM outer tie rods, there should be threads showing. Now, you could have more threads showing on one side compared to the other but no way those could be OEM tie rods if there's no threads showing on both sides. If they were both bottomed out with no thread showing and the tie rods were OEM, the toe would be off a massive amount and the driver would know it. The wheels would be severely toed out.

But, maybe the inner tie rods are aftermarket or the steering rack is aftermarket and they weren't made to factory specifications.

 

[texadelphia]

I agree with [MENTION=441692]photoleif[/MENTION]. With OEM outer tie rods, there should be threads showing. Now, you could have more threads showing on one side compared to the other but no way those could be OEM tie rods if there's no threads showing on both sides. If they were both bottomed out with no thread showing and the tie rods were OEM, the toe would be off a massive amount and the driver would know it. The wheels would be severely toed out.

But, maybe the inner tie rods are aftermarket or the steering rack is aftermarket and they weren't made to factory specifications.

There's a good chance the outers could be aftermarket. I'd bet that's the case as I've got 228k on the truck so they've likely been replaced by a previous owner at some point.

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[photoleif]

were the inner boot clamps fighting you to remove them? one of mine released fine, and the little dorsal fin broke off the other one. i was wanting to retain them in case the cable and wire ties in the kit weren't my friend, but fortunately they all worked out.

 

[texadelphia]

were the inner boot clamps fighting you to remove them? one of mine released fine, and the little dorsal fin broke off the other one. i was wanting to retain them in case the cable and wire ties in the kit weren't my friend, but fortunately they all worked out.

The one that was on it broke when I tried to remove it and I broke one of the new ones trying to install it and barely got the second one on. Luckily I only took off one boot since I decided my ITREs were still in good shape. The channel locks just kept slipping off the little tabs when i was squeezing it and the band itself kept bending when I squeezed it.

 

[texadelphia]

Just got back from the alignment shop. Decided to go to a shop that does computer/laser alignments. All I told them was that I replaced some front end parts and that now the steering wheel isn't straight. They gave me a before and after sheet and the toe was way out of spec...each side had about half a degree of positive toe. Camber was also at the upper range but still within spec. I took a look at the tie rods when they were done and there are now about 5 threads showing on each side. Steering wheel is perfectly straight now and seems to drive real nice.

 

[photoleif]

Just got back from the alignment shop. [snip] there are now about 5 threads showing on each side.

way cool. glad that worked out for you.