Quick Tie Rod Question...

Brian757

Brian757

New member
So I am looking into getting OEM Inner & Outer tie rod ends. On OEM sites, they post LF and RF (Left-front and Right-front) inner tie rod ends.
Is there in fact a left and right inner? Or are they interchangeable?

I believe that outer tie rod ends use a Left and Right. They are not interchangeable. However, if I am wrong, please correct me.

I am sorry if I sound ignorant, but I don't know who else to ask other than the finest ;)
I just want to get things sorted out before I place my order.

THANKS EVERYONE!
-Brian
 
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shootmymime said:
does it have to do with the way the threads are on them?
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I'm not sure. They both look identical. The inners don't seem to have any angle of difference, like the outers obviously do. I am just stumped, wondering if the inners are indeed, the exact same part. But threads would make some sense. They would be flipped for the reverse side. Hmm...
 
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ben had some problems when he was installing his lift and TRE(dont remember his user name) but ill look for his build he mentions the problem
 
Yea for sure inners are the exact same for both sides. I had huge trouble getting one of mine off. Pass side went super smooth and drivers side just wouldn't budge. finally got it with a pipe wrench and a 3 foot bar on it haha. Otherwise its an easy job and makes a massive difference
 
DGO-SR5 said:
Yea for sure inners are the exact same for both sides. I had huge trouble getting one of mine off. Pass side went super smooth and drivers side just wouldn't budge. finally got it with a pipe wrench and a 3 foot bar on it haha. Otherwise its an easy job and makes a massive difference
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Sounds good. I am going to try and do them tonight. I still have my tie rod puller from when I did my UBJs and LBJs. I hope my steering gets better. I also need an alignment when Im done, right?
 
Brian757 said:
Sounds good. I am going to try and do them tonight. I still have my tie rod puller from when I did my UBJs and LBJs. I hope my steering gets better. I also need an alignment when Im done, right?
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Yes. Try and get the new TREs in the same position as the old ones (count the number of threads showing before you back the old ones out), and unless your alignment shop is just a couple blocks away, you'll want to do the best you can in your driveway to set the toe correctly.
 
Setting your toe in for driving to a shop is easy. When you truck is flat on the ground. Roll it back just a bit to let the wheels set. Next measuring from the same lug both on front and back of the tire. Measure so that they two measurements are almost the same. Something like 1/16 to a 1/8 was the difference between the front of tire and rear of tire measurements. Allowed me to drive it from the shop to my friends house and then to the errands on Sunday. I kept the driving to the minimum. But this is just a way to set a drivable toe in w/o killing your tires.

na9ajady.jpg
 
Just a heads up, separating the inner and outer can be a real *****. I put inners on my '00 before I sold it but couldn't for the life of me get the outers to separate. (not my first time doing the job either) I finally gave in and bought new outers after about 3 hours of using every tool and method I could think of.
 
inners are exactly the same. I just did mine last weekend, also pay attention to how the outers go on. just fyi. they are not the same.
 
PitbullRescuer said:
Just a heads up, separating the inner and outer can be a real *****. I put inners on my '00 before I sold it but couldn't for the life of me get the outers to separate. (not my first time doing the job either) I finally gave in and bought new outers after about 3 hours of using every tool and method I could think of.
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Totally agree. Honestly if your OTE need replacing I would just get new boots and inner/outers and forget about separating the two. I finally got one side separated using vice grips and a pipe wrench but it was a super mega pain.
 
PitbullRescuer said:
Just a heads up, separating the inner and outer can be a real *****. I put inners on my '00 before I sold it but couldn't for the life of me get the outers to separate. (not my first time doing the job either) I finally gave in and bought new outers after about 3 hours of using every tool and method I could think of.
Click to expand...

I had to pull the inner and outers out as one piece before I could finely get them apart. Had to get them apart so I could reuse the boots.
 
New boots are like 10.99 and seemed much more flexible. Like rubbery, beck and arnley is the brand I put on.
 
Oh, and if you wheel, save the inner/outer set that looks better for a trail spare. Bust one on the trail and you'll be crippled without that spare.
 
Thank you everyone for the responses. I ended up replacing the inner and outer tie rods. Used my tie rod puller, and it took all of about an hour. Didnt take too many pictures because I wanted to be in and out, but I will say that both of my old inners were completely limp. If you lift one side and let go, it just slaps down. Here is a picture of the not so bad one:

A6A538CD-30C9-413C-99A0-F64C9822C717-2157-000001028EE7F555_zps8c2f8669.jpg~original


Oh, and I ended up getting a Beck/Arnley CV Boot kit. It came with new boots and clamps. They were much more thicker feeling than my old ones.

I think I did pretty good with the alignment. The steering wheel was only a tad off to the right.
I also got my lifetime alignment done at Firestone ;)
 
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