Hey folks, well my outer tie rod end seal is busted ever since the recall to the rod relay was done at the dealership. I did'nt feel like saying anything at the time beause In think I was having a bad day, but anyways I am going to fix the issue myself. Well I tried using a pickle fork yesterday and could not get it off, I called autozone and they have a puller for tie rod ends so I am going to get that after class today. My question is when I get it off what are some of the things I should look for to tell if they are bad? I have the 1 1/2" BJ spacers on my truck and also want to know if those spacers affect my steering and major parts? Ever since I put them on the steering has just not felt the same. also I bought the energy suspension tie rod boots to fix the problem but if I need to replace it is there and good tips to keep the tie rod end true as far as the length and adjustments between the tie rod and the tie rod end? Safety first! Thanks for the help.

Jack the front end up and put it on jackstands. Grab the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock, and try to jerk the wheel left to right. There should be no play. You might notice the wheel move a little, but that could be either slack in the steering box, or the actual steering wheel moving. It would be a good thing to have a buddy grab the wheel and you get a flashlight and look over the steering components looking for play.

If you decide to remove it, you'll want to go ahead and get an alignment. Any time you change steering components you want to get it aligned. To get it to the shop, count the number of turns it takes to remove the tie rod end, and then put the new one back on the same amount of turns. That will get you close enough to drive it temporarily.

Cool Thanks for the info. I am going to dive into it tomorrow I will keep posted hopefully its still ok, Thanks

Oh and are the energy suspension boots a good preventative measure?

Sure. THey should be a little more heavy duty and resist tears a little more. BUT, the boots really should never rip in the first place. I bet it was due to the shop carelessly using a pickle fork and ripping your boot. Theres other ways to pop a tie rod end off that will keep your boot intact.

The autozone puller is the way to go. I broke a couple of cheap ones before I got the loaner from Autozone. I kept it. I had just replaced everything on the front of my rig (tie rod ends, ball joints, idler pully, and pitman arm) before I got the recall done. They tore every boot they touched and didn't mention it. They used a numatic pickle fork. When I went back, the service manager tried to tell me they only tore two, but I pointed out that every one of the tears was identical. I ended up getting all new parts because they could not just replace the boots.

I will not go back to that dealership!

Good luck on the front end!

Anthony

Yup just finished the tie rod ends now I have to get an alignment. The dealership can be bittersweet at times, I did not even bring it up to them just to avoid an argument. Thanks for the help everyone!