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Changing a Tie Rod ? How Hard

M

Miller88

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Syracuse NY
My jeep is HORRIBLY out of alignment in the front. I'm not sure if I bent something or it's just from the 2'' lift... but the front wheels are toed in quite badly.

First - did I buy the right parts?
I got the sleeve itself and the two TRE .. one is regular thread, one is reverse thread.

Second ... what would be involved in taking this apart? I'm just guessing I need a pickle fork - remove the cotter pins, remove the nuts and pickle fork it out?

I've done driveway alignments before ... just never had the stuff seize up and need replacement.
 
what year and mods do you have?

most likely the toe in is from the lift. It should be pretty easy to tell if something is bent.

I wouldn't think that you would realy need the sleeve. Mine is bent all to heck and I'm still using it. just have to adjust it a little wider to get proper toe. Other than that, yeah, just the two tie rod ends should be all you need.

no, you don't need a pickle fork. the easier way to do it is just with a bfh. All you do is loosen the nut and smack the metal that the tre mouints into good and hard a few times and it will pop out.
 
It's a 2000. I've stuck 1 7/8 spacers in the front and put 215 85r16 tires on the Jeep. Would almost 2 inches of lift affect the toe that much? I can understand if I went like 4 or something.

Prior to lifting the jeep, I had NO tire wear in 10,000 miles prior to lift.

I bought new sleeve and TREs (one is left hand thread). I wasn't able to find the necessary ZJ hardware for this unfortauntely.

I tried getting it out of the drag link with a BFH ... no luck.
 
if you're replacing the tre's anyway, the pickle fork isn't an issue. really the only reason I dno't like it is b/c it frequently tears up teh boot, which is only a problem if you're not replacing it.
 
Fidget360 said:
if you're replacing the tre's anyway, the pickle fork isn't an issue. really the only reason I dno't like it is b/c it frequently tears up teh boot, which is only a problem if you're not replacing it.
Click to expand...

One of the TRE boots is ripped already ... I just keep greasing it until the hole in the boot spits out grease.

I do plan on keeping it as a trail spare for myself or whoever else might need a tierod when wheeling.

I know they aren't original as the jeep was totaled with 11,000 miles and the left side of the jeep was pretty bad, but it's still got 100k on it. I might as well just replace old stuff anyway.
 
Do your self a favor and buy (about $15) or rent the TRE puller from the parts store. While smacking the knuckle with a BFH works at getting the TRE out, getting the other TRE out of the drag link is far more challenging when mounted on the vehicle.
 
If I could figure out how the TRE puller works ... I would have no problem buying one. From what I can see by looking at one, it would push.
 
save yourself the gas from getting a TRE puller and man up and use a hammer.

i bought cheapy TREs from autozone... lifetime warranty. took my old ones in 2 weeks later and got free, new, trail spares.

autozone honors their lifetime warranty for a lifetime. advanced does, but only once.
 
I'm going back a few posts, but I don't see how any amount of lift will affect alignment toe. The wheel alignment is held with a solid tie rod that directly connects left and right knuckles. The lift will affect where your steering wheel is with respect to where your tires are pointing, but won't affect toe. Too much toe-in is the result of a bent tie rod, or perhaps the threaded TRE's slipped in the sleeve.
 
Flyfisher said:
I'm going back a few posts, but I don't see how any amount of lift will affect alignment toe. The wheel alignment is held with a solid tie rod that directly connects left and right knuckles. The lift will affect where your steering wheel is with respect to where your tires are pointing, but won't affect toe. Too much toe-in is the result of a bent tie rod, or perhaps the threaded TRE's slipped in the sleeve.
Click to expand...

Are you even talking about an XJ? Every stock XJ made came with an inverted Y steering with a hollow tie rod.
 
Are you even talking about an XJ? Every stock XJ made came with an inverted Y steering with a hollow tie rod.

yes SolarBell. I understand it's hollow. My point is that the tie rod connects the two front wheels, and that lift doesn't affect toe-in. Take a look under your XJ...then tell me how lifting the Jeep (taller springs) affects the toe-in.
 
I am confused.

In stock form the tie rod, in no way, shape or form directly connects knuckle to knuckle. The tie rod is mounted at the drag link on the passenger side and at the knuckle on the driver side. The drag link connects the pitman arm to the passenger side knuckle. Fly, I think you should take a second look at the steering components.
 
To be honest - that's why I didn't align it or give a thought to aligning it. I was used to Jeeps and trucks where the tierod connected the knuckle. It was my father that pointed it out to me.

Is there any advantage to the XJ system?
 
I would check out the tie rod and the TREs for damage.

You can get the ZJ setup pretty cheap from the JY- I got all Moog stuff from AZ I think. Little pricier, but I had the cash and didn't feel like beating on a ZJ with the brake assemblies sitting on rims in the dirt...
 
The current TREs and tie rod look fine, just the adjustment sleeves are rusted up. I'm not entirely sure I feel comfortable using one that's been freed up. I'm going to have to force it off the jeep, likely doing some damage to the tie rod ends and then on top of that I'm going to have to free up (if it's even possbile) the adjusting sleeves ...
 
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