ZJ tie rod Write up

I had a tricky time figuring out exactally how to do this since I had never worked on steering, so I figured I'd post my results for the lay person who may be attempting this for the first time. So I scored a V8 ZJ steering setup from the yard, & I just took the whole damn setup because I didn't know at the time which parts I needed.

The "drag link" its the part that goes from the pitman arm to the pass side knuckle & also has the steering stabilizer attached to it. The "tie rod" goes from the drag link to the driver side knuckle as seen here


It is easiest to start by removing the driver side tire to gain access to that area. Here is the stock tie rod in all its bendy, extremly flexible glory.


Remove the cotter pin at the knuckle


Remove the cotter pin at the drag link


If the castle nut is just spinning with the rod end, you can use a tie rod seperator & jam it in there to loosen the nut. It is also very helpful in breaking it free afterwards, as opposed to hammering on the rod end. If you hammer on the rod end you will damage the threads & if you hammer on the castle nut you will most likely mess it up too if you plan to reuse, because they (castle nuts) can be tricky to find individually.


The rod ends I had were still good, so I replaced the bushings with the energy suspension ones, just by cutting off the old ones with a razor knife basically. I put the stock tie rod side by side the zj one and adjusted it to the same length. Here it is installed onto the drag link.


Here it is fully installed both sides, new cotter pins and all


what a happy jeep


Overall impressions, I havent driven it much but the steering is definately less sloppy & it adds a piece of mind. I know that I could grab the stock tie rod with my hand and bend it a inch or two back and forth, so should work out well with 31's, but it was worth it for $12.00 + the bushings.

MrShaft696 said:

...If the castle nut is just spinning with the rod end, you can use a tie rod seperator & jam it in there to loosen the nut. It is also very helpful in breaking it free afterwards, as opposed to hammering on the rod end. If you hammer on the rod end you will damage the threads & if you hammer on the castle nut you will most likely mess it up too if you plan to reuse, because they (castle nuts) can be tricky to find individually.

The rod ends I had were still good, so I replaced the bushings with the energy suspension ones, just by cutting off the old ones with a razor knife basically. I put the stock tie rod side by side the zj one and adjusted it to the same length. Here it is installed onto the drag link.

Click to expand...

i have a couple things to add here. if you plan on reusing the Tie Rod Ends, DO NOT use a "pickle fork" doing so will destroy the boots. the TRE on the drag link end of the ZJ TR is not replaceable so the entire TR would have to be replaced. new boots (mistakenly called bushings in the write up) are available, but i prefer the better fit of the ones that came on the TREs from the factory. also, if the TRE will not come off because the stud just spins on there, apply pressure with a jack to the bottom of the TRE and you should be able to remove the nut then. also, a two arm TRE puller is recommended to remove the TREs. it applies pressure to the stud to pop it out. you CAN use a hammer to remove the TREs as well. simply remove the castle nut and put it back on up side down with a few threads still showing on the nut. hammer the bottom end of the nut. this will prevent deforming the castle part of the nut. when the TRE breaks free, remove the nut to finish removing the TR.

its a great idea to set the two TRs together to get a rough guess on length. an alignment should be done afterwards (you can do it yourself with just a tape measure to set toe in) to prevent abnormal tire wear.

all in all, its just a matter of removing the stock TR and replace with the ZJ one. piece of cake, with sprinkles even. i recommend keeping your old one as a trail spare. i ended up using my stock tie rod on the first wheeling trip i was on after i installed my zj tie rod for another guy who had bent his worse than a pretzel. i was glad to have it.

Why don't you just pull the ZJ tierod AND drag link so you can just swap the whole thing? Seems easier, that's what I did anyhow.

~Scott

...? I'm lost? That's exactly what is involved here.

stewie said:

i have a couple things to add here. if you plan on reusing the Tie Rod Ends, DO NOT use a "pickle fork" doing so will destroy the boots. the TRE on the drag link end of the ZJ TR is not replaceable so the entire TR would have to be replaced. new boots (mistakenly called bushings in the write up) are available, but i prefer the better fit of the ones that came on the TREs from the factory. also, if the TRE will not come off because the stud just spins on there, apply pressure with a jack to the bottom of the TRE and you should be able to remove the nut then. also, a two arm TRE puller is recommended to remove the TREs. it applies pressure to the stud to pop it out. you CAN use a hammer to remove the TREs as well. simply remove the castle nut and put it back on up side down with a few threads still showing on the nut. hammer the bottom end of the nut. this will prevent deforming the castle part of the nut. when the TRE breaks free, remove the nut to finish removing the TR.

its a great idea to set the two TRs together to get a rough guess on length. an alignment should be done afterwards (you can do it yourself with just a tape measure to set toe in) to prevent abnormal tire wear.

all in all, its just a matter of removing the stock TR and replace with the ZJ one. piece of cake, with sprinkles even. i recommend keeping your old one as a trail spare. i ended up using my stock tie rod on the first wheeling trip i was on after i installed my zj tie rod for another guy who had bent his worse than a pretzel. i was glad to have it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the addition, yes I meant "boots" not bushings, also in all this taking off and removing stuff, I did have one TRE that I took off the castle nut and flipped it like you said, and hit on it so had that the nut stripped on the inside, so I just went back to the seperator. The seperator can mangle the boots, but I thought it was really easy to replace them.

Muddy Beast said:

Why don't you just pull the ZJ tierod AND drag link so you can just swap the whole thing? Seems easier, that's what I did anyhow.

~Scott

Click to expand...

There is no problem in doing this, but the zj draglink is not any upgrade over stock, (in a year 90 and up), so its just more work.

I just put a ZJ tie rod on my MJ this past weekend too.

I had a heck of a time removing the stock TREs out of the knuckles. Finally, after searching on here for a while, I found that you can use a hammer and hit the sterring knuckle from a couple different directions. You can whack it pretty good - it can take it. It basically jars the TRE around enough that a light tap will pop it right out.

Worked like a charm!

FYI the exact part number on the energy suspension tie rod boots is 9.13101R

MrShaft696 said:

FYI the exact part number on the energy suspension tie rod boots is 9.13101R

Click to expand...

thanks, I needed that.

stewie said:

a two arm TRE puller is recommended to remove the TREs.

Click to expand...

X2
They are cheap(<$15) and make the job soo much easier, that there is really no excuse to not have one in your arsenal, imho. A pickle fork is a really handy thing to have around, but mine never gets used for steering. Even when I'm not trying to save the boot, the puller is easier/faster.

Hallo. Can someone tells me ,what the inside size is of the tie rod separator on the pic above?
I like to puchase one, but there are several sizes. :wave:

'92 XJ

Is it alright that my Zj tie rod can rotate a little? I was under the jeep checking for anything loose. I cant get it to move back and forth or side to side but it will rotate on the ball joints a little. I had vibes at 50-60 mph I think I fixed. I wanted to make sure the tie rod is alright, I assume it is.

Mine does the same thing, I think it's just a ball joint thing.

Has any one done a Yj steering?
I am thinking of leaning this way.

If I remember correctly Yj steering is an inverted T and isn't as good of a setup for our Xj's. The best steering would be a crossover setup like the Wj.

Oh, and words of wisdom, don't hit the junkyard rod out of the knuckle with a hammer on the threads.

I did that, and had to return it, and buy a new unit. (Which worked out ok, as it has a lifetime warranty.)

srmitchell said:

Oh, and words of wisdom, don't hit the junkyard rod out of the knuckle with a hammer on the threads.

I did that, and had to return it, and buy a new unit. (Which worked out ok, as it has a lifetime warranty.)

Click to expand...

thats why its best to use a two arm puller. if you use a hammer then put the nut back on it...

stewie said:

thats why its best to use a two arm puller.

Click to expand...

I need to get one of those.....

Mutant_Xj said:

Is it alright that my Zj tie rod can rotate a little? I was under the jeep checking for anything loose. I cant get it to move back and forth or side to side but it will rotate on the ball joints a little. I had vibes at 50-60 mph I think I fixed. I wanted to make sure the tie rod is alright, I assume it is.

Click to expand...

Yes mine does the same, they should be able to pivot a little like that.

wim hoppenbrouwers said:

Hallo. Can someone tells me ,what the inside size is of the tie rod separator on the pic above?
I like to puchase one, but there are several sizes.

'92 XJ

Click to expand...

check this link out, its the one in the pic and some other stuff.
http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=tie+rod

I spent 15 bucks on a pitman arm puller at autismzone, works great on the end that goes into the drag link, you just have to use a little care to make sure it's centered. Another thing I like to do is I'll use my ratchet as a punch, just put the butt end of the handle on the center of the TRE stud and hammer on the top of the ratchet end with a 3-5lb hand sledge. I've never screwed up the threads on a TRE and it never takes more than 2-3 hits before it pops right out.

If the TRE remover or pitman puller doesn't provide quite enough force, you can crank it on there as tight as you can get it and then pound on the end of the drive bolt, that should pop it out.

EDIT: wow, old thread, was linked from another by OP. Resurrected for good tech! :anon:

I really like this tool: http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-point-joint-separator-99849.html

It will destroy the boots though, and if there are zerks, remove them before using this, and when the ball joint pops it will shoot the zerk out of the sheetmetal cover. Throwing a rag over the separator is never a bad Idea either, as chinese mystery metal isnt known for its quality.