broken tie rod?

ASSISTANCE Suspension, Brakes & Wheels
1

I just got my moog inner and outer tie rod’s for both driver and passenger side and when i was inspecting them the ball joint on my left side outer rod was crooked. i tried wiggleing it and it moved back to the center. it seemed a bit loose. is this normal? the right hand side one was stiff and i wasnt able to budge it

Thanks,
Miles

2

[QUOTE=mrbloink;2174630]I just got my moog inner and outer tie rod’s for both driver and passenger side and when i was inspecting them the ball joint on my left side outer rod was crooked. i tried wiggleing it and it moved back to the center. it seemed a bit loose. is this normal? the right hand side one was stiff and i wasnt able to budge it

Thanks,
Miles[/QUOTE]

Don’t the moogs come with a grease fitting? If it’s just the outer tie rod I would throw it on then with the car raised check for side to side movement in the tire as you shak it back and forth

3

it’s normal. that’s just the joint pivoting on the ball. when they’re new they’ll be stiffer but sometimes they can already be pretty loose.

4

Thanks for the responses! How do I get a somewhat close alignment when replacing both inner and outer tie rods? Do I make them the same length as the old one that I replaced

5

Yep or when you are taking off the outer tie rod, count how many turns it takes for it to come off. This will get you close enough

6

Most of the time when replacing tie rods, you should always get an alignment asap cuz you’re never going to get it back to stock… well unless you’re really lucky.

Tie rods are used to adjust toe in/out and if that’s not corrected to stock spec… you’re going to wear out tires like there’s no tomorrow.

Get an alignment asap!