Outer tie rod ends
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,323
Likes: 142
From: Green Valley Arizona
Outer tie rod ends
Noticed couple of months ago that the dust boots on the driver's side front and rear outer tie rod ends were torn. Thought I would just replace the boots with some poly boots from Energy Suspension.
Took of the left front wheel and tapped it out of the spindle to remove the pieces of the old boot and put the poly boots on.....well found that the stud was so loose.....I could wiggle it back and forth with no effort using two fingers.....not good.
The car has only 44,500 miles on it. It is the large tires that would be the cause for these to be so worn out so quickly. Or are the GM parts no good.
I bought four Moog outer tie rod ends and did all of them yesterday, then took it for a 4 wheel alignment....wow what a difference now. Now wandering around....steering is tight.
Something others might consider changing.
Later,
LannyL81
Took of the left front wheel and tapped it out of the spindle to remove the pieces of the old boot and put the poly boots on.....well found that the stud was so loose.....I could wiggle it back and forth with no effort using two fingers.....not good.
The car has only 44,500 miles on it. It is the large tires that would be the cause for these to be so worn out so quickly. Or are the GM parts no good.
I bought four Moog outer tie rod ends and did all of them yesterday, then took it for a 4 wheel alignment....wow what a difference now. Now wandering around....steering is tight.
Something others might consider changing.
Later,
LannyL81
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,110
Likes: 6
From: Red Sox Nation! RI
Tie rods wear can out from a number of reasons. Driving habits, bad roads, sloppy front end.... If you found a split boot, that's probably the reason. Once the boot breaks, the grease in there attracts dirt which gets into the socket and wears it out. Kind of like FWD CV joints - once you realize the boot is split, it's usually too late. If you rotate the knuckle and it's stiff all the way around, it should be ok. Moog's good stuff, too.
You shouldn't need an alignment if the tie rod is still good and you only replace the boot. If you unscrew the tie rod, then you should probably get the front end aligned to correct the toe.
You shouldn't need an alignment if the tie rod is still good and you only replace the boot. If you unscrew the tie rod, then you should probably get the front end aligned to correct the toe.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
From: Hartselle Al
Originally Posted by C4boy
Tie rods wear can out from a number of reasons. Driving habits, bad roads, sloppy front end.... If you found a split boot, that's probably the reason. Once the boot breaks, the grease in there attracts dirt which gets into the socket and wears it out. Kind of like FWD CV joints - once you realize the boot is split, it's usually too late. If you rotate the knuckle and it's stiff all the way around, it should be ok. Moog's good stuff, too.
You shouldn't need an alignment if the tie rod is still good and you only replace the boot. If you unscrew the tie rod, then you should probably get the front end aligned to correct the toe.
You shouldn't need an alignment if the tie rod is still good and you only replace the boot. If you unscrew the tie rod, then you should probably get the front end aligned to correct the toe.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,323
Likes: 142
From: Green Valley Arizona
Originally Posted by Aardwolf
The dust boots on mine are torn, was it a long time working just on the boot? Would I need an alignment after replacing the boot? All the boots are torn on mine. 
And no you would not need an alignment since you do not unscrew or even loosen the end when you do just the boots.
I knew that dirt would get into the joint with the boots split, but even the other two were not exactly tight. Which is why I just all four as I was going to have to get an alignment anyways if I replaced just the two split ones.
The Moog parts (ES2908RL) I got at RockAuto.com for about $52 each, was the best price I could find. The alignment was $60.
