Damaged my tie rod

[Outdoordog]

Did a little big pf rock crawling and now my sterring is off.
Is the tie rod easy to install myself? Any recommendations on a decent priced tie rod? Not trying to spend a lot right now.

 

[MOAK]

It’s pretty straightforward with a solid front axle vehicle. You will need a pickle tool and a big hammer that is used to remove the tie rod ends. You’ll need a new tie rod and two new ends. Naturally you’ll need a set of wrenches, sockets & a tape measure. You’ll also need to go to YouTube and look for instructions on how best to do this on your jeep. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is, then you’ll be amazed that you can easily do your own front end alignment. Are you sure you bent the tie rod? I know with the TJ I used to own, I needed to align the front end after every trip. With my current vehicle I check it annually, but have never needed to align it except when replacing drag link or tie rod ends about every 50 thousand miles. Good luck

 

[Outdoordog]

It’s pretty straightforward with a solid front axle vehicle. You will need a pickle tool and a big hammer that is used to remove the tie rod ends. You’ll need a new tie rod and two new ends. Naturally you’ll need a set of wrenches, sockets & a tape measure. You’ll also need to go to YouTube and look for instructions on how best to do this on your jeep. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is, then you’ll be amazed that you can easily do your own front end alignment. Are you sure you bent the tie rod? I know with the TJ I used to own, I needed to align the front end after every trip. With my current vehicle I check it annually, but have never needed to align it except when replacing drag link or tie rod ends about every 50 thousand miles. Good luck

I believe the tie rods maybe be ok, the steering stabilizer is what's actually damaged.
I'll take more pics if needed.

 

[MazeVX]

I believe the tie rods maybe be ok, the steering stabilizer is what's actually damaged.
I'll take more pics if needed.
View attachment 208947

Yes that's done...
Your tierod maybe bent but usually it's adjustable enough to deal with a slightly bent tierod.

Try to get a steering stabilizer relocation kit that moves the stabilizer above the tierod. You can buy it with a OME steering stabilizer, and replace the broken one, it's a easy install and usually is done within an hour or so. I have the ome with relocation and it works great.
Wrench, a few sockets and a proper torque wrench is required, you may need a alignment anyway so I recommend you get the toe setting checked afterwards.

Assuming you have a jk, based on the picture I believe it's a jk, if not, ignore me...

 

[Outdoordog]

Yes that's done...
Your tierod maybe bent but usually it's adjustable enough to deal with a slightly bent tierod.

Try to get a steering stabilizer relocation kit that moves the stabilizer above the tierod. You can buy it with a OME steering stabilizer, and replace the broken one, it's a easy install and usually is done within an hour or so. I have the ome with relocation and it works great.
Wrench, a few sockets and a proper torque wrench is required, you may need a alignment anyway so I recommend you get the toe setting checked afterwards.

Assuming you have a jk, based on the picture I believe it's a jk, if not, ignore me...

It's a JK.

Can it be done without a torque wrench?

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Just to chime in:
ALWAYS use a torque wrench. If you are in the field and dont have one, that's one thing. But if thats the case, make your way to a shop and check it at every stop. If you are in your driveway or a garage, there is really no reason not to have a torque wrench. I have an old Craftsman scale-type and a Pittsburg adjustable from Harbor Freight. Better than nothing.

Years ago, I had just done the brakes on my 99 Grand Cherokee. A few days later I'm on the Mass Pike taking an exit in central Mass when I hear a bang and the entire Jeep just shudders and drags one side. Lucky I got it under control. A caliper bolt had loosened up during use and the caliper pivoted out of place. Jammed that wheel to a complete stop. Thought I was going to die. I was "looking for Ray Finkle, and a clean pair of shorts". Went out and got a torque wrench and some Loctite right after that.

Steering
it does look like the stabilizer is the issue here. However, prior to that, when you thought it was the "tie rod": sometimes the alignment is just knocked out of position and you are lucky enough you can realign and reclamp.

If it was only one tie rod end, you would need everything MOAK said, but only one end. If it were the center sleeve (the long main rod) then you may be able to just buy that, remove your current tie rod ends and replace.

Crown Automotive, a huge Jeep supplier here in Massachusetts, will sell the entire assembly. The main rod and both ends. They will ship in Mass but you have to buy from a reseller in the rest of the country, I believe. It's usually cheaper and less work to get the entire assembly. Imagine using the pickle fork to remove an end from the knuckle, and then trying to unscrew an old rusted end out of the main sleeve. Yeah, no thanks. Not in New England anyhow. I drove over to Crown, got the entire assembly, matched its length up to the old one and put it in.

 

[MazeVX]

It's a JK.

Can it be done without a torque wrench?

You can but depending on the relocation you need to loosen the trackbar and I definitely recommend using a torque wrench when putting it together, it's a safety issue to torque stuff correctly, you don't want to loose a bolt on your suspension or steering while driving.

 

[smritte]

If you want one you wont bend, ever, Currie. There's a few others that make real strong tie rod assemblies but that was the first that popped into my head and their local.
If your steering is off there's no doubt you bent the tie rod. You can still align it based on what I saw in your picture. On the other hand, once bent, it will bend again easier. The problem your going to encounter isn't going to be torque, its going to be separating the tie rod from the knuckle. All of my four wheel drives get the steering upgraded. There's too many rocks out here that seem to magically move in front of us bending things.

Doing the alignment in your driveway is not difficult. All you need to set is Toe. I check and set mine once a year in my driveway. All that's needed is a couple of bungi cords, some 1" angle iron or 1" square wood and a tape measure. If your going to have it aligned and you do the part install yourself, set the steering wheel straight and eyeball the tires, setting them straight ahead. That way it doesn't chew the tires up driving it to the alignment shop.

I know with the TJ I used to own, I needed to align the front end after every trip

I bent mine with 33" and not even trying. That steering wasn't even strong enough for the stock tires and dirt roads. The Grand Cherokee tire rods bolted right in and were considerably better. Thanks jeep for not using something you already had.

 

[MazeVX]

If you want one you wont bend, ever, Currie. There's a few others that make real strong tie rod assemblies but that was the first that popped into my head and their local.
If your steering is off there's no doubt you bent the tie rod. You can still align it based on what I saw in your picture. On the other hand, once bent, it will bend again easier. The problem your going to encounter isn't going to be torque, its going to be separating the tie rod from the knuckle. All of my four wheel drives get the steering upgraded. There's too many rocks out here that seem to magically move in front of us bending things.

Doing the alignment in your driveway is not difficult. All you need to set is Toe. I check and set mine once a year in my driveway. All that's needed is a couple of bungi cords, some 1" angle iron or 1" square wood and a tape measure. If your going to have it aligned and you do the part install yourself, set the steering wheel straight and eyeball the tires, setting them straight ahead. That way it doesn't chew the tires up driving it to the alignment shop.



I bent mine with 33" and not even trying. That steering wasn't even strong enough for the stock tires and dirt roads. The Grand Cherokee tire rods bolted right in and were considerably better. Thanks jeep for not using something you already had.

The currie tierod is also one of the few that work with high backspace wheels, I have the currie draglink after the second draglink was done after a few months, still have to replace the tierod, the stock one bent with 33" in muddy ruts... The replacement works pretty well but will be replaced with currie.
Tierod from knuckle is pretty easy, just loosen the nut and hit it with a hammer there are a few videos on YouTube

 

[MidOH]

Remove the damper and see if it drives straight.

Torque spec for the damper is squish the urethane rubbers a bit. Your call. Torque spec for the tie rods is two unga dungas on my weak compressor. Wheels and heads need a torque spec. Not this stuff. Especially since the spec that you most likely find, will be wrong.

The torque spec for the wheels on my Ram Cummins is whatever you want. They were overtorqued at the factory, and the lugs are all soft now (or maybe just chinese). There's a recall, but no replacement parts in that recall. It's just "Yeeeeeep, yep, wheels are still on. You're GTG.'' My brand new Ram has it's steering off 45 degrees on the freeway. Real soft steering gear on the Chrysler stuff.

 

[Deleted member 82267]

Looks like you might want to invest in some skid plates. The transmission pan is screaming to be the next trail upgrade $$.

 

[Outdoordog]

My uncle us going to help me install the new part.

Thought about skid plates, but just started a new job and catching up on things.