I'm going to put on the new rod ends for my 93 tomorrow if the weather isn't too crappy, and while under the truck ill see how bad other parts are. Does anyone who has done this know what tools ill need? is it really as simple as i think? remove the tire, measure the distance between the grease nipples on the old ends, have a jack stand under the beam, remove the cotter pin and nut from the rod end, remove the nut from the adjusting clamp, smash the ***** out of the old rod end until it pops out of the knuckle, pull out the rod end from the clamp, and reverse the process with the new ends?also, anyone use mas rod ends before? they were all i could afford at the time, but i do plan on replacing all parts in the front with moog

 

That will get you close, close enough to drive to the alignment shop anyway.

It would be one thing if you were reinstalling the rod ends, but new tie rod ends may have enough variation to bugger the toe-in. Just slightly off, can ruin tires rapidly and it won't handle right.

Setting the toe is a DIY affair with some string and jackstands on all 4 corners, although I haven't tried it. Supposed to work really well if you take your time.

 

Can't mess up the steering more than it already is lol. Truck pulls hard to the left as is if the steering wheel is straight

 

Couldn't find anyone to lend me a jack stand and I couldn't afford one.. hope this tire will save me if the jack fails like other tires have... having a bitch of a time removing the rod end from the clamp so I'm hoping some liquid wrench will fix that issue

 

Be careful. Maybe a little propane torch heat would help. Some report good luck with wicking candle wax, too. Never tried it.

 

Figured out I was tightening it not loosening it. Someone might have told me the outer rod ends were reverse threaded and I must be just forgotten lol

 

Why not buy some wood blocks?

 

Left is left hand, right is right... dont know why they didnt make them the same. Would cut inventory down.

In your first post you said you were going to do this job if the weather was ok... is the snow an improvement?

 

"OK" as in "Not -20F below zero and blinding snowstorm" maybe. I've done that kind of thing, hopefully not anymore.

 

I meant if it wasn't cold enough where I can't feel any part of my body within 20 minutes haha. It was 3°C yesterday, and for the last week and a bit it was -15 to -20°C

 

Working on a vehicle in a snow storm sucks!

 

It does. Cold weather or difficult conditions means people are more inclined to skip steps and take shortcuts. Even an unheated garage is a good deal.

 

It's done that way so that you can connect both ends, and spin the rod to adjust out or in without having to remove one end for each adjustment.

 

They could make both inner left hand thread and both outer right hand. Guess that was one of Fords "better ideas"