Hello everyone. in my 1997 f-250 HD I replaced my tie rod ends today and I feel like a kinda dude. I was exhausted and just kept tightening and wasn't really paying attention. The rubber boot was becoming a pancake and I guess now I have to figure out what to do. The cotter pin isn't even going through the castle nut on the right outer tie rod. I haven't even turned the steering wheel yet because I don't know if this is even acceptable.

sorry for the stupidity guys but is there anything I can do besides buying new tie rod ends??

 

spec is 52-74 ft.lb. torque.
i say back it off, torque it to spec. and call it done.
even if you tore the rubber boot you should get thousands of miles out of it.

 

p.s. i would never put jackstands on a tie rod. it could bend, or, if someone plays with the steering wheel, things could get ugly in a hurry.

 

Thanks Joey2fords. My name is Joey too. I really appreciate the response. Ill loosen it and see what it does when I torque it down to 50 ft. lbs. I actually have the jack under the axle thank god! lol. Thanks for the sharp eye though!

 

My first thought was that those are the wrong ends. I can't believe how far up the taper you got in order to smash the boot and how easily the cotter pin was to install. It looks like it actually above the castellated nut which defeats the purpose.

 

Those tie rod ends are most definitely the wrong ones! Take them back along with your old ones and get the right ones.

 

The cotter pin is above the castlenut. I took some more pictures.

Do you still think these are the wrong tie rods ends?

 

100% sure. Back to the store you go.

 

good call ! they may have given you parts for a 1/2 ton ... or for another vehicle altogether.

 

wow. damn. You guys rock. Thanks! Ill clean these ones up and back to the store they go. Should I tell the guy at the store that these tie rod ends wouldn't stop where they should have or what would you guys say in a position like this? Is he going to not take back the part if he knows it was used? Sorry for the noob questions guys I just dont want to be stuck with these ones if I can help it.

 

Tell him either they're the wrong ones, or made incorrectly. For you to tighten the tie-rod that much, you would have split the knuckle.

 

Alright, sounds good. Thanks Ian!

 

Oh man this looks bad. The people at orielly said it is in fact the right tie rod ends. I went home and put the old right outer tie rod on and this is what it looks like. Maybe i can put a washer above the boot?? What now?

 

The tapered hole in the knuckle is damaged. You need a new knuckle unless you can find a repair insert.

 

Is this truck lifted? I know a tie rod end flip using larger 1 ton GM rod ends on Ford knuckles is a fairly common mod among the 4x4 crowd, though that is on half ton D44 TTB not the leaf sprung version-- I don't know if there's room for the flip. I mention it because you basically re-cut the taper from the top, gain ground clearance, and use bigger TRE's, while not needing new knuckles.

A repair sleeve is certainly the most straight forward fix, so I'd start there. Or head to the junk yard, should be plenty of TTB D44HD or TTB D50 equipped trucks there.

The driver side doesn't look near as bad as the passenger. What does the tapered hole look like on each knuckle? Oblong, rotted, clean steel, something else?