Yea Mont H is right, I'm the doof, its a complete assembly on the pass side, so its whole bar time$$

 

Like "77&79F250" said earlier, it's pretty easy, remove the 2 castle nuts (one from the TRE, one from the ram) loosen the nut on your adjusting sleeve, the TRE should pop out with a few whacks of a hammer, if not, a puller or even a pickle fork will suffice, install your new TRE and set your toe.

 

where can i buy that at? like checker or auto zone? do you know how much that might cost?

 

Maybe it got lost in the shuffle but i posted that info back in post #14, most any local parts house can get it for you (most likely it will be an overnight item) expect to pay anywhere between $140-$170 for it.

 

oh duh.

i missed that. haha
thanks.
thats not that bad. does it take a full day? thanks for all your guys help.
i'd still be confussed.

 

Not at all, i'd allow yourself a few hours, and you probably won't even need all of that.

 

1/2 hr if the nuts come off, meaning the (castle nut) (nut that holds the tie rod end into the TRE) comes off and the threaded end and it does not just spin in the hole.

If it does, rent/borrow a tie rod end fork from the parts store, jab it in there to apply torque to it and hope the nut will then come off.

If you do not fix it, it will result in bad front end wear on you tires (Good Year MT II's
16.5's right?) and continued crappy driving manners.

When you are in the parts store get a Haynes or Chilton $12.00 manual for your year/era of truck it will help with the confusion.

Should cover the basics on tie rod, ball joint, steering component replacement.

As they say and not to be corny, COWGIRL UP ON THAT HORSE!

Yea lame, but motivation to do it yourself.

 

i think i was confussed cause too any people were telling me too many different things what they thought was wrong with it.

thank you.

 

Check out what appears to be a crack in the crossmember as shown in the middle picture. Clean the mud from the truck and stay out of it.

 

Best way I found to clean up after mudding was to park the truck on top of a sprinkler over night then head to the carwash...................LOL

 

I have found that if you apply slight pressure, a lot of times you can remove the nut. For example, on the TRE, put a jack under it so there is a slight uplift on the TRE (and knuckle) and then you can spin it off. Also, I don't like pickle forks because they tear up the boots. I put the nut on and put a board over it and hit it with a sledge.

As far as alignment, premeasure the existing tie rod, count the adjusted turns and then when you setup the new one, you should be close. I use an angle square and chalk to mark the front and back of my tires and then make the front # 1/8"-1/4" less.

Finally, you can use a pipe wrench to easily spin the adjusting sleeve.

 

Another way to pop a tie rod end out of the hole in the knuckle.................
1) Remove the cotter pin and nut.
2) Place a large hammer on one side of the knuckle, with the handle parralel to the stud on the tie rod.
3) Using another large hammer, smack the knuckle 180 degrees from the other hammer.
4) Repeat until it pops loose
Doing it this way will not damage the boot. What you are actually doing by doing it this way is; slightly temporarily deforming the tapered hole. You wont damage anything by doing them this way if you dont get stupid with it. It actually kind of squeezes the tapered stud out of the hole. Of course some good penetrating oil is always in order. And if you have a buddy apply some pressure with a prybar between the tie rod end and the knuckle it helps too. I've used this method on anything from small cars to large construction equipment for years. My old high school auto mechanincs teacher showed me this trick.

 

Great ideas but you are replacing the tie rod/rubber boot, I know you get a replacement boot anyway and the biggest issue is getting the nut to break loose from the bolt.

I like the jack idea have to try that next time, then try your idea there 78PEB.

cowgirlup11 whats the status of your front end issues, get them fixed yet?

 

And if getting the nut off is a problem, the hot wrench always works too...........I'd almost bet that cowgirl knows how to use one of those.......LOL

 

I think I'm seeing the same crack ratasch...............right on the corner of the bend. Might be an optical illusion, but I'd check it out........