Hey folks,
I have a 99 F150 4x4 with 150K. I recently replaced the lower ball joints and control arms which cured all of my knocks and rattles. I'm not sure if I should replace the tie rod ends before having it aligned. Any advice on this one? Thanks,
Paul

 

I would throw new tie rod ends in as long as you are having the truck aligned, especially with the high mileage of your vehicle. They are fairly cheap and easy to do. I would hate to see you have a tie rod die in another 10k and then have to pay for yet another alignment.

 

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and changed them tonight. Guess I'll get the truck aligned in the next few days.

 

Did you do all? What did they cost?

 

I have a nice link for doing your own alignment.

It is on a Mustang, but the principles are the same for your truck.
http://bio.fsu.edu/%7Eheath/mustang/alignment/

I aligned my Explorer with this method. When I took it in to have it checked, the alignment shop didn't need to do anything to it.

 

Ummm...$45 EA for control arms (x 2) and $28 EA for tie rod ends (x 4). Ten percent military discount at Advance auto. No great difficulty, a cake walk compared to the lower ball joints. Recommend a 4lb hammer and pickle fork if you run into some resistance. Good times

Paul

 

I would have my friend do it , he's a mechanic. I might help.

 

Can anyone tell me what the total toe in should be on an 02 F150? I used the method that misterCMK recommended. Should I see a difference of 1/8" on each front wheel for a toral of 1/4"?