Steering / Track Rod End advice
 

Just wondering how bad my Track Rod End looks? I swear that's not my oil in the picture... that's some other vehicle :D

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...rackRodEnd.JPG

Press em out install urothane

The TRE attached to the steering drop arm looks wonky. Grab it with your hand and move it. If it's loose/sloppy then replace it.

Tom, appreciate that, but I am focussing on the track rod end / tie rod / ball joint in the photo... seems like it has a few aliases lol

#9 in the diagram below

http://5037e1fccabb179f1658-62e5af32...1-steering.jpg

That rubber boot is the key pretty much. If it is still intact ie no rips or holes and is still full of grease that you can squish around you should be ok. They mostly go bad when they are dry for a while. If it is a good one it should have a grease nipple so you can add more.

Other than that you should also look for any play in the ball joint. Jack it up and have someone horse the tire around a look for movement in the joint.

Sorry I keep forgetting rover calls parts what they want

Lay under and watch as someone rocks the wheel back and forth engine off you will see all loose joints very clearly

Is it me, or does mine look like it is bent/crooked and about to break in the photo?

What's the other end look like? TRE's are designed to pivot on the ball inside. You should be able to take the whole bar and "roll" it forward and back and both TRE's should pivot the same.

If you do need new TRE's, I say go for broke and get the HD steering rods with the TREs already installed from Lucky 8. That was the advice given to me, and man, those things are heavy duty, emphasis on heavy! I replaced the steering stabilizer while I was at it, stock location, but at least I know the rods, TREs, and stabilizer are new and good to go.