I think he was trying to show us just how close the rod end is to the wheel.

 

oh. I see. that makes more sense.

Well, the wheel bolts to the hub, and the hub bolts to the knuckle. The knuckle is attached to the axle housing at the ball joints. I don't see how bad ball joints would make the tie rod end at the knuckle closer to the wheel. Something else must be going on.

 

I know the pics are a bit confusing with the poor quality and for some reason the website rotated them 180 degrees. The pics are of the drag link end not the tie rod end. The drag link end connects to the steering knuckle and the knuckle is the part that is coming into close contact with the tire.

Here is the pic not rotated.