[Guest]

Ok guys and girls. I am new to all of this stuff when it comes to steering. See i was installing my steering stabilizer and i realized that my inner tie rod is a little loose....like i can turn it about 1/16th of an inch maybe a little more. I was planning on going to ocala this weekend to go camping, and i wanted to know if it was that big of a deal right now. i am going to fix it when i get back, but this palce is a hour away. But once i get there i will not be trail riding, just camping. Any help would be great, thanks
Matt......79 CJ7....by the way i do have a second vehicle, so it is not like i cant go. Thanks

 

[GeeAea]

What do you mean by "a little loose"? If you mean that the ball is sloppy inside the socket of the greaseable end (at least I think that it has a grease fitting on it)... that is, if someone is turning the steering wheel back and forth 1-4 inches you can physically see the tie rod end move before the tire/wheel assembly moves? If this is the case......replace it! If you're too cheap or broke (no shame in either case) to have the toe set after the repair .....make sure that you count the number of turns that you spin the thing off and spin the new one back on the same number of turns. Just take off the cotter pin ...... remove the "castillated" nut ....... grab a pickle fork and sizable ball peen......smack the sucker out!
Although it is ALWAYS recommended to attend to these things in short order....... I've gone many miles with "null and void" (much more play) idler arms, tie rod ends, and center links on various s^&t boxes that I've owned in my teen years ...... much to the disbelief of some of my fellow newbie wrenchers ......... I guess mortality is a non-issue for the young. Well I'm still around ..... but it is probably more because of grace than anything else.

GeeAea