question about tie rods?

[Pemerling]

i unfortunately know nothing about the front suspension of my explorer except for some basic concepts. Im wondering does my 98 have tie rods and if so how do you know when they are getting worn out. I drove my sisters saab 900 turbo this weekend and the front end was shaking and it ended up being the tie rods were going.. so what exactly should i be looking for in my explorer. ?? any suggestions

 

[mrboyle]

Yes your X has tie rod ends. To check them lift the front end off the ground and grab the tire at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Try to shake the tire back and fourth. If you feel any significant amount of movement you have a bad tie rod end.

 

[Pemerling]

when your driving what does a bad tie rod feel like? my explorer has been acting up and vibrating a lot at like 70 or so.. had the wheels balanced and such..

 

[X-1]

A bad tie rod can give you a side to side wobble, or vibration like an out of balance wheel, hit a certain speed and it will act up then go away the more you accelerate. Use mr. boyles method to check, or you can also with wheel off the ground take a huge pair of channel locks and squeeze the joint by putting one end on the bottom of tie rod, and the other on the nut. More than an eighth of an inch in movement could tell you it's bad. Also try greasing it, that might tighten it up.

 

[Pemerling]

how much does it cost to fix.. im thinkin i might just take it to my mechanic and tellin him to fix it. when my explorer broke down a month ago the cv joint went on the front driveshaft... but after then i still have this vibration at like 70 and sometimes the explorer is swaying

 

[X-1]

Tie rods are relatively in exspensive 25-40 per side for parts, labor shouldn't be too bad either.

 

[Pemerling]

sweet.

 

[Ray Lobato]

The outer tierods are a breeze to replace. It's the inners that you need a special wrench to remove.
Unfortunately, most of the time, it's the inner tierods that go bad.

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by Ray Lobato
The outer tierods are a breeze to replace. It's the inners that you need a special wrench to remove.
Unfortunately, most of the time, it's the inner tierods that go bad.

The inners aren't that bad to replace. I've done them myself. Just need a couple of big crescent wrenches.

And yes, you'll get a vibration at certain speeds, similar to an unbalanced tire when they 'go bad'.

 

[Xplodor]

I'm getting all sorts of shackes now. I think I'll take her in for an Alignment and wheel balance and see what they say. Then I'll check out the tie rods. I'm getting the same shake from 67 to 70 mph then gone. My steering wheel has a pretty much constant shimmy in it though.

 

[Tiger]

tie rods

the most acurate way to check for any tie rod play, is get a buddy to shake your steering wheel back and forth, with the truck on the ground. Crawl underneath and see if there is any play. If you check it with it in the air, the main area that wears has now moved and could be tight. Always check front end parts as close to where they are normally for most acurate diagnosis.