Oh, you only changed the outers?

Well, definitely check whether the tires move side to side when wiggled by hand with one side jacked up. All 4 of my tie rod joints were worn and I could wiggle either tire a LOT with almost now pressure. I could practically wiggle it by blowing on it. It was scary to find that out. I replaced all 4 tie rod ends IMMEDIATELY and no more wiggle.

 

So just a worn inner tie rod would cause the same wiggle as a worn tie rod end?

 

Yes, they can both cause play, though outers would be worse.

 

I'll thoroughly check everything tomorrow. What if there's no play at all? What's next on the list of possible culprets?

 

I take it that the definition of "no play" is that it doesn't move at all, not even a hair, right? When I pushed/tugged on the front wheels they both had a very small amount of play, but some, nonetheless.

So is it pretty certain that this is evidence of a damaged inner tie rod? If so I'll go ahead and buy them. ECS sells the standard OEM inner tie rods for $104.39 each and TRW brand ones for $43.63 each. I'd like to save some money, but I'm thinking it may not be worth it in this case. What do you guys think?

I was also curious about the gap between the upper washer on the tie rod end and where the wheel bearing housing meets the threaded stud of the tie rod end. I would assume that these parts should be touching, but I tightened everything to the specified torque values, so all should be well, right? Here's a picture of my right tie rod end (left one has a similar sized gap):

 

the gap may or may not be there for each individual tie rods because it's the notch in the ball joint end that determines how far it goes because there's a cross bolt there. yes no play means none at all. if you do have some play, you should be able to see which A arm or tie rod it is. the lower A arms usually don't go bad easily but check them anyways with the same method. different tire depth could cause slight looseness in the steering.

 

Mine have a small gap there as well. Nothing wrong with that. You might have to take off the rack and pinion boots to see the inner tie rod joints to see if they're moving around. You WILL have to mess up the metal clamps holding those boots on so get some zip ties (the inner one will need to be like a 12"-14" zip tie) to put them back on. Get them snug and they'll be fine.

Note that if you remove (or move at all) the outer tie rod ends, you will need an alignment, though whatever your problem is, your fix will need an alignment no matter what.

Look for movement in the controls arms and stuff, yeah.


With my new tie rods, I can't move the wheel left to right by hand at all anymore.

 

i was thinking if your fluid was leaking it would make your steering even tighter wouldnt it? and also its gotta be you inner tie rods if you have replaced everything else

 

I just found a very small crack in one of the power steering hoses which seems to be the cause of the leak.

I'll be calling the dealership today to get a quote for both inner tie rods and that power steering hose.

Thanks guys. Wish me luck.

 

Dealership? Bah. Find an independent and save yourself some cash.