I'm going to need to replace my tie rods and figure that I do everything under there since I'm going to need an alignment and the car is getting up there in miles. I have seen that the Pitman arm does not need to be replaced....but what about the center link???? Does this part wear at all and would require replacement?? Also, I can't seem to find upper ball joints at any of the auto parts stores...what's the deal with that? They need replacement don't they??

 

Welcome to thirdgen, our cars only have lower A members so we only use two lower ball joints.

 

Thanks for the info. How about the centerlink....should I replace that?

 

The centerlink is a wearable item and should be replaced if it's worn out. Replace the idler arm as well.

 

Will do. Thanks Guys

 

And the easiest way to do this is to: unbolt the idler arm from the frame rail, pop the two outer tie rod ends loose from the steering arms, and pop the center link joint free from the pitman arm.

The whole assembly is now sitting under the car on the floor.

Assemble the new parts to match and install.

You should also get new tie rod sleeves.

RBob.

 

Ok...great. Now lets talk brands.

I here everyone talk Moog or TRW....but I'm told that Autozone's "Duralast" line is made by either Moog or McQuay-Norris. I went online to their website and took the part numbers, punched them into Google and they brought up the following.

Tie Rod Ends = Moog
Lower Ball Joints = McQuay- Norris
Idler Arm = McQuay-Norris
Center-link = Moog

All for a lot less green.

Does anyone have any expierience with any Duralast steering parts?

 

I did TRW from Advance (everything). Order online and use Visa as a code and get 20% off. You can also PU parts from desired store within the hour.

 

AFAIK this is only a name on a box; just a repackager; doesn't "make" anything. Gotta open the box, and do stuff like look at the logo stamped on the part and/or the country of origin, to find out what the part REALLY is.

Duralast is similar; AZ's own private label. Just a name on a box. AZ doesn't "make" anything either.

 

Timely thread, I was thinking about doing this since I've found a little sloppiness in my 90k mile front end. I want to replace the inner/outer tie rods, sleeves, and center link. When you say pop out, do the ends pop out by gravity or do you have to whack them with something? How about installing the new tie rod ends, do they slip into place or do you need a press? I've replaced ball joints before but tie rods are new to me and I would suppose to others who are reading this thinking about doing the same thing. BTW I found a thread on adjusting the steering box to help get rid of sloppiness; I plan on trying this as well.



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Tie rods have a king nut with a cotter pin on it. You remove this first and either get a pickle fork and hammer it apart or you can get tie rod remover (small D type press that presses it out). If you are just doing one count the number of threads that are in the sleeve (after you loosen the bolts), unscrew the rod from the sleeve and reinstall using the same number of threads. If you are doing the whole thing refer to the above mentioned directions and just pull the whole thing and assemble identical to the way it came out. You might need a c clamp to hold the tie rod in while you put the nut on. Cleaning the female end that the tie rod goes through will help keeping it from spinning while your putting the nut on as well.

 

A pickle fork seems the way to go to separate the tie rod ends. A friend of mine who worked at a dealership for about 30 years says one or two whacks pops it right out. Regarding the OPs q about replacing the centerlink, the answer is yes. My mech friend says if the tie rod ends are sloppy, chances are the center link is worn as well, so since your under there might as well do the whole shebang at once.