Which tie rod end?

[J30Guy612]

Hey guys recently I had the J30 up on jack stands, and when I grab the wheel and shift it left to right, there is some play. No play from top to bottom.

I was told that this could either be the inner or outer tie rod end. Is there anyway to figure out which tie rod piece it could be? Is there one that fails more than the other?

Thanks!

[95-J30tt]

if it is still up on jacks, move the tire and look at the outer tie rod (most likely is the case), if it is the outer, then you will notice that the top part of the tie rod is moving slightly with the turning of the tire, while the bottom of the same tie rod is stationary, so basically you will see that the bolt part is moving with the tire, while the holder of the tie rod isnt............ i hope this helps man, good luck, i've changed the tie rods on my J along with the ball joints (ball joints are not fun at all), the tie rod replacement is not that bad.....

[J30Guy612]

Thanks very much for the help!

The car isn't up on jack stands anymore, so the easiest way to figure out which tie rod end if the culprit is to take the wheel off, and shake it back and fourth and just watch the tie rods right?

Whats the installation like on the outer tie rod?

Thanks again!

[95-J30tt]

straight forward, the hardest part is to open the nut at the end of the rod (where it connects to the rod that goes to the rack).....

take the tire out, locate the tie rod (spray lubricant and leave it for a good 5-10minutes), take out the pin that holds the nut to the tie rod, loosen the nut (but dont take it off yet), loosen the nut that connects the tie rod to the rack (use of force was needed in my case).......... then remove the tie rod nut, and then count how many turns it will take to get the tie rod out..... compare the older one with the new one (make sure that they are both the same length and so on), then install the new tie rod (same amount of turns, mine was 32 if i remember correctly), lock the tie rod in place using the rack nut...... the rest is the reverse of the above... hope this helps.... let us know how it goes....

[J30Guy612]

Thanks a ton for all the information!

[yodawill2000]

a front end alignment should follow