I checked my axle joints when I did mine, but they were tight and quiet.

You don't have to separate the hub from the axle to do the Ball joints - you just remove the 3 13mm 12 point bolts and pull the axle and hub out as a single unit.

There are absolutely adjustable track bars - check Quadratec, summit or any of the off-roading retailers.
At 2" of lift, the Moog track bar being a smidge longer is right about perfect.

There's a trick to popping out stubborn hubs - you put a deep socket or big bolt betwen the axle ear and axle housing and use the steering to pop the hub out (once the bolts are loose. Plenty of great pics and vids online.

 

Sorry to interrupt guys, but I'm stuck. I replaced the tie rod by the pitman arm with no problem. Now I'm on the one by the FL wheel. I'm trying to unscrew it, but can't brake it loose. Tried soaking it in various oils which didn't help. My dad tried to break it loose with no success.

Should I remove the tie rod, clamp it down, and then try to remove it from there, or are there any tricks to try? Thanks in advance.

 

This is getting the tie rod out of the long adjustment tube, correct?

Yes, take the other end out, put it in a bench vise with a pipe clamp and use a map gas torch to heat the pipe. Use an adjustable wrench on the flat part to turn it - use antiseize on the new one.

 

I mean, you could probably just heat it in place - but this is easier with a 2nd person to hold the vise grips on the pipe - you just have less room to work and need to be careful with the torch.

 

Being new here myself I love seeing this kind of thread where everyone is helpful and civil! I'll probably be doing a bunch of this myself but it's not new to me. I had a 2001 Ram 2500 with the same type of setup and every joint was loose as well as the steering box. After a few hundred dollars it was almost as tight as something with rack and pinion.

THANKS TO ALL!!!!

 

When I needed to crack mine loose for alignment I had to put the front left end in a vice and with the tie rod still attached to the drag link, use it as a big lever to twist giving me approx a meter of leverage. I hope the badly drawn image explains if my description doesn't.

 

Everyone on this site is helpful and civil for the most part (unless you have a strong opinion on Rotella oil.. )

I did all the steering stuff on my 95 and it's nice and tight.

 

I get uncomfortable turning against the other joint... but I'm probably overly paranoid.

My recommendation of heat is absolutely NOT theoretical - I had to use heat to get the tie rods out of that adjuster when I replaced mine.

However, I have to wonder - so what was going on when I got an alignment prior to that - was I just lucky and never needed the toe-in adjusted? Do the alignment guys have a secret they're not sharing? How could they have turned the adjuster if one or both of the ends was rusted so badly that I needed more than a little heating with a blow torch to break it free?

 

While I agree it's not a great idea turning against another joint, if they're all being replaced then any stress or damage caused isn't an issue. My one would not turn with WD40 and the likes, heat and my grips couldn't grab enough to break it free. I even sliced a large nut in half and welded it in the center of the tie rod to give me something with edges to grip on and still no luck. With the method I suggested, I got it to crack free then loosen up relatively easily.

As for your alignment, either the toe-in was in spec or the just didn't do it would be my guess.

 

True - if you're replacing the joint then all bets are off.

What kind of rust do you guys have over in the U.K.?? Jeez man, even heat didn't work?!?

At that point, the $30-ish it costs for a new part starts to look pretty good...

 

My dad used to launch boats with this Jeep so it saw a bit of salt water in its years of service. It was then sat for 7 before I finally pulled it out this year and got it back on the road. Prior to it's 7 years sat still it wasn't used a great deal as we had a Mitsubishi Delica which took over from the Jeep so there were a lot of bits that have not been touched with tools for well over 10 years.

On the topic of general rust, it can be rather damp so rust does creep in if a vehicle isn't well looked after at times. I restore old VW T2's with my dad so I see more rust than most so my view may be a bit biased.

 

That makes sense. New England is a lot like old England in that we also get a lot of dampness. I swear that for Nov of this year you could count the days that it -didn't- rain on one had. Then we also got some early snow (by this I mean snow that accumulates to the point of shoveling/plowing). Every winter, regardless of how much snow, they tend to put a LOT of salt on the roads and that stuff just eats up the metal. Obviously that means the rust is pretty bad - my Dad's 94 XJ ran perfectly when he retired it, the rust was what killed it.

 

Thanks PH, followed your instructions and they worked like a charm. Did have to go out and get a torch, though.

I made a rookie mistake and forgot to order a right outer tie rod. I'll probably have to wait forever for it to come though because the postal services are busy with the holidays.

 

Nice! Heat works wonders to free stuck fasteners.

You own a Jeep, so a torch is a necessary tool to have. That's how a good tool collection happens - you buy the tools you need as you need them. You'll use the torch again - trust me.
Plus, aside from the stuck fasteners, if you buy a house and need to do plumbing, etc, etc.

Speaking of plumbers, if you need to get heat on something in a tight space, you can get a plumbers pad or welders blanket to shield off stuff like gas lines or wiring and still get heat on a stubborn nut.

You can find that part at your local parts retailer if you need it quickly, the trade-off is that it will be 2 or 3x as much as online.

 

I'm stuck again.

The steering damper that connects to the middle of the tie rod won't separate. I've tried using a pickle fork, WD-40, and a hammer with no success. Should I use heat again and beat on it when it's hot?