Do all these parts work with a 3” RC lift?

 

The ZJ tie rod is the same length as stock, so if you have a stock XJ tie rod, then yes.

 

I did the ZJ conversion and really like it nice. Used the heavy duty Moog ends. The ZJ rod is solid. My Son had the Rusty's on his it was ok, it's thicker but also a hollow tube. The Rusty's is a straight Rod which is OK for stock diff cover, but would not fit aftermarket diff cover. I prefer the ZJ rod as it is thick solid with slight bend in it to fit over my aftermarket diff cover.

 

I'll be doing this steering upgrade soon, so I ordered Moog parts. The tie rod showed up today, and it's beefy! But it's unpainted. Will this rust on me? Should I paint it? The drag link hasn't shown up yet, but I wonder if it'll be unpainted as well.

 

sure it will flash rust. you can paint it if you want.

 

OK, thanks. I'll break out the primer and black paint.

Here's another question that likely has an obvious answer I'm not immediately seeing. The new solid tie rod has a hole for the grease fitting drilled into the side of the end joint rather than the back cover like most tie rod ends. When looking in the hole, it appears like there's metal at the bottom with nowhere for the grease to go. Is this normal, or am I missing something?

 

Paint isn't required unless you want it to look better. I never painted mine and it has surface rust, but nothing more. Up to you.

Is this MOOG part number DS1312? If so, it's indeed supposed to have a zerk fitting hole on the side instead of the more common top location. If there isn't a hidden hole somewhere down there, it is indeed a manufacturing defect (good 'ole mass production) and I would get it replaced.

 

Yes, MOOG DS1312. I pulled the zerk fitting off the tie rod that's on the Jeep now (I'm assuming it's original) to have a look inside the end joint. It appears to have the same "sleeve" that seals the back and extends into the outer "socket" but the edge of the sleeve stops about 1/3 of the way from covering the hole, which would allow the grease to flow properly. Looks like I'll have to call Rock Auto in the morning.

 

That hole in the new tie rod also looks like it's not even threaded to accept a zerk fitting.

 

It isn't all that uncommon to see this. Some zerk fittings are self-threading. The self-threading zerk fittings have a tapered thread. Others have straight threads if the hole is already threaded.

I've seen a few press in as well. Don't like those.

 

I thought that, but they'll probably say that's' because they don't need them anymore, as they're sealed for life.

 

The zerk it came with has a tapered thread, same as the one I pulled off the original tie rod.

 

Dunno why, but I thought that was the difference between standard & metric. That said, when I tried to buy some, I couldn't find any that fitted. (have three different lots, all of them about the right diameter but none are the right thread)

 

Update: The replacement tie rod from Rock Auto arrived today, and it looks exactly like the one I sent back. Should I drill a small hole in that gold-colored sleeve to allow the grease to flow, or should I just leave it alone and hope for the best? I suppose I could screw in the zerk and see if I can get any grease into the joint while it's on the bench and go from there.

 

See if the zerk fitting will thread itself in the hole.