glwood6

Has anyone tried to remove the OEM tie rod ends? I ordered a set of new Moog ends, they arrived and I went to install. However, I cannot get the tie rod end off the passenger side of the tie rod. There are some serious crimps in the tie rod itself about 3/4" from the threaded end that look like they were made with some type of hydraulic press...I'm thinking the factory does that so the end will never move. It also will not come off. I have tried the biggest wrench I have, wihile holding the tie rod in a vice, even a pipe wrench. It will not move.

Looks like I will have to send back my Moog tie rod ends and order a RK tie rod, and replace the two ends I ordered with drag link ends that are used at the pitman arm...unless anyone knows if that passenger side tie rod end will in fact come off...

glwood6

Never mind. I see that when you order a replacement tie rod, oem, they sell the entire rod and passenger end as one unit, so it is not a removable item.

I have decided to return the two Moog tie rod ends I got, swap them for two drag link ends, and ordered a RK tie rod. It will be much stronger and better than the oem setup. Only negative is having to undo one tie rod end from the steering knuckle in order to adjust for toe, but oh, well. Once I get it set up right, I don't see it changing with how I use my Rubi...

FYI, replacing the drag link end at the pitman arm with a Moog end made a huge difference. I cannot rotate the drag link by hand anymore, clunk is gone.

glwood6

The RK tie rod and two ends come to about $215 total, so I wouldn't consider that 'a lot cheaper', although your solution is less costly. In my case, I do not have access to a decent welder, and I did not care to ream out the knuckles, so I would not consider that 'an easy install'; not compared to threading on two tie rod ends and bolting it up to the steering knuckles.

But thanks for the input.