Originally Posted by RedneckJeep

NO! Run as fast as you can from that shop! That is an old trick to make people think their rod ends are bad. They are ALL spring loaded vertically and can be compressed with large channellocks. Here's how you can do the job yourself. Get a friend to "rock" the steering wheel back and forth to the point JUST before it makes the wheels move. Get under the Jeep and look at all the rod ends. If you see any slack of movement where the drag link and tie rod bolt to the rest of the linkage, you have a suspect. If not, you're fine. All this can be done without the Jeep running and the tires on the ground. Remember, the load on rod ends is not verticle, but lateral. It's this side to side movement you're looking for.....or NOT looking for. LOL

Originally Posted by Hellbound13

I saw a mechanic put a pair of large channel lock pliers on the end of the tie rod and squeeze to check for play, is this a good way to check for play in tie rod and draglink ends?