Tie rod end replacement suggestions

So... my Taco was wondering all over the road on me, and I started to notice some funky tire wear. I decided to order inner and outer tie rod ends and a steering rack bushing kit and start there to remedy the problems. (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/steering-rack-bushing-suggestions.523952/ )

When I started to look at the tie rods, it was pretty clear they were at least part of my problems.

Parts list I went with:
Proforged Inner Tie Rod Ends
Part #104-10495 (same part for left and right)

TRW Outer Tie Rod Ends
Part #JTE1320 (left)
Part #JTE1319 (right)

I went with the TRW Outers because they are greasable. Although I do suggest replacing the zert fittings.

To get familiar with the process, and tools involved, I highly suggest checking out this video.
https://youtu.be/AVQHgcXEhpE

The video has a lot of great info, but there's a few additional tid bits I think need to be added.

The steering rack piston is slotted for a 32mm wrench. But you can't use just any 32mm. I bought a Husky 32mm and it was too thick to fit in to the slots. You will need a wrench with a side profile of a Craftsman (had to go buy it during the repair) The Husky wrench is 14mm thick where the Craftsman is around 12mm thick.

The wrench on the left is the Craftsman. The right is Husky.

It's also worth mentioning, the slots on the large end of the inner tie rod are 1 5/8. I hate using adjustable wrenches (like shown in the video). I took one of the new ones to size it up at my local Napa. The new and old inner tie rods had the same sized slots.

 

Here is a picture of the end of the steering rack piston, where it meets the inner tie rod. The large bell on the inner tie rod is 1 5/8. The narrow slot on the piston is where the 32mm wrench needs to be 12mm thick, or less, to fit.

 

If you go with greasable outer tie rods, and install them with the zert fitting that are included, you will have this. The zerts are a pain in the ass to get to. You'll need an adapter for your grease gun (that will most likely leak) or you will need to remove the wheels to grease your tie rods.

Or you can go to Napa and buy these for about 5 bucks.

And then you have this... much easier!

 

FYI... The inner clamp on your steering rack boots (left side of the boot in this picture) is quite possibly the biggest pain in the ass on your entire truck.

Also... while you have everything torn apart, double and triple check these boots for rips, tears or holes. You do not want water to get in here. Also, I used super lube grease to help seal the areas under the clamps at either end of the boots. I filled the grooves where the boot ends sit with the super lube.

 

Zert fitting??? ZERT fitting?????????

Here's a bit of trivia to help dispel the continual bastardization of the English language:

(source = www.geni.com/people/Oscar-Zerk/6000000020722661365)

"Who invented the Zerk fitting?

"About Oscar Ulysses Zerk. Oskar Zerkowitz emigrated to the United States and changed his name to 'Oscar Ulysses Zerk'. He was also known as 'Oscar V. Zerk'. He became a world-famous inventor and one of his most prominent creations was a grease fitting known as 'the zerk."​

I don't know if the above is true or not but it sounds reasonable. I picked up "zerk fitting" in 1960 and have not ever heard the phrase "zert fitting" up until now.

 

In other words...

Lmao

From now on I will refer to them as "ball check grease fittings"... how's that?

 

Let me know when you get to your ball joints... I'm about to tackle those in the next couple of weeks. But those zerts ... OMG!

 

I have the lower ball joints, and the upper control arm assemblies now. They will ve going in this weekend.

And by the way... SPC UCAs have zert... I mean "ball check grease fittings" as well.

 

That's a good note, I remember I was confused half way through when mine wouldn't work. Ended up just grinding the wrench until it fit haha.

 

When I did mine I just happened to have an adjustable wrench that was skinny enough.. but I initially ran into the same problem

 

I'm resurrecting an old thread, I know....But did the wandering issue get better after replacing the tie rod ends? I've been having the same issue for over a year now and finally bought the parts to do it. I had a shop check my ball joints for play and they said they seemed fine but the tie rod ends were for sure bad. Hopefully it will help my issues because it's getting borderline unsafe to drive when it's windy.

 

@ffirg same here man mines getting pretty sketchy so I’m about to tear mine apart, I’m doing the sway bar relocation kit (I have new coilovers), new sway bar end links, tie rod inners and outer, and I need uca but I’m broke lol

 

Lol... sorry bro, never saw you asked this question. The wandering issue absolutely stopped after doing this.

 

I ended up taking out my sway bar all together. Once I went with heavy coil springs (ToyTec 620#) I no longer needed it.

 

Still no issues. Just got my truck alignment checked about a month ago, and they said everything is good to go.

 

Good stuff!!! Bout to tackle these any day now

 

Same here. I usually borrow the inner tie rod end kit from Advance Auto.

 

Low Range is not one of my favorites.

I ordered my ProForged from Amazon or Summit (Can't remember, but it was who ever was cheaper).

 

I won’t wait a couple weeks at all, order=canceled. I’ve had vendors take my money in hold, and not ship!, saying (product in stock), then you call, and they are waiting for a piece of your order! Fuck that, they are middle men then really. That’s when they get dropped completely from my radar, they don’t have money to stock but tell the internet it’s in stock. I’m too old for that stress, paying for parts is bad enough. Lmao

 

The narrow slot on the piston of the rack is 30mm. The slot on the inner tie rod is 42mm. The steering rack and inner tie rod on a 1st Gen Tacoma should be identical to a 3rd Gen 4runner.