Tie Rod Replacement?

Howdy all. I recently did some suspension work on my truck and realized my tie rod end links (ball joints specifically) are SHOT. (My truck has 183k on the dash). Is there a company for steering components y’all recommend? And if so should I replace the whole end link or just the ball joint? I’m pretty savvy at working on cars but I’m a little worried because I’ve never done anything with steering components. So it might get taken to a shop

 

Are you talking about the outer tie rod? "end link" is what the sway bar uses to connect to the spindle. but anyway, i would go with OEM if it were me. I think rockauto has some good deals. Outer tie rod is pretty easy to replace. Just make sure you mark and count the number of turns, then go get it aligned as soon as you can.

 

@TacoRN69 Oooh ok. Like I said I haven’t done much with steering components so I’m a bit of a noob with them. Thanks for the correction though, I’ll give rockauto a look and get it done. I appreciate the help!

 

For future reference for others who replace their outer tie rods, I went with the outer tie rod from 1A Auto. They worked perfectly and only took about 45 minutes to replace from start to finish. Heres the link. (Keep in mind they come as a single part so if you want to replace both sides you need to buy two) https://www.1aauto.com/toyota-lexus-front-driver-or-passenger-side-outer-tie-rod-trq/i/1aste00715

 

As a data point, when I replaced all my front end rubber/wear parts @ 145K, The inner steering tie rods had the most wear of all components.

 

@taco912 Thanks for the tip, I'll give everything another look. I'll already be replacing the UCA's (with new ball joints obviously) and the sway bar end links so I'll see about replacing the inner tie rods as well.

 

A vehicle's suspension starts to wear out at 100k. Your truck has more.
You will also be taking apart the front end, and paying extra for an alignment after to get everything straight.
So why would you not replace the inner tie rods while you're in there
it makes no sense to only do the outers
the inners also have joints, that are probably worn

 

@TacoTuesday1 Like I previously mentioned, I don’t know much about steering components and I wasn’t able to find much on here. So thank you for the advice but hadn’t I just said in the post before you I’d look at replacing them?

 

I have Moog outer tie Rods they work good