Tie Rod Shifting (1 Viewer)

[fahedsharif]

havent posted on here in forever but ill give it a shot. I just finished putting on my 6 3/4 inch shackles besides the stock 4 inch shackles and everything went fine except the tie rod connecting to the steering arm keeps shifting up and down. i have a lot of play when trying to drive straight and the truck seems to steer itself sometimes. Its fine when turning but i hear the pop and it worries me. i tried looking it up but came up with scratch. any advice?

 

[Heckraiser]

I can't comment on the tie rod movement or noise, but the "steering itself" and trouble driving straight sound like poor caster angle to me, which would make sense if you just put in longer shackles. Did you install any caster shims when you put the new shackles in? If not, I would measure your caster angle (put an angle finder on top of your steering knuckle) and if it is below 2* or zero or negative, you need to get a caster shim to put on your spring pack.

Good luck with the tie rods.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

The stock-style TRE's can be adjusted for preload. There's a spring inside the cylindrical body of the TRE that puts pressure on the ball-end of the TRE that inserts inside it. Look at the end of the TRE and you'll see where a large flat screwdriver can fit and turn to adjust the preload (remove the pin before attempting this or it won't move) Turn inwards until it stops then back off a quarter-turn (that's a guess from memory, refer to the fsm for verification) and reinsert a new cotter pin. This has it's limits, as enough wear can occur to cause the likelihood of ball separation too high. I'd be quick to just replacing ALL of them if the history is unknown or it's been several years since they last were replaced.

Adding a healthy shot of grease via grease gun will also serve to tighten up a bit of slop as well...plus it's just normal maintenance anyway.

Ensure the whole steering is well adjusted/maintained (this included wheel bearings and knuckle bearings, btw) and if the wandering remains, I'd agree that caster should be addressed.