Tie rod play (1 Viewer)

[thebeedeegee]

While checking my front end yesterday I noticed a little bit of wiggle on my driver side front wheel at the 9 and 3 position. it doesn't appear to be at the outer tie rod, so I am assuming it's the inner tie rod. I have no symptoms, maybe a small vibration in the steering wheel if I'm really looking for it.

There is also a bit of play at 12 and 6 o clock positon so I'm wondering if I should just check bearing pre-load and it may fix it?

I'm about to go on about a 1500 mile round trip , with a little bit of off roading thrown in and I'm wondering if I could let it ride until I get back? The play is 1/8" or less. The passenger wheel is solid as a rock. I haven't seen any documented inner tie rod failures on here, but I definitely don't want this thing coming apart on the highway either.

I'd prefer to wait until after christmas and do the front wheel bearings at the same time if I can.

 

[awesomeissquid]

I believe if you have play in both directions and not seeing movement at the UBJ and LBJ there is a better chance the wheel bearings are loose. If it were me I would probably at a minimum check the c-clip under the dust cover to see if the gap is still within spec (gap less then or equal to 0.20mm I believe).

Did you perform the last wheel bearing service/do you feel it was done reasonably well?

 

[thebeedeegee]

I believe if you have play in both directions and not seeing movement at the UBJ and LBJ there is a better chance the wheel bearings are loose. If it were me I would probably at a minimum check the c-clip under the dust cover to see if the gap is still within spec (gap less then or equal to 0.20mm I believe).

Did you perform the last wheel bearing service/do you feel it was done reasonably well?

The play at 12 and 6 can be seen in the hub, it is very slight. The play at 12 and 3 seems to be the entire tie rod moving inward slightly more than anything . That lead me to believe it was the inner tie rod

but, at the same time I know my driver side C-clip gap is too big. When I re-did my oil seal on the driver side front diff and put it back together I couldn't get that gap correct. It was so big I could pull the CV out easily, and the gap seemed to be almost 2mm. The truck drives fine, so I wasn't sure if it was just he aftermarket axles (they appear to be the Cardone HD model)