outer tie rod ends

[davespencer]

hello all - i am having a difficult time getting the outer tie rod ends to push up far enough through the steering arms to thread the nut on. any wisdom / ideas would be greatly appreciated.. also can't keep any of the rubber cups on the ball joints or the tie rods :( not sure if i am doing something wrong
thanks in advance
Dave S

[Mark Reynolds]

Steering arms on up-side down - maybe switch side to side - sounds like taper is going the wrong way.

[jrcuz]

Just make sure the steering arms are on the correct side, that was my first assembly error.
JR

[AC Bill]

.. also can't keep any of the rubber cups on the ball joints or the tie rods :( not sure if i am doing something wrong
thanks in advance Dave S

By tie-rods I presume you don't mean the tie-rod ends. The bellows type boots used on the end of the steering rack to tie rods, are held in place by small metal band clamps. I believe some may have used zip ties in place of the metal bands, but I am not sure of the long term success of them.

The upper and lower ball joints, used to come with these ridiculous stiff black rubber boots, that were darn near impossible to keep in place. Some had success, using a section of appropriate sized pipe, to drive them over the base that the ball joints screw in to. But there was no lip for them to cling to, nor is there any groove to secure them with a spring clamp. I never had any success keeping them on, and had to go sparingly when greasing both upper and lowers, to prevent excess grease from getting on the brake rotors.

Now, if you meant tie rod ends, I have never heard of any issues with their boots staying in place. Many have spring clamps at both ends of the boot to hold them in place. Others have lip inside the large opening of the boot, that corresponds with a groove in the tie rod end. The smaller end of the boot is basically friction fit on the tapered shaft. You have to be careful not to overfill them with grease.

From what I understand, FFR later began supplying a flexible, presumably rubber silicone boot, that would tend to grip better. I think that might have solved the problem, but if not, there are some aftermarket boots available from Energy Suspension. They seem to work with great success, but I believe you need to purchase two complete sets, just to get the four correct size ones that you require.

[DaleG]

I also fell into that hole; steering arms on wrong side. Kleiner set me straight.