I will be replacing the ball joints and the upper control arms on my 99 2wd xlt and someone suggested changing out the tie rods. I'm planning on getting this done this weekend.

Of all the videos I've seen on tie rod replacement I have not seen anyone use loctite when putting the new tie rod in. Do i need to get me some loctite?

Thanks!

 

.....no? lol

just to clarify your doing the tie rod end link correct? that the actual arm that runs into the steering rack bellows?

once the end link in in the spindle and bolted on there should be no way that its able to rotate, ergo, no need for loctite

 

Not that I'm any expert, but it seems like you wouldn't make very good friends with your mechanic by doing that. If you replace the tie rods you MUST get an alignment immediately afterwards, and the first thing he is going to do is put a wrench on the tie rod. Any loctite on there would only be a nuisance to him and wouldn't do you any good after he broke it loose.

If you are talking about the tie rod inners, however, I don't know the answer to that one. I replaced the inners and outers on mine and didn't use any loctite. No problems yet (knock on something)

 

No, I'm replacing the part that attaches to the wheel assembly.

 

inners require lock tite outers do not. if you know what brand outers on it, count the threads on each side before removal then when you put the new ones on you won't need to align it but you need to be careful to not move stuff out of place. I always get it aligned afterwards though.

 

Thank for all the responses.

I will be getting the alignment once everything is done.

ball joints x2
upper control arms x2
tie ends x2
rotors x2
bearings x4
pads

It's going to be a long Saturday!

I'm thinking I'll be saving at least $400 on doing this work myself. Anyone have any ideas what the shop rate hours would be for the work listed above?

 

70 or 80/hr