Hey guys I have been replacing a bunch of stuff in my front end this weekend(clearly i dont know what im doing seeing as it has lasted till wednesday) But I have been getting lots of help up here and I appreciate it.

I replaced inner and outer tie rods and got ahead of myself and did not count the turns when I took them off. I was wondering what I should do when I put the new ones on, just guess? My only idea is to get a long straight piece of wood drill 2 holes in it bolt it to the hub and make sure the wood is parallel with the frame. But thats a lot of work, does anyone have any better ideaas?

 

After spending time and money to this point,why not get a front end alignment?This way,you will be sure things are right.

 

best bet is just to go get an alignment, which should be done after any steering components are replaced.

 

I plan on taking it to get it aligned as soon as I can get it off jack stands, but I am not sure how close it has to be when I bring it in there.( Or to get it there) Do they rotate the inner tie rod to adjust alignment or do they unseat the outer one and adjust it that way?

 

if you didn't get the same brand tie-rods that were on there before, the thread counting trick is useless. not all companies have the same nut aside the thread pattern

just go get it aligned and it will be fine.

 

if youre far from shop then:

jack truck up
put tie rods on to where you "think" old ones were
throw tires on
put tierods in spindle
3 lugs on each tire
hard/hand tighten lugs
SLOWLY lower truck to where tires touch and SLIGHTLY bulge out or where you cannot spin tires
get measuring tape and measure from front to front of both tires then..back to back of front tires and get measurements to be as close as you can
just take your tire and keep tightening/loosening tierods to get it close
then take it to shop AFTER you reassemble the front end
last step is super important lol

 

Ok that doesn't sound terrible I can do that, I am about 10 miles from the shop.

Thanks everyone that replied