Just had a few questions about tie rod replacement as I'm due according to the tire shop I went to. Still young and learning so first off what all is it I need to replace? How do I check if I need to the tires shake side to side so I'm guessing the outer ends for sure.

Do you replace outer and inner ends in pairs?

Finally I can't seem to find if there's a difference between 4wd or 2wd ends on these trucks. I did find a set of outers for 18 bucks on ebay but it says for 4wd. I own a 2wd. My comp is old and slowly dieing so having troubles doing research on it.

As always all advice is appreciated.

 

2WD and 4WD are different. Look on Rock Auto, they have a good selection of Tie Rod ends for our trucks.

You'll have to jack the front end up and wiggle the tire to see where the play is, if it is in the inner or outer tie rod. It is usually the outers that go first, but with vehicles this age, it could very well be all of them. Theres no way to diagnose which one is bad over the internet, you'll just have to wiggle it and see where the play is coming from.

 

like cd36 said the front suspension is different. the 2wds have a rack and pinion and the 4wds have a steering box and (drag link?). the shops recommend replacing all the 4 at the same time(and it makes it a lot easier) but you can get away with replacing the both outers or both inners at the same time(though when doing the inners you might as well change the outers also).

the shop usually shows you how to check the tie rods(like every shop i've asked to check front suspension), just saying. cd36 covered all the bases

 

I should add, even though you don't have to replace all the tie rods at once, the Alignment after is usually the expensive part, so you almost are better off doing everything, getting one alignment, and you're set, otherwise you might be replacing another one later on and getting another alignment.