i am alittle confused at this point, afew weeks ago i brought my car to a mechanic get my breaks done, they called me on the phone and told me my tierod was bad and it needed to be replaced which was going to cost me $300 i went there to get my breaks done and they told me that so i thought they were just trying to rip me off and get as much money as they could out of me, so i ended up just asking for my 2001 durango sport 4.7L back without getting that done.

acouple weeks go by and i notice that my front right tire started to ware on the the edge, so i thought the people were right and my tierod really went bad, but i couldnt afford to pay $300 so i asked my friend that worked at a mechanic place if he could help me.

but when i brought it to him, he looked at my tierod and said it looks ok, i asked if maybe the damage was inside the tierod and he showed me his car which has a really bad tierod and his looked really bad, cracked and oil coming out, mine didnt look anything like that so i thought my tierod was fine.. he just told me the people wer probably lieing to me and all i needed was an alignment..

so today i go and get my oil change and the guy doing the oil looked at my tire and said i have front end problem, i then go tell him that my friend looked at the tierod and said it looked ok and all i needed was a alignment, but the guy said if i would of needed just an alignment then "BOTH" tires would have the same ware up front, and only one of my tires got this ware.. so i dont know what it is now.. is the tierod the only thing this could be?


here is a picture of the bad side, "front passenger side" all the other tires dont have this ware.. so what can it be?

http://a.imageshack.us/img832/4196/img1709l.jpg

EDIT: the sway link bushings are really worn down, could it be the struts or shocks? some posted that in a forums

 

You can easily tell if the tie rod is bad by removing the tie rod nut and pulling it out of the steering knuckle. If you can wiggle it by hand it is bad. You need to replace both outer tie rods. Since you are replacing both outer tie rods you might as well check the inner tie rods by moving them around with you hand. If they move easily they are also bad. Replace in pairs. If you want to know what one should feel like, go to an auto store and take it out of the box and try to move the stem by hand. Whenever you replace inner or outer tie rods you MUST get an alignment. No reputable shop will align without checking the tie rods.
P.S. Your rotor look like it is scored!

 

alignment does not get messed up equally on both sides, so one side could be out and one side could be fine, but any reputable shop will not align the truck with a tire that badly worn out so you will also be needing new tires once you get this figured out.

as said, check the tie rod yourself, its a good possibility that something is worn out, i would go over the front end very well and make sure everything is nice and tight.

and btw that tire is BADDDDDDDDDDDD so i would not be wasting any time getting this taken care of

 

It could be a tie rod end or inner. It also could be a camber or toe issue.


What I would do is what <pkucan> said and get it aligned.

 

Are both front tires wearing on the outside edge of the tires? Because if they are. You have a really bad toe problem. The front tires would toed in too much. You should have the front end align,as hydrashocker had said.

 

also they could have easily adjusted your tie rod out of allignment i have had a shop do that before just to get me to have them allign it .. silly people . and another way to check the tie rods is to jack the front up both tires off the ground , make sure the steering wheel is locked where it wont turn and try to turn the front tires by hand ,that means grabbing the tire one hand on front one hand on rear of tire and try to turn left and right if you have some slack or free play have a friend help you out and have them move the tire for you whiel you get under the front and look to see whats moving before both tires do they should always move together if there isnt anything worn out , it sounds more complicated than it is as im not so good at telling people how to do something

 

And that right there is the reason that I hate people even walking by my truck. The sad part is it happens and it sucks.

 

jack the car up, grab hold of the tire and pull up and down on it if there is any play ur ball joints are bad, then pull side to side if there is play than ur tie rod end is bad

 

yes that is what my friend told me to do as well, man some of you guys want me to take it off and check it when i can just jack the car up and do what dodge4x4 and neogeo said lol

 

Do it with the tire on!


For added pressure you can use a bar and wedge it between the floor and the the tire and rock the tire and look for movement.