Hey Guys. I need a little help here. I just got done putting a steering gear on my D, and now my steering wheel is straight and my right steer tire is pretty straight, but the left steer is turned left about a half turn.

I bought the steering gear from a junkyard (I am broke) and the tie rod ends were still on it. According to everything I have read in the manuals, I should be able to turn the tie rod end to bring it in or out to help align it. Are those suckers just real hard to turn or is there a trick to it? I know I don't want to turn the actual tie rod, just the end.

I plan on taking her in to an alignment shop, but as she sits now I dunno if I can even limp her down the road without tearing something up. Any input would be most appreciated.

If anyone else out there is doing one of these, get yourself a cheater bar and a couple of 24mm-15/16 sockets, one deep socket, and an 18mm flare wrench comes in handy. Also do yourself a favor and disconnect both pinch bolts on the steering shaft. The book says to just do the bottom one, but it's almost impossible to put the shaft back on unless you connect the bottom, THEN the top.

 

There is a locking nut on it you need to back off away from the inner rod so you can turn the outer rod in more. But my question is why did you change the tie rods that were on your truck were they bad?

 

Ya. I had the jam nut backed off already. Guess maybe I'll just try some more liquid wrench. The tie rod ends were already on the steering gear that I put in. I kinda thought getting an OEM from a junk yard would be cheaper and more reliable. I heard about alot of the after market stuff leaking and going bad. I also wasn't prepared to spend 600$ on a new one from the dealer.

 

Were your tie rods that were on the truck bad? If not you should have just put the steering gear on the parts that were on the truck to begin with

 

ya. They were all seized up on there. Finally got it done. It took some doing, though. Think I gotta replace the lower ball joint and most likely the steering knuckle too.

It looks like the knuckle from a 00 or 01 fits the 02, but they changed in 03. The junkyards around here have very few durangos, and most of what they have is all smashed up on the left front just like mine. Does anybody know if the 98 or 99 steering knuckle fits the 02 4WD?

 

no they do not 98-99 and some 00 are the same, some 00 01 02 are the same 03 is different because of the brakes being changed (assuming we are referring to the same part when we say knuckle)

 

Thanks for that. It looks like the knuckle is good. I am having a VERY HARD TIME getting the lower ball joint out. It won't press out. I ended up pulling the rubber out. Been beating on it all day. Anybody have any tricks they wanna share?

 

rent a balljoint press from autozone or similar parts store, otherwise a BFH, some luck and some patience are your only options.

i promise the rental is worth every penny

 

yep, it's a $10 deposit from autozone so you get the money back when you return the tool.

 

Up here it's 100$ deposit. I cranked and cranked on that thing with no results. I took off the snap ring and everything. I'm ready to just buy a lower control arm with the ball joint already on it and call it a day. After poking around on the internet a little bit, it looks like sometimes these lower ball joints can be almost impossible to get out.
Just one last question: These lower ball joints press out through the bottom, right?