I took my Durango in for an alignment after I just put on new inner & outer tie rods on both sides, the shop said that they cant align it because of a bad upper ball joint on the passengers side. Looks like im gonna now have to do ball joints.

BUT, the mechanic had said that he is 90% sure that I put the outer tie rod in the steering knuckle upside down! I have spent hours looking through the internet at pictures, etc. for the tie rods on my 2000 dodge durango & they all show the outer tie rod ball joint has the threads pointing up in the steering knuckle, just like I did on mine. I am now convinced that the alignment guy is wrong! What do I do now?

 

i keep thinking about it. and it seems to me that the tie rod being upside down or right side up, is either right or wrong... no "90%" BS. if i were the mechanic, and i was not sure of something expecially like that, i would find out FOR SURE, and not send the message through a third party that he wasnt sure... i find it hard to beleive that i am right and this proffesional is wrong........

 

The hole for the tie rod is tapered, as is the stud on the rod. I am not sure it will even fit the wrong way. Easy enough to drop it out, and verify it is correct though, since you just changed it.

 

I can't remember ever putting a tie rod into a knuckle from the top down. Having the threads pointing down would be a good way to have road debris damage the threads making future replacement nearly impossible.

Like HeyYou said, the holes are tapered. As to the mechanic being wrong, he might be a technician and doesn't know much. I've been told that what I've been doing since the late 1960's is wrong numerous times. I just smile, nod my head and look around for their keeper.

I recently rebuilt the front end on my '97 Dakota and when I got done, it looked like your picture. The first Gen Dakota and Durango are pretty much the same in the front end.

 

Exactly. It only fits one way. The mechanic is not 90% right, he is 100% wrong!

 

Not a "mechanic", Parts changer.

 

Yesterday, I took my car to the shop that had originally told me that I needed inner tie rods. They aligned it. They told me that I did have the tie rods on correctly & that I did a good job, that the alignment was not far off. AND that the ball joints are good, with very little play, not enough to need replacing & that if they were bad, they would not have aligned it.

They even gave me a spread sheet, a full page with a complete digital description with the degrees & all of what it was, before, after, etc. Very thorough! And the car drove like a dream on the way home!!

What a relief! Alignement was successful, and no need for me to do the ball points.

AND I HAVE ALL OF YOU TO THANK FOR!! WITHOUT ALL YOUR HELP, EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END. I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THIS ISSUE SUCCESSFULLY! THANK YOU AGAIN!

Next on my list is a possible transmission fluid & filter change. & I would like to have do a compression test on all the cylinders. With over 314.000 miles on it & it being 23 years old, I am curious what condition the motor is in. Though it seems to run well, the only thing that I can tell that might be of concern is that sometimes when im idling it seems like maybe there is a small miss. But, no rush!! Just enjoying the fact that my front end issues are resolved & being over that hurdle..

THANX AGAIN!!

 

ol' grouch
"I've been told that what I've been doing since the late 1960's is wrong numerous times. I just smile, nod my head"

Being that i am a female, i know exactly what you are saying! since the late 70's..... been there many times too!! i think it's funny!! i tell em "I can F*** It up just as good as any man!" LOL!! But by doing it myself, the mistakes i make, i can move on towards correcting them and gain knowledge for the next time.

SO COOL!! I appreciate your candor!!

 

i am really not good with the internet stuff..... i cant for the life of me figure out how to delete my accidentally repeating messages..
all i can figure out to do is write something over the old one. i dont even care how to learn cause it's a wasting time i have other things to do. sorry for the messed messages.. lol

 

Every good mechanic has replaced some parts they broke accidentally. Technicians, maybe not. They don't make their own tools or parts either. As for being female, the best body "man" I've ever known was female. Little boys are encouraged to go out and play football and hunt and do "Manly" things to dominate. Little girls are taught to sew, cook, babysit and to feminine things. This trains them towards patience and detail. Women tend to not have the upper body strength of a man, but that body WOman could massage panels, stitch metal together with welds and lay down paint like you wouldn't believe. Not everything needs to have a DBH applied to it.

I wonder if the so called mechanic at the shop that told you the tie rods were upside down is still there?