DonaldSmith Posted July 28, 2022 Report Share Posted July 28, 2022 A previous replacement of tie rod dust covers was showing its age, with a poor fit to boot. So I ordered poly dust guards with their depths and diameters to suit the ball joint ends. But I had to address the problem where the pitman arm crunches the grease fitting on the tie rod end. Looking up and forward. The pitman arm has solid bushings that I cobbled, instead of the resilient bushings which were prone to failure. In a right turn, the pitman arm swings to the left, pulling the right tie rod end against it and damaging the grease fitting. Red grease is oozing from the spot. So, I wondered why the grease fittings are at the top of the ends. Did I do that in some past repair? I replaced the damaged fitting, installed the new dust covers, and flipped each tie rod end for end. Slick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannuck Posted August 4, 2022 Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 I am no mechanic but I would flip the tie rod ends back to there original positions to see if that solved your problem. Like I said i am no mechanic but why did you flip them to begin with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldSmith Posted August 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 How the tie rods got installed with the grease fittings up is a mystery. My shop manual shows nothing but a picture of a typical ball joint end being popped loose. But tie rods flipped, problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted August 4, 2022 Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 the parts manual usually has a better picture of how it goes together than the FSM, but that's not to say it'll have the picture you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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