I keep a detailed spreadsheet on everything that is done to all my vehicles; in looking back over the Blazer's sheet.....I noticed that I had never changed-out the inner tie rod ends.
So, with being 23 yrs old, almost 184k miles, thought I should do this and it might help with the play in the steering wheel rotation.
Got the Blazer front on jack stands, trusting HF tie rod separator tool to work, pop'ed the left side inner tie rod joint out. (I left the outer tie rod end alone).
Rotated the inner tie rod end with the connecting sleeve to the outside, grabbed the inner tie rod end stem with my hand to wiggle it....just to see how loose it was......
It did not move, in fact I could not get it to move using both hands....it was as tight as the day it was installed.....23 yrs or so ago.

So am I correct in thinking that the inner tie rod ends are similar to the upper ball joints in that there is just no load on it, so they do not wear out?
I went ahead and replaced both sides since I had new ones, but sure seems like I wasted the money.
Live and Learn huh.....

 

I too keep a spreadsheet to keep track of my repairs and I don't think I've ever replaced any of my tie rod ends since I got my 99 in 2008. It now has 168k miles and about 70k miles were by me.

Whenever I am under the front end, and especially when I'm doing an oil and lube job, I give the tie rods a good shake and they feel fine.

As for wasting money? If you did, it wasn't much and now you have peace of mind. At worse you broke even with the replacement.

I made an order with Rock Auto recently and added a couple lower ball joints since mine are wearing a bit, although still within spec. I don't like to worry about parts.

What else have you checked for the origin of your looseness?

Common items overlooked are the steering gear and the rag-joint.

I replaced my steering gear almost a year ago with a Red Head one. It still feels super tight. Years ago I replaced the rag joint with a Flaming River u-joint. Along with my 1-ton idler arm upgrade, the truck steers like new.

 

Back several years ago I was on a mission to find and eliminate the play in the steering wheel. I replaced both outer tie rod ends, the pitman arm, had the steering box rebuilt/adjusted, made little difference. I checked and rechecked the rag joint, never found any looseness or slop in it, so have never replaced it. Did look at the Flamming River U-joint at that time, but did not get it.

With those six ball joints used in the steering design, that is a lot of movement that takes place even when the steering wheel is held in position, there will always be some play. That is my thinking anyways.
I know that in the past I have had an alignment done where the tech had me set the steering wheel to where I think it was straight, locked down, then the alignment (toe) was done.
I drive it away and to go straight down the road, the steering wheel is not centered. I know that streets are not flat or level, so this affects steering. One oddity is that if I have much of a load in the back of the Blazer, this really changes the go-straight steering wheel position, opposite of the un-loaded position.

Another item I noticed when I did the inner tie rod ends was when I raised the front end up, the right side tire was higher than the left, not by much, but I noticed it. I need to re-check ride height between the sides again, and probably adjust again. I have always thought the left side was heavier than the right due to the fuel tank being on the left side, so have tweaked the left torsion rod in the past....not by much though.

Anyways, I drove the Blazer last night and seems that even with the careful measurements I did to put the new inner tie rod ends at exactly the same distance as the old ones, the toe is wrong. I heard the left front tire squeaking when I backed out of the garage and then again upon my return. Will spend some time today attempting to correct that.

Thanks for the reply Christine, always good to read your experiences.

Later,
LannyL81


Anyways,

 

I've been wondering about that. A year ago my steering wheel was perfectly centered and now it (usually) points right. There's no pulling, no strange tire wear... it's as if a gremlin came in the night and loosened the links one turn.

 

Could it be that instead of a gremlin, it was Santa who did it because you were naughty and he had run out of coal to give out??

Merry Christmas!

 

Lanny,

You didn't mention checking the idler arm. Did you also replace that when you were trying to eliminate the looseness in the steering?

Regarding the steering gear, when you had it rebuilt, were the original races for the ball bearings reused? I ask because I remember the description of the rebuilding process by Red Head and Blue Top steering gears includes remachining the races and then using slightly larger ball bearings which they claim eliminates slop.

My one year old Red Head steering gear still feels good, but my experience is just one data point.

You got me thinking that other points where slop could originate are the control arm bushings.

Just some thoughts I had in case you didn't already have them too.

 

Christine,
I call the idler arm the pitman arm, not sure which is the correct term, but it was replaced at the same time the steering box was rebuilt.
From what I remember from the steering box rebuild, the guy did upgrade all the internals and the case itself to an earlier stronger design (according to him anyways).
I have replaced the upper control arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints. Have left the lower control arms alone. I have the torsion rod tool at the ready, just have not used it.
The upper control arm bushings were all cracked/split which is why I replaced them along with the ball joint; just got assembled arms from Moog, still have the OEMs sitting on a shelf.

Since replacing the inner tie rod ends, I have been trying to get the toe correct along with the steering wheel centered. With the steering wheel locked in the centered position, I have set the toe to be about 1/16" toe-in on each side. Go for a drive and steering wheel is off center to the left.

Will be taking it to an alignment shop once I find one that is reasonably priced for just setting toe. So far prices here are $110 to $120 plus shop fees! (Shop fees!....got into an argument over these last time).

 

That is nuts that you still have free play after replacing all those parts.

As for definitions, what I'm calling the pitman arm is the arm attached to the output shaft of the steering gear with the idler arm being the arm attached to a pivot on the passenger side frame.

I'm guessing that a new arm was attached to the steering gear when it was rebuilt.

As for the steering gear rebuild, all I have to go by is what I read about the rebuild process Red Head and Blue Top use which they claim to result in smaller tolerances and less freeplay.

As for alignment costs, what you quoted is about what my local tire shop charges. Also, I'm pretty sure rates at shops these days run $100-$120 per hour.

I must be getting old as I caught myself thinking "dang, it wasn't that long ago these rates were only $60/hr!" Then I realized those memories were from decades ago. LOL

 

Speaking of getting old here....which I am.....I have the terms completely messed-up!
You are correct; the pitman arm is connected to the steering box, the idler arm connects to the frame.....geeze....where is my brain at these days!!??....both were replaced when the steering box was done.
I broke the pitman arm puller I got off of ebay when trying to get the pitman arm off of the steering box. Ended-up getting a rental from local auto parts store to get it to come off.

But yep, steering play never changed.
I am sticking with my story that with the movement of 6 ball joints within the steering setup, that is just how it will always be....just another one of the Blazer's "quaint" characteristics.

Lastly I am zeroing in on getting the toe setting. I think one more adjust and drive will do it. I did find a shop that will set the toe for only $99.99 plus shop fees of course (two shots of spray lube and a towel...maybe).

 

So the lower control arm bushings were never done? I don't suppose these would make a huge difference in steering, maybe affects more how the truck rides and steering wheel feels.

If I recall correctly there are 2 different steering gear bearings. The older style bearing has less rollers or needles than the other. So the newer style bearing should feel smoother.

When I rebuilt my steering gear, I used the new style bearing, and I feel like some of the slop disappeared. Of course I could be imagining things.

The steering gear rebuild was really not too difficult, it's pretty straightforward if a person follows these instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGfRdcae204