the time has come to replace my tie rods and ball joints so im replacing everything and im going with Power Performance extreme duty because there complete kit is only $75 more than everything from moog anyways my question is im asked if it has straight or offset tie rods looking at them they look straight my concern is iv been told on 98's and newier there typically offset but not always iv never replaced these on my blazer since iv owned it so is there anyway to tell if there suppose to be offset and the previous owner put straight ends on not knowing the difference or is that not possible is there a rpo code stating which one mine truly needs i just dont want to spend almost $500 on parts to have the wrong ones a pic of a offset one would be really helpful to thanks

 

There are two tie rod ends on both driver and passenger side. The straight (longer) tie rod ends are on the outside (connects to the spindle) and the off-set (short) tie rod ends are the inners. Hope that helps.

 

The *straight* tie rods are for Blazers WITHOUT a ZR2 package. The *offset* are for those WITH the ZR2 package. The offset is to comensate for the ZR2's Hight diffrence as compared to a Non-ZR2 vehicle.

hers some pics of straigh and offset tie rods for refrence...

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Res...96&Ntk=Keyword

 

Right on thanks i know what a tie rod is and i know the difference between a inner and a outer tie rod that wasnt the question thanks RyanMatt for clarifying the difference almost not always but most the time when i shop for parts the item description states for blazers with or without zr2 package but now that you clarified it it does make sense who the zr2s would need a offset tie rod

 

So do you think there would be any benefit running the offset tie rods on a non zr2 truck that was lifted?

 

you would only bennifit if it was lifted 2 inches in front. or the same height as a ZR2

 

adding to this thread instead of starting a new one

1996 4x4 blazer, plan on adding rough countrys new lift this summer, but need tie rods now, can I run the offset ones without problems? Is it really worth the difference?