Got the dinky little XJ tie rod out today:



ZJ one installed:



It has the new adjustment sleeve:



The steering is noticeably stiffer, and when I hit bumps, the wheel doesn't move. It was a GREAT upgrade for the oversized tires for the price.

 

Previous owner of my Jeep tried to kill me today!

After installing my ZJ tie rod, I decided to go and get a professional alignment. Everything went well... until the manager test drove my Jeep.

When that happened, the steering gave out. The manager called a wrecker and and got my Jeep towed back to the alignment shop. Luckily, he was only going 5 MPH when the steering gave out. It could have been me driving the Jeep when it went out, and I could have been going highway speeds – I'd have been done for.



Anyway... it turns out that the previous owner rigged my steering intermediate shaft in such a half-assed way that it just came un-done. You can visibly see the wear and tear from the bolt not being seated high enough to fit into the notch:



The rust also goes so far up the splines that you can tell the sleeve that goes over it wasn't seated all the way over it. In fact, it wouldn't even reach:

 

Steering is all back together today, although since this happened, now I get anxious about it ever happening again.

I changed my oil today and added in some Lucas oil stabilizer.

 

I have the same worries, every time I fix the little things I'm paranoid.

 

Yeah, it was a wake up call.

 

Looks like they broke my clockspring while rotating the steering wheel to show me it was free-spinning.

Geez!

 

The new clockspring came in today, so I have to make an appointment for the shop that broke it to install the new one. I could just as easily do it myself, but since it'll be free for them to do it, I might as well let them.

 

Hijack: Does anyone have any tips for removing the bolt on the driver side tie rod end clamp?

 

It's a tapered bolt. It creates a mechanical weld. To break this, you'll need a tie rod pickle fork, and a hammer.

 

And if the weld is already broken? The bolt keeps spinning and I can't get a good hold on it?

 

It's a tapered bolt, so if the mechanical weld is broken, just put the nut back on the end of it so that the threads aren't showing, and whack the crap out of it with a good old hammer until it breaks loose.

 

Did it get in the way over the fill plug? I've read of some people running into that issue, I'm looking at picking one up eventually. Sweet build also.

 

Yes, it does. But for how often you might access it, it's not too hard to just remove the bolts from the bottom and take it off:



Thanks!

 

that's weird...mine doesn't impact the fill plug at all. Yours seems taller?

 

Looks like his may be a cover for a low pinion 30 not a high pinion 30. Different fill heights...