steering linkage?

[bartkowski]

I'm not to familiar with the terminology so bear with me. I have a 2003 4x4 and where the steering arm meets at the grease boot, where on my '96 there is a grease fitting but none on my '03, is my problem. Well the fact that there are no grease fitting on this vehicle does bother me, the problem is the grease boot itself, it is split, from top to bottom. What part am I looking to replace, some guys told me I can replace just the boot and some say there is much more to it. I don't know exactly what i am looking for so when I ask to find it I get a lot of funny looks. Also is this something that wont take long to replace, and is there any special tools needed?

thanks guys!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the link you are talking about is called a tie rod end. newer vehicles do not have grease fittings in the tie rod ends, they are sealed and non-serviceable...dont let it bother you.

the part that your looking for is called a dust boot. you can buy just the boot and its much cheaper than buying an entire tie rod end. your local parts store should be able to help you find one. it can be replaced with basic hand tools in 15-20 minutes.

 

[bartkowski]

sounds good, one more question. Will changing the dust boot do anything to my alignment? I was looking around on this thing an don't really see any adjustments, is this like the rear wheels and don't need to worry about that?

bart

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the tie rods are adjusted by screwing them in or out. put it back in the same way it comes out and youll be fine.

 

[bartkowski]

nice, thanks!