Tie rod replacement

[toomanytoyzz]

I just bought a '94 MM 4x4 and the PO told me that he hit a curb and bent the left tie rod pretty good. I just bought them at NAPA and was wondering if it's pretty straight forward? I will obviously have to get it aligned afterwards, but just seeing if there are any surprises I may encounter. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is the first Mitsubishi (let alone MM) I've ever owned.

[4doorciv]

Your not gonna like this post but take it for what it's worth. Lol

If yours is the same as mine (I'm pretty sure it is. Lmao), you should check the entire steering set. Inner and litter tie rods, pitman arm and idler arm. 3 of the tie rods are the same, one is different. Reason it's the same inner and outter is because it uses a sleeve to connect them, the other in most cheap alignment places, will say it's non adjustable because it requires to pop the tie rod from the steering arm to adjust, and the alignment sops will say that because only one sleeve that the truck is a total toe adjustment only.

Pitman arm and idler arms should be replaced as a pair, and know that most ball joints from napa require a grease gun as they are empty and have a zirk fitting in a separate bag in the box. Lol.

Check all instead of just one, saves money in alignments. Lol install all parts before alignment.

[Law Dog]

Look it over first I would not trust the seller, it could be a bigger issue before you start putting money into it! Pretty tough stuff to just be bending it so I'd locate the problem first and go from there! IMO

[royster]

It is also important to replace the rim that hit the curb, if it hasn't been replaced: it will wobble like crazy, and there is no straightening it out.

I had almost all front-end stuff replaced within a week of getting my truck - I'm fortunate to know a good front-end alignment guy who took the time to replace all rubber and joints, the pitman arm etc before aligning. He suggested new shocks and I agreed.

One thing I can say for certain about these trucks: they aren't like American-made vehicles that spit-and-glue can keep on the road: any area of repair, be thorough and complete the first time around. Though it's expensive (possiblly) in one chunk, they can nickle-and-dime you to death if you take half-measures. They can also often-times cause you to use several hyphenated-expressions and double-entendres.