YJ: D44 steering upgrade - 1Ton Tie rod ends boot problems?

[SoCal4X]

I was slapping on the new tre's this weekend and for some reason I believe the boots are almost compressed all the way and don't look right to me. Can someone take a look and see what they think? Did I get the wrong tre's? They are labeled es2026R & 2027L. The picture shows it tightened down. But the ones for the draglink don't look like this, the boot still looks similar prior to installation.

Thanks

[6spdYJ]

If you pull the wire ring off of the boot and then work the boot off, put the TRE back into it's hole. Look to see that the shoulder seats fully from top to bottom. If there's a gap at the top, the TRE is too small.
You want to have a few threads left inside the small bore when it's seated so there is room to have the threads pull the TRE fully into it's bore.
The other thing to consider is; did the high steer arm get reamed too deep? Measure the upper and lower openings of the tapered hole. The bottom (small side) should be really close to 5/8" (.625"). I don't recall what the top diameter is, but the wall angle should be 3.5* (7* reamer). If it's cut too deep, the fix is either a new arm or a sleeve with the proper angle and depth that is welded in after drilling out the arm.

[SoCal4X]

Thanks for all the pointers. It helped me out quite a bit. It looks good without the boot. After its tightened down there are no threads sticking out of the bottom. The only thing I notice is that it travels more without the boot. The boot is a limiting factor. Here are some pics for comparison. I hope the boot doesn't rip when flexing. But now that I think about it the tie rod doesn't really travel that much correct?

[6spdYJ]

Ideally you would want 2 or 3 threads inside the small end (by the nut) when it is torqued and the nut has been removed. You don't want the nut to bottom out where the threads end. You need to have a few threads in there to allow for thread/bolt stretch. Looking at the 2nd pic, it almost looks like there is a small gap around the large end of the shank. Hopefully it's just the angle of the shot. Can you push it in by hand till it seats and still have threads in the arm? If so, it should be OK. You could shave a bit off of the arm near where the boot gets pinched. Since the shank seats in the taper and the nut holds the small end, you really won't lose any strength. Just a bit - and not so far that the top hole is affected.

[SoCal4X]

I have a couple of threads inside the hole so I think I'm god to go. The nut doesn't bottom out. I might consider milling down the arm a bit to clearance the boot a little more.

Yesterday I ordered the reamer (7.15*) to ream out the hole for the draglink as its not the correct size.

Can't wait to get the hydro assist installed as I can't turn these pit bull rockers when aired down!

Thanks for your help 6spd.

[daniel_buck]

Where did you get your reamer from? I have some tie-rod holes that have some rust and crud on them, I'd like to ream them out.

[6spdYJ]

I ground down a cheap unibit from harbor freight on a tool sharpening machine. It has to go really slow with a lot of oil and pressure because the flutes are cut straight. The angle is 26.5*
You may want to just hit them with a round wire brush in a drill.

[SoCal4X]

Xkut #5952

Where did you get your reamer from? I have some tie-rod holes that have some rust and crud on them, I'd like to ream them out.

I bought it on ebay. Xkut reamer. P/N 5952. What sucked it was $85! Lol. A lot of people on pirate had a good feedback on this one vs the snap on one. They mentioned snap on r121 was not the correct taper but some people still used it. Same thing along on other boards mentioned the same thing.

From my research i did online the taper is 1.5" per foot taper. In degrees it would be 7.15 degree taper.

You are more than welcome to borrow it if you are close by to lake elsinore. Shoot me a PM.