COMANCHERED Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Hello all! I have been a member for a little while now and have always found the answers to my questions by searching the forums or by just reading every line of every post and eventually stumbling upon the answer. I'm stumped! My Truck: 1990 Jeep Comanche Sport Truck Engine: 4.0 renault bendix Tranny: AX-15 5 speed Other Info: Its red and has a bench seat! SWB truck and four wheel drive, dana 44 rear, lifted. O.k., my problem stems from the fact that my truck is equipped with a Trail Master lift kit with drop brackets and from what I can tell, the steering arm that goes from the pitman arm to the passenger side steering knuckle has been switched out to accept larger than factory tie rod ends. The tie rod end at the pitman arm is in desperate need of replacement and I have ordered the parts for a factory unit, it is TOO SMALL. From searching the tech and DIY forums I have found the part numbers for the TRE that others have used, they match what I have but just will not work. The TRE that I took off has no number that I can find and is about an 1/8th to 3/16ths bigger than the factory part. I have it all taken apart in the shop and would like to be able to get it back on the road. Just wondering how you all would go about replacing this part without knowing anything about it? I'll get around to setting up a project page for my truck soon as I have the "fever", and basically enjoy this truck! Just in a hurry today and need help! Thanks ahead of time for all of the help that I am sure is to come.
JeepcoMJ Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 post pics of your steering setup so we can tell you if it's aftermarket steering, and maybe give you some ideas.
COMANCHERED Posted January 3, 2011 Author Posted January 3, 2011 Will post some pics tomorrow sometime. I didn't have the opportunity before as i was about 400 miles away from home but am home now.
KYMJ Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Remove it, go to a "real" auto parts store. NAPA would be a good choice, somewhere with somebody that can do things the old fashion way and look up parts in a catalog. All part #'s show measurements and specifications in the back of the appropriate catalog. Shouldn't be a problem finding a match after getting measurments of your tre with a caliper. I've done that back in my NAPA days. Good luck!
dasbulliwagen Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Get pics too of the steering knuckle, if its been swapped too that might be an issue as well. That will at least get us on the right track. :thumbsup:
COMANCHERED Posted January 3, 2011 Author Posted January 3, 2011 I'm working on posting the pics. In the town I live in, NAPA is all there is, so they will most likely be the "go to" store for most of the random mechanical parts that will be thrown at my truck from here on out. I visited the local NAPA today and when looking through the parts catalog I came to find out that the TRE listed for my truck (1990) is part number: ES2222L. I have this part. After measuring the one I took off my truck, I found that I need the TRE for the model year 1991. I ordered it and its going to be delivered tomorrow. I know that these were the transition years from AMC to Chrysler, but with my truck showing a build date of 10/89, I would think that the '91 parts would have been swapped in. I know its hard to tell without pics if its a factory steering setup or not so I'll get to work on the pics.
driggity Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 I think some of the aftermarket steering setups utilize the 91 and newer tie rod ends. That's probably what is on your truck.
mkbruin Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 I think some of the aftermarket steering setups utilize the 91 and newer tie rod ends. That's probably what is on your truck. Some use ZJ TRE's. Some use Chevy TRE's.
COMANCHERED Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 Could be either. Got the part this morning and it went right on. I aligned the truck and have been driving it around quite a bit this morning, even took it out on the highway. The steering is alot tighter and now it doesn't swerve at all when braking. I'll still post picks so that you all can verify what I do or don't have.
COMANCHERED Posted January 5, 2011 Author Posted January 5, 2011 This is the steering setup that I have on my truck. This is the passenger side steering knuckle. This is the drivers side steering knuckle. This is the new TRE in the truck.
comanche12 Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 Iwould clean those grease up off from ball joint before it starting catch(sticky) all dirts up if I'm were you. its my habit to clean them up after grease it up.
COMANCHERED Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 Hey, just wondering what anyone thinks about this setup? I'm still not sure if this is the factory setup or aftermarket. i can post more pics if needed.
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