tie rod ends - replacement?

[ncsucarjock]

No. endlinks attach the swaybar to the hub assembly/knuckle. Tie rods attach the steering rack to the hub assembly/knuckle.
There's really not a good diagram on Realoem. If you look under the car though, you can see what I'm talking about. There are basically 3 sets of iron rods that attach to the hub assembly (what the tire bolts to). Two of those sets bolt onto the frame rail, and have rubber bushings on the frame rail side.

the other iron rod, is linked to the very forward portion of the hub/knuckle, and about 8" away, has a rubber "bellow" - or dust protector on it. If you look you'll see that this disappears up into "nowhere". under that bellow, is a bolt, that screws into the steering rack, which is connected to the steering wheel. The links connecting the steering wheel to the hub/knuckle are called tie-rods. there is an inner tie-rod (the one that bolts into the steering rack) and an outer tie rod (that is a threaded shaft that screws into the outer tie rod). Those threads allow for adjustment to get the alignment correct. Which is why you have to have an inner and an outer. And...in this case...if yours are seized, which happens sometimes, in order to get an alignment, you'll have to replace the tie rods to allow movement in the front end. I seriously doubt my car had been aligned since leaving the factory.

Hopefully that helps...

[omodos]

thanks for the reply fella, ok well i reckon it is my chopsitcks (sway bar link rods) as i get cluttering noises over speed humps or potholes, funny or scary thing is that the vehicle passed its bi-annual inspection and was not noticed....from what i gather you got noises up front when turning the steering wheel....

[ncsucarjock]

Yeah, replace those sway bar endlinks first. Typically, they cause noise. tie rods dont' really cause much noise, but do cause slop in the steering.