Just bent my tie rod on the Rubicon last week. The bend is on the passenger side of the tie rod and can be easily noticed by the eye. Can I just heat the tie rod in place and hit it with a dead blow hammer to straighted it? Or... do I need to remove it and straighten it on the work bench.

Also....will the tie rod always be weaker in the straightened spot? I am thinking I may need to look into an aftermarket tie rod.

Thanks,
Mike

 

DO NOT heat and bend it. You are really asking for trouble then. You should never heat any front end parts unless you are replacing them. Good luck straightening it. One of the other guys in our group just had a bent tie rod and we tried to straighten it with a press and it still didn't come out perfect. You should upgrade yours to a heavy duty one, but in his case, we ordered one from mopar for around $150. Come with the passenger side outer already installed. Don't take a chance messing around with your steering.

 

Thanks for the reply!