tie rod ends

[esacfrank]

the truck is a 2003 Dodge 2500 4X4, crew cab, 5.7 litre
Just replaced the upper and lower ball joints, universals, rotors and pads. No problems during dis-assembly other than the just awful time separating the hub and steering knucle. it took a looooonnngggg time to get apart.
The problem is with the tie rod ends. I removed them with a pickle fork and now am trying to reattach. I bought 2 new nylock nuts but can't tighten them, the bolt just spins. Do I have to buy a new tie rod assembly?
What is the collective wisdom about this .
TIA
Frank
Newington, CT

 

[emjohn4]

Do the tie rod ends have a smaller hex at the end of the threads? Most do. That hex is to be held with one wrench, while a larger open end wrench is used to tighten the large nut.

Do you have an impact gun? You might be able to just spin them on with the impact.

 

[hemihustlin]

I reuse the old nuts to avoid this problem. If you tighten it properly they wont come loose just beacause its the old nut, dont worry.
But sometimes it will spin anyways, at this time i grab the biggest pry bar i can find and a friend is useful too if ur not a heavy person
Amyways find a good place to plant your bar where it wont slip or damage anything and pull downwards putting pressure on the head of the tie rod and zip that nut up where it goes

 

[MegaMouseGW]

New nuts need to have the threads cut into them. Do like emjohn says and see if the ends have a hex on them. They should. Using a deepwell socket and a standard wrench should get the new nuts tight. That is how most repair shops do it.