Thread: 2002 trailblazer tie rod ends

Need a new tie rod on 2002 blazer and i dont know what size 14mm or 16mm . I believe the 2002 come with 14mm and im thinking that if i order 16 mm i will also need inners also ....any thoughts ??

Roadie mentioned takeing a 15mm wrench and putting it over the threads. If it won't go over them it's the 16mm size, if it does it's the 14mm size.

My question is if i do have 14mm and i buy 16 mm tie rod ends will i also have to replace inner tie rods to 16mm ?

I believe so yes.

Can't upgrade that way. Frustrating, but they ALSO changed the thread on the rack, so an upgrade involves inner and outer tie rod ends, plus the much harder to change rack and pinion assy.

The change happened part of the way through the 2002 model year, so only a dealer looking up your VIN could tell for sure. Except for the trivial use-a-wrench-as-a-cheap-caliper trick.

Great Info ...thanks

+1 for the 15mm wrench trick

I still wonder why GM started with 14mm to then change it halfway through the model year like that instead of waiting until the 2003 model year... unless the 14mm tie rods risk breaking although I haven't seen any reports of such happening.

My 2002 uses 16mm tie rod ends. My father bought it in April... don't know when they had the chance of changing the size.

Originally Posted by the roadie

The change happened part of the way through the 2002 model year, so only a dealer looking up your VIN could tell for sure. Except for the trivial use-a-wrench-as-a-cheap-caliper trick.

Originally Posted by seanpooh

My 2002 uses 16mm tie rod ends. My father bought it in April... don't know when they had the chance of changing the size.

I don't know when your 2002 was built, but April would have been close to the end of the new 02's being built.

Used the 15mm wrench trick and found out mine are 14mm

Originally Posted by seanpooh

My 2002 uses 16mm tie rod ends. My father bought it in April... don't know when they had the chance of changing the size.

Is this a common concern on the TB? About how much should they cost to replace?

$100 each for a moog...nice replacement

It's not a concern but more of having the right part when you have your wheel off. If you had the wrong size then it would be a lot of cursing and putting things back together and running to the store again.

A little tip on the Moog tie rods; Advance Auto has great coupons on retailmenot. I got mine for $80.55 which does help.

Make sure ur nice to the stock jamb nut(so don't beat it to hell trying to get it off) as the moog does not come with one.

My moog came with a jam nut I think.... it has to because I try to set the Moog nut identical to my previous tie rod so I could drive to the tire shop for alignment without too much compromise.

Well I bought 2 a week apart at at different stores and they didn't come with one. So u got a btter deal ;)