Intro
Most stock parts on a stock Wrangler are impressive. Most of the choices Jeep made are good and solid. There are a few exceptions though, like the xfer case having a slip yoke, the gas tank want-to-be-a-skid-plate, the burn-the-crap-out-of-you metal button on the center console and the stock tie-rod. Lets talk more about the stock tie-rod. It is 1/8in wall 7/8in tubing with treads at both ends. It might work fine for light onroad and offroad driving but under any stress it will simply give up and fold in half.

The bend
Ok, so mine held up for nearly 100K miles of driving but the first time I bumped it with a rock, it bent. This created massive toe-in and although I drove it home just fine, it required me to replace it. Good thing there are heavy-duty aftermarket parts available. As a temporary fix, I used a floor jack to bend the sock unit mostly straight. I put about 1000 miles on it like that before I got the new one installed.

The replacement
I looked far and wide for all the replacement tie-rods out there and even contemplated making my own. It would seem that the best one out there is the Currie, but it is very expensive. The cheapest I could find was a unit on eBay. It was not the best but would have worked fine. Then there are the many models in the middle. I choose one of these. It was made by Big Daddy Offroad and is a direct replacement for the stock unit, using the stock tie-rod ends. It is made from 5/4in OD DOM steel and has an ID of 5/8in making the walls 5/16in thick. It has a wrench flat milled on one end and ships powdercoated black. Perfect.

The install
Not much to say here. Unscrew the old tie-rod, spin on the jam nuts, screw the new tie-rod into place, tighten the jam nuts. The only hard part is setting the toe-in. I did this with 2 friends and it took us about 3 tries to get it. We set the toe-in to be 1/8in when measured across the whole tire.

Afterthoughts
The tie-rod is a very nice piece and the install was a breeze. I have yet to even scratch the powdercoat but I am sure it will handle anything I can throw at it.

Some pictures