MOOG DS1312 Steering Tie Rod End for Jeep Grand Cherokee

I had heard that these MOOG parts were being made in China. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the packaging and seen "Made in U.S.A." on each box. I bought these 3 parts to replace the smaller hollow tie rod on my 1998 Jeep XJ. This ZJ tie rod is substantially thicker and heavier. It is around twice the diameter and is solid instead of hollow tubing.The price is very affordable for what you get. At the time of writing this I was able to buy all three parts for a total of around $84. Not bad for the upgrade it seems to be. I assumed my tie rod was the original one and due for an upgrade anyways.You can look at the pic I took of the boxes to see "Made in U.S.A." clearly written on them as well as the individual part numbers should you decide to do this same upgrade on your Jeep.***Note: I did have to tap the hole for the grease zerk as it was smooth inside. I used a 1/4-28 bottom end tap. It may be possible to simply thread the zerk in and it cut it's on threads, but I didn't want to take a chance on damaging it. I'm not sure why they don't tap the hole at the factory. The tie rod end that goes on the opposite end that I got to complete this assembly came with a threaded zerk hole.***

I recently purchased a 2004 Wrangler Unlimited, and with plans to lift and bigger tires, I figured making sure the steering was in good shape was important. My existing steering had 3 tie rod boots leaking, as well as one that looked like it was about to explode it was so ballooned out the side. I didn't want to chance anything, so I went ahead and got the following to do the upgraded/refreshed steering:MOOG parts needed for TJ / XJ tie rod upgrade:Tie Rod End - ES3096LAdjusting Sleeve - ES2079STie Rod - DS1312I wanted to refresh everything, so I ordered the following parts in addtion:Drag Link DS1430Tie Rod End - ES3096LAdjusting Sleeve - ES2079SSince I was replacing all of the parts, I removed the old stuff as one assembly, and after setting my new parts to the same length, chucked it in the metal bin at the dump. The new tie rod is much beefier than the original, as it's a solid piece as well as being thicker. Installed just like the originals, and then I did a quick measuring tape alignment to get it good enough to get to the shop for a real alignment. Steering is nice and tight now, and I know the extra beef will serve my larger tires even better.

This thing is significantly heavier and thicker than the stock XJ tie rod. After holding the old part and comparing to this one, I'm impressed that the original held up as well as it did considering stock is just a big metal straw with TREs bolted on the ends.This is probably about as bomb-proof as I would need for mild crawling (currently with 31" tires but previously 33's...) I banged and scraped the old part on small boulders and this one makes that one look like a toy or something off a lawn tractor.Installed perfect with no clearance issues in front of a Dana 30 with stock cover.Remember: the wheels will swing freely when you remove the old drag link and tierod!Update (30 Jun 2016): Installed a second one after bending the first on a rock when the driver front tire slipped off of it and dropped the whole front end of the Jeep on the tie rod. Was still driveable on the trail after turning the clamp bolts out since they were catching on the spring perch/sway bar mount (which also bent.) Adjusted further later to toe the wheels back out for the highway. Picking up a third for a spare soon!

This thing is thick, solid & way tougher than the TJ stock parts.Add in the coupler & rod end & it is done.Need:1- MOOG Chassis Products ES3096L Tie Rod End, Regular1- MOOG Chassis Products ES2079S Tie Rod End Adjusting SleeveJeep Grand Cherokee "ZJ" torque specs. same as factory "TJ"Coupler 36 ft-lbBalljoints 55 ft-lbComes unpainted, de-grease, prime & paint to your choice of color.

Missing the threads to put in the grease fitting . Should of read the bad reviews before I bought because apparently I’m not the only one

After almost 17 years of service mine was ready to retire. I never felt comfortable with the stock version. It just looked so small and was based on a hollow tube. I had read there was a "stock" upgrade to the factory link. After a lot of research, it was clear that the part would work on a Cherokee but all the people providing this info were running raised Jeeps with large wheels. Mine is still factory. I was very concerned about the clearance between the tie rod ends and the wheels. I decided I would give it a shot. Installed the link, replaced the wheel, and I had room to spare! You will not notice a huge performance increase (other than you have replaced a worn part) in the steering but you will have a solid center link.

This is a good upgrade for stock Jeep MJ / XJ / TJ steering without going aftermarket. I have pretzeled the stock cherokee tierod a few times but managed to have good luck with these.Like many others , it didn't have any threads on the grease port. I was able to drive it in with some force and a small box wrench. -1 star for that

MOOG parts needed for TJ / XJ upgrade:Tie Rod End - ES3096LAdjusting Sleeve - ES2079STie Rod - DS1312(total less than $105 w/ free shipping to me in Alaska = SUPER UPGRADE!)These 3 items are Moog quality and the center link DS1312 is what the Jeep TJ should have come with in the first place.Getting this is a worthwhile investment when the stock tie-rod needs to be replaced.Gonna put this on a 10 year-old Wrangler TJ 4.0L that I got new in late 2003 off the showroom floor...remember to use a torque wrench for the right 'specs + synthetic grease for lubing the Moog parts for a long life because this will serve any Jeep do-it-yourself owner for many years to come.**Worth every cent!!!**