I have a 1993 Dodge Dakota 2wd, 4 cylinder. The truck has been in a shop for almost a month now waiting for tie rod ends. The front end has been almost completely rebuilt but they cannot find the right tie rod ends. They have tried all the local parts stores with no luck and have ordered the ends direct from parts suppliers with no luck. The problem is that they get the parts but they are the wrong parts. No one seems to be able to supply the right tie rod ends. Even with the VIN still no parts.
Have they tried getting them from a Dodge dealer?
Exactly what doesn’t fit? Have they considered changing the whole tie rod out?
I first ran into this problem a couple years ago when I installed a new steering rack myself. At the time I knew I needed tie rod ends but could not get the right ones, same problem, so I just installed the rack. Forward a few years and it is obvious that the truck needs alignment so I took it into a shop and asked them to align it and they find lots to replace including tie rod ends. I can`t say exactly now what the actual difference is between the existing ends and the ones that they have tried but nothing has worked. I tried originally to go through the Dodge dealer with no luck. I live in a remote community in Alaska with no local mechanics, no roads out. I put the truck on a ferry to Juneau expecting to get it back on the next ferry.
O’Reilly’s Auto Parts show them as being available and they do ship.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Tie+Rod+End/03448/C0203.oap?keyword=tie+rod+end&year=1993&make=Dodge&model=Dakota&vi=1087545
The store brand parts are 25-30 dollars each and the Moog is about 57 dollars.
I’ve used a number of the store brand parts with no problem just in case that’s an issue.
Hope that helps and good luck.