I'm wondering if the tie rod is supposed to rotate and clunk like this? I've read that side to side movement is normal but can't find anything about the noise. The noise is coming from the inner rod. Thank you.

 

Both of mine have never moved before. I highly doubt that is normal.

 

I just took my tires off to grease some poly bushings this weekend and did a compression rod bushing check and tie rod check while I was down there, that rotational movement is normal, grab the joint (or steering knuckle) and try to manually turn the knuckle aggressively, that's where you will notice the wear because things will move in the tie rod location but NOT make the other tire move. You must tighten the lug nuts substantially (use washers and spin open ended nuts on backwards) or the rotor will move first and create noise if you're just pulling on the rotor to simulate the movement.

It';s easiest to side-jack the vehicle (or brace the opposite tire so it can't turn) but you typically hear a slight clunking sound when manually pulling on the tire if the tie rod ends are starting to wear.

EDIT: the best way to check tie rod ends is to drive over a pit (local lube shop, just tip them a $20 to use the pit for 5 minutes on a slow day) then get one of their techs to turn the wheel back and forth while you stand below and look/listen for play. Obviously you need to remove the splash guard ahead of time.

 

i dont think it should move that freely.

 

Thanks for the replies. Replaced the outer rods, they had way too much play and problem solved.