My truck has been pulling to the right so I checked the front wheels and it looks like there is some play inside the inner tie rod boot. The outer tie rod looks ok and I previously checked toe alignment and that look ok also. The only play seems to be at the boot. I checked the left side wheel and there also seems to be slight movement in the boot.

I have read many posts regarding "pulling to right" but have not seen any threads relating the pull to an inner tie rod issue. My truck is stock, tires in front are wearing more on the outside edge. I think the inner tie rods may be bad on both front wheels and the "play" is enough to cause the truck to pull to the right because of the road slope which exaggerates the movement. Has anyone dealt with this issue, changed the inner tie rods, and found improvement?

 

Tie rod wear alone isn't likely to cause a "pull" where the truck wants to fall off the road so much .... and usually tie rod wear will result in accelerated wear of the inside tread on the tires as the spindles are allowed to rotate backwards around the steering axis by the slack in the tie rod ends.

Alignments do change with small bits of wear, impacts, miles, etc. Rubber in bushings ages, compresses. Tires have rolling resistance as the tire is forced to deform at the contact patch, larger heavier tires more so. Deep wheels are like adding longer ratchet handles to sockets in that they increase the leverage the steering works against keeping the wheels pointed to that same city 500 miles down the road in Georgia ..... instead of one pointing to Spartanburg, SC. while the other wants to go to Meridian, Ms.

In short, I think you will cure it with a thorough inspection of wear components, replacement of those that are out of wear limits, and a quality front end alignment job.

 

I think mine are wearing the outside edges because of the toe out condition caused by worn inner ball joint. So if I am driving from Clemson to Greenville, my truck wants to pull towards Greenwood.

 

Toe-out will cause wear on inside edges, toe-in on outside edges. Loose inner or outer tie rod ends will generally cause toe out as stated above, however they generally will not cause pull in either direction, more so just vague steering or wander. A pull to one side only is usually ball joints or possible a bad tire. To check ball joints, wheel must be off the ground. Grab the top of the tire and push in/out on it. Any play at all, ball joint is fried. Note, you may have to use a crow bar under the tire against the ground to see this too but if you see it by hand only, for sure an upper or lower is gone.