Two days ago I bought tie rod ends for Thursday when I finally get enough of a break from school to do my disc brake conversion. The problem is that in my manual it says not to grease the tie rod ends before putting them on. One of the tie rods I got must have been a return because it's been greased(though from looking at threads I'm guessing never installed). I just am wondering if there's a reason for this and if I should return it to get a tie rod that is ungreased. I'm looking so forward to getting $300+ worth of parts out of the shed and onto my car(hopefully I don't screw up too bad )

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

I have always greased everything after it is installed.
Not sure why the manual says to not grease before installing. It would make a big mess, as you squeezed-out all the extra grease when the boot gets compressed.
DD

Here's my guess; perhaps they mean don't grease the stud, since it might lead to a false torque reading. With grease on it, it would turn easier and you would end up over-torquing it, which means snap going down the road.

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"A mechanic is Somebody."
- Jim Preston