are the left and right tie rods the same? is there a special way to allign the front end after replacing the tie rods?

 

I can't remember if the tie rods are the same or different. I think they are the same.

As far as alignment, I have never found a quick, easy way. I'm not going to describe this well but, I've always did my best to find a center point on the tires and measure front and back center points of the tire to get the toe angle right.

For alignment I used the back tires and long straight edge to make a straight line the length of the quad on both sides. you can measure out from the tires a few inches and get your lines outside the quads front tires. Measure from your line to the front of your tires on both sides to get the alignment.

It takes a little trial and error but, it seems to work best for me.