Inner tie rods?

[hawksoob]

So, after too long of neglecting my tires, I noticed that the two fronts were showing uneven wear. Like big time. Outside edge worn down to the second layer of rubber. So, I figured, of course, I needed an alignment. I took it to F-stone and had them do my free w/purchase rotation and then do an alignment. I get a call from them about a half hour later telling me that they couldn't do an alignment unless they replaced the inner tie rods. They were bad and that was causing the misalignment. I ended up leaving the place with a $1000 estimate (inner tie rods, alignment, new tires, and a bunch of other crap not associated with anything - fuel system cleaning, bulb replacements, etc.).

 

Thing is, I have no problems with steering. No clunking noise when making sharp turns, which I understand is a symptom of bad tie rods. I noticed when I was changing my oil and checking other fluids that my PS fluid was way low, so I filled that up. Wouldn't think that would have anything to do with anything, though. Just a coincidence, but might be notable. I haven't gotten on the highway to check anything yet. It basically veers to the right when I let go of the wheel on the highway.

 

So, can an inner tie rod be bad enough to cause alignment issues without making any noise? How pressing is this? The estimate for just the tie rods was around $380. That sound about right for parts and labor?

 

Thanks,

 

Hawk

[nipper]

They cant do a proper wheel alignment with bad tie rods.

 

I dont know about the price quote, but i dont like it whenever a shop says you need things like a fuel injection cleaning when you didnt have any running complaints.

 

Find a real front end shop and let them look at it.

 

nipper

[Reveeen]

can an inner tie rod be bad enough to cause alignment issues without making any noise?

 

A "inner tie rod" on a car with rack and pinion steering is not what you would *think* of as a conventional tie rod end. What you are looking at is a kind of ball in socket arrangement, the socket screwing to the end of the rack, and the ball with attatched shaft hooking up with a conventional outer tie rod end. With "play" in this socket assembly you have no control of a toe-in/toe-out situation, thus burning the tires off of your car, and making alignment imposable). Usually on a "loaded" suspension any play here is noiseless. What you would do is jack up your front wheels, one at a time, and using a stand of some sort for safety, and grab the tire fore and aft checking for "play" (top and bottom for wheel bearing). Inner tie rods are protected by boots (to keep the crap out), so they are not as prone to wear as an outer tie rod end, but they do wear out.

 

My '91 Legacy needed 2 inner tie rod ends @ 260,000 mi. parts cost (moog, lifetime warranty) was $80 each CDN, time to change about 1/2 hour each.

 

But at this point, as was suggested, maybe a visit to an alignment shop should be in your future (a "proper" alignment shop that does only alignments).

[Hocrest]

Jack up one front wheel at a time. Yank it back and forth, like your trying to "steer" it. If there's movement, then yeah, could be your tie rod...

[hawksoob]

After a month and a half of putting off doing anything about his, I went ahead and just took it someplace else to get an alignment and new tires. There were no problems there. No mention of bad tie rods or anything. Just alignment and new tires. It rides great now.

 

After seeing 15 pages of complaints on ripoffreport.com about Firestone adding on fictitious repairs when people originally came in for basic maintenance issues, I doubt I'll be going back there again.

[Reveeen]

I *guess* the $100 question is "did the second shop miss the play in the inner tie rods?"

Missing this is, well, not easy, but if your car is low mileage, would they look?

Something else to consider is parts availability. I live in the weeds, inner tie rods for Subaru cars take a week to get, if the play is "not bad" and the desire to get the car out is great, then the alignment guy makes the call.

Watch your new tires.

 

Many chain auto repair places pay crap wages. The mechanics can "up" their pay by selling parts (that they get a percentage of). Not all of these places/mechanics are honest.

 

I once worked at a tune-up/electrical shop located 2 blocks from a Firestone store, and had "service calls" there about 3 times a week, to get running what they couldn't. We used to joke about Firestone store tune-ups, and how many a car could stand, before it wouldn't run any more.