Tie Rod Ends Replacement on a 99 Toyota Corolla?

Howdy all,

I have a question that I figured would probably be best answered here
before taking my 99 Toyota Corolla in for an inspection.

A real quick background:

99 Toyota Corolla (obviously)
~ 105,600 miles
I've had the car for about a year and a half.
Tires: Pirelli P3000 with about 7,000 miles on 'em.

Lately I've been noticing a little bit erratic wandering with the
car.  It also feels like I could have a tire or wheel out of round, so
I took the car over to Discount Tire to have them do my rotation and
balancing that came with the tires when I bought 'em.  They couldn't
find any wheel or tire issues, and since they don't do any mechanical
work, when I told them about what I'm experiencing, they recommended I
take it in for a front end inspection and see if the tie rod ends are
causing the problem.  The symptoms that Betty (my car's name) is
experiencing are as follows:

- Feels bumpy on the front left when I'm driving.
- Once in a while when I'm increasing speed, going over a bump in the
road, or braking I'll hear a click on the front left end of the car.
Not always, but sometimes.  (I had my brakes checked before the winter
and they said they were in great shape, and since I experience it when
I'm going over bumps and the like, I figure it's probably not a brake
issue like a caliper or something).
- When I'm backing up and turning, say pulling out of a parking space,
and turning my steering wheel to the left so that the back of the car
will go to the left, (fun explaining this in writing!) it has a bumpy,
almost rhythmic feel depending on how sharp the turn is.
- The car's alignment is off and veers off to the left.  I've tried it
on several different roads, so I don't think it's the crown of the
road.

I took the car in when I first got it as it seemed to have vibration/
bump and alignment issues.  The dealership said that it had a wheel
that was out of round and replaced it, as well as aligned the car.
Even though they replaced it, the issue didn't seem to disappear
100%   Now, since then I've gone over many a pothole and a few weeks
ago, being the sensitive female I am, I swerved while going 55mph to
avoid hitting a squirrel.  I don't know if that had anything to do
with it, but my conscience is clear as I didn't hit the squirrel.  :)

So, I guess my question is this:

Does it sound like it could be the tie rod ends?  If it were to be
just a matter of an alignment, would there be a possible clicking?

How much does a repair like this end up costing?  I'm not in the best
financial shape and I wanted to know what I should expect before even
driving the car to a shop.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this message.  Your answers
are appreciated. :)

Samantha



So, Discount