Camry LE 4 cyl - 200K miles
I recently went for a realignment (got a deal from Firestone for a lifetime alignment for $150) because when I went to get my tires rotated, there was uneven wear on a tire. Not too worried about the uneven wear, I've had the Yokohama Avid Touring 4 on my Camry for the last 100K miles and the tires still have about 15K or so life left on them. The car was starting to pull to the right slightly too.
Anyways, when the mechanic had my car up, he told me that I needed to consider getting my tie rod replaced. I did watch him move the tire, and I also was able to shake the tire a bit, but it was less than a quarter inch of movement in and out from the side of the car. To the point, they did the alignment, but I was wondering if this is something that I should consider doing on my own? I was quoted the price of $350 from the Firestone people to have it done. I don't know the labor involved in doing this, as for the prices of the part. It's about $30 for an outer and $15 for an inner. Here are my questions:
- I have changed my brakes (front disc and rear drums) on my own, but was wondering if I should just take this in. Is it very labor intensive? Or were they just exaggerating the price?
- Do I need specialized tools ... a tie rod puller? etc. I've got a generic puller.
- Should I do both tie rods on both sides of the car for the front wheels?
- How often should I check the movement of the tire? I'd prefer to wait until summer when the weather is warmer for me to do it myself if I can do it. Otherwise, no preference, I'll get it done when/right before I get a new set of tires.
Thanks for the info guys.
Joe