Warned about tie rod needing replacement

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:

  1. 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?

  1. Do I need specialized tools ... a tie rod puller? etc. I've got a generic puller.

  2. Should I do both tie rods on both sides of the car for the front wheels?

  1. 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

Reply to
Joe
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The following is from the free online guide at Autozone. If you buy the joints from them, check to see if they'll be able to print out a professional instruction sheet by their AllData subsidiary. They advertised on TV about this new service (shown doing brake pads).

You can order the ball joints from rockauto.com. For instance, Spicer (Dana Corp) service grade lower joint is about $17 (5051178B). The excellent Moog K9499 is about $37. These are for 96 as I don't see what year your Camry is. You can borrow (for free) the necessary tools from Autozone (or your other local parts stores, terms may vary).

Good luck!

Lower ball joint:

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Camry LE 4 cyl - 200K miles

Reply to
johngdole

The year is 2000. Thanks for the info on the pricing. Can anyone talk about the other questions 1 thru 4 that I've mentioned above?

Reply to
Joe

I own a 1999 Camry CE. I was told that it needed new tie rods at about

135000 to pass the state inspection by the local VIP dealer here in Maine. I did not have the money so I took it off the lift and started for home. On a hunch I stopped at a local repair shop. The Camry passed the state inspection and now has 168000 miles with the original tie rods. The same VIP store also told my daughter that her 2002 Dodge Caravan with 80000 miles need tie rods the very next week. Guess what, she went to the other garage and passed the inspection. VIP threatened to call the State Police if she did not replace them as the van was unsafe. She told them to go head, in fact she would call them herself. They relented. Be care who you believe. Norm
Reply to
norm46

Just curious, what is "VIP" ? (I don't live in Maine) Is it some sort of auto dealership or repair chain of shops ?

Otherwise, your story & your daughter's sound all too familiar.

Many times people on this group lament how no one seems to maintain their automobiles anymore. After people have this sort of experience once or twice at the Toyota dealer (or wherever but the dealers seem to be the worst offenders), it's no wonder car owners go out of their way to defer repairs.

I'm glad you were able to keep 'em honest (in your case, at least).

Reply to
Justa Lurker

You may want to verify if and which ball joints (incl outer tie rod ends) are really worn out. Going back to the questions:

  1. IMO, it's pretty easy stuff if you can pull rotors and clean anchor pins etc, so do check the Autozone guide and decide for yourself. The specific procedure for your 2000 is similar and the lower ball joint is really an assembly as priced. But you should check the ball joints first and make sure they really are the culprit.

The only thing these two ball joints aren't going to fix is the looseness in the inner tie rod end. A worn PS rack is going to be a bit loose. For that it would be better to replaec the PS rack with a rebuilt (for example, Cardone). It's quicker and cleaner with a good warranty.

  1. Autozone or your other local parts store should have the needed special tools. Terms may vary, from free to a few dollars a day.

  1. Hopefully you replace these things before they go bad, but not too long before that you waste money. And mark the threads so you can get it back without disturbing the alignment (much).

  2. Specified ball joint check intervals vary. Your service schedule should tell you. For me it's a once a year thing with brake cleaning/ fluid flush. But with each tire rotation (6000 miles or so) it would be a good time to check these.

If ball joints are determined to be bad, then replacement is warranted, not more frequent inspections.

Reply to
johngdole

Great! Thanks for your helpful advice and information. Always a pleasure to deal with you folks on here. :)

Reply to
Joe

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Reply to
Joe

I have concerdirable experiance on this stuff, 4.5 years at firestone. If you have 1/4 inch of play it needs to be fixed. Did they tell you if it was the inner or outer? Do you live in a rust prone area? If so, let a shop do it. You could end up needing torches and stuff. If it is the outer tie rod end you can do it at home, inner useally needs a specific tool. Remove wheel. Break the locknut loose on the tie rod end shaft. Break the inner shaft loose from the outer tie rod. If you can't get these two parts loose, do not press on. Remove cotter key and nut from steering knuckle. A: use a tie rod sepreating tool (pickle fork) to seperate the tie rod end from the steering knuckle B: or use a large hammer and give several hard hits on the knuckle wher the tie rod goes through. Often it poppes loose. Remove tie rod end. COUNT how many turnes it takes to get the old one off. Place new one on and COUNT the same amount of turnes putting it on. put on new boot and zerk fitting, Put nut, cotter key in, lock the lock bold down and drive back to Firestone and have the alighnment reset.

Reply to
StephenW

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