shake/shimmy

Probably the tires are out of balance, and/or the tie rod ends are shot.

The tires aren't out of balance. i guess it must be the tie rod ends. Thanks for the quick reply. I am a woman so can anyone tell me what a fair price for getting them fixed would be?? I seem to always get ripped off. haha. TIA chelle

On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 03:43:56 GMT, "nite" puked:

I hear women also get ripped off getting haircuts and at the dry cleaners. Why is that?

-- lab~rat >:-) Do you want polite or do you want sincere?

GLK9MM Spilled my beer when they jumped on the table and proclaimed in :

Don't forget a ft end alignment afterwards.

NOI

40, : parts for 35, and an alignment for 25...total was 100 out the door. even : the discount auto i called wanted 30 something for a tie-rod end. i only : did the tie rod on one side...is this a bad idea? : : travis

Travis, I'm going to use you as an example, so don't take it personally.

I constantly see people coming and going from mechanics and tire sales places who just want to replace ONE tire, or ONE brake pad, or ONE spark plug. Now, a good shop won't even touch your car if you only want one corner of pads done or one spark plug, and rightly so.

The question I have is this and lets take the spark plugs and run with it. If one plug is past its useful life and needs to be changed, what in the world can possibly make you think that the rest of them are running at peak efficiency and won't need to be changed soon if not now.

The answer you should have given would be no. No, they are all at the end of their useful life and should ALL be replaced. Likewise, when it comes to the tie rods, replace everything that needs to be replaced. That list would include: Adjusting Sleeves (LH, RH), Outer Tie Rod Ends (LH, RH), and Inner Tie Rod Ends (LH, RH). I'm assuming the tie rod itself is fine, and unless you're driving in nothing but salt water and don't clean your undercarriage, then it should be fine.

IMHO, $130 to replace all the parts is a small cost when compared to the lives of the people in the car of the other car your going to collide with as your traveling down Route 666 and your tie rod end collapses and you go veering to the Left or Right into another car. (Or furry woodland animal, in which case make sure you have a skinning knife and wood for a campfire. KIDDING!)

In any case, it comes down to personal preference and funds, but for my money I'd replace the entire set.

Martin '01 Formula - MTI Air Box Lid, K&N Filter, Hurst-6, SLP Cold Air Induction & Smooth Intake Bellow Corsa Catback w/Premium Tips '83 V45 Magna

GLK9MM Spilled my beer when they jumped on the table and proclaimed in :

Let's take brakes for example. Replace one pad, but not the other. You now have the car pulling to one side more than the other. That in itself is a dangerous condition. (I did this exact experiment on my pickup, then turned it around in the driveway, so I could easily work on the other side)

Tires? Unless you only drove on them for a few miles, a new one will have more tread life than the other. The way they act in weather will be a bit different, too, causing an unsafe condition.

Now for the tie rod. Both ends have already been replaced, or they've been on there for the life of the vehicle. One side is bad. Why risk the other side going bad in the near future?

Just gotta plan where you will be when that happens...out in the woods, so you can collect spare twigs to rub together to make your campfire.

Me too.

NOI

heard. i guess i sorta walked into that one, knowing that it would have been a better idea to replace both. i was hoping, though, that you would all reaffirm my cheapskatedness and tell me everything will be ok...lol!~

Travis