I took in my car to get in aligned and they said that they couldnt do it b/c my outer tire rods were bad...Has anyone else had this problem and if so how much did it cost....I've never even heard of outer tired rods...But I know its making my car shake like rumpshaker....Anybody know anything about these rods?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blue10karat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">....I've never even heard of outer tired rods...</TD></TR></TABLE>You might have heard them called tie-rod-ends, or something else. They're like ball joints at each end of the tie rod; they attach to the steering knuckle.

 

yep, one of mine were. The guy showed me. There was play between the end and the knuckle. I replaced it and got it aligned.

 

I recently replaced both tie rod ends on my 90 Accord. The boots were all that was bad, and the tie rods were still tight. However, w/ 250K on my Accord, I decided it was time to retire them.

It's a very easy DIY job. You need a pickle fork to break the tie rod loose from the wheel knuckle. Also mark your lock nut position on the rack&pinion drive rod end so you can return the new tie rod end and lock nut to exactly the sampe position. If you're not happy w/ alignment, don't worry and have the alignment checked after installation.

Forcefully jam the new tie-rod end stud into the knuckle to provide enough seat for the retaining nut to pull the stud into the knuckle w/o the stud/ball joint rotating. If it starts to rotate, tap the underside of the ball joint lightly w/ a hammer to seat better.

good luck