I have a 93 Accord LX, and am replacing the driver side outer tie rod. Would it be wise to replace the passenger side while I'm at it, before I do the 4-wheel alignment, or is it not necassary? Would a brand new (stiffer) tie rod balljoint affect future alignment when paired with an older (looser) balljoint on opposite side? Thanks in advance

 

not currently, but it will over time, the looser one will wear out and cause irregular tire wear.

if you are going to do it right and have the funds to do it right. replace all of the worn parts before you get an alignment

also if you are good with a tape measure and have a friend handy, you can do the alignment yourself. just lock you steering wheel in the center and measure the distance from center to center of the tires on the front and back. then adjust your tierods til you get within 1/8 to 3/16's of an inch difference.

i know it probably sounds complicated, but it's actually quite easy. and since the toe affects alignment and tire wear more than anything else, this is usually all you have to adjust

i've done several cars and trucks like this and never had a problem with tire wearing abnormally

 

Good info. I'll replace both sides and try this procedure, and hold off on a professional alignment until I get new tires. Do it all at once. Thanks for your help.

 

Yup sure thing, if you do it right alignment will be just as good or better than a professional alignment because some of the alignments techs rush the job or don't know what they are doing plus it'll save you 40+ bucks

 

I would do it all while your in there. Inner AND outer tie rods for BOTH sides. Chances are if one side is wore out, the other side is not far behind it.
I do alignments on a regular basis and have to disagree about the accuracy of a "tape measure alignment".
If you can accurately measure down to a minute (thats 1/60th of 1 degree) without precision laser alignment machines, your pretty damn good. Spend the extra money for the "professional alignment" and request before and after specs. Not all techs rush through alignments. I personally take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to align a car. We even fill up the tank and add weight to simulate a driver to be even more accurate. Having a driver sit inside the car does make a difference.

 

Wow you are very technical. In my area I have yet to see someone take an hour to do an alignment and on top of that simulating a driver in it. At my job we do alignments on commericial vehicles and also some passenger vehicles and an alignment is never as critical as you are saying. I've done them til they were within 1/8 of an inch and never had a problem with tire wear what so ever.plus with road conditions such as potholes, a 60 dollar "professional" alignment could be knocked all out of whack after hitting a few of those. I would really like to know what people used before all of this computer junk. Technology is ruining the world.

 

I guess it depends on who you take it to.I work as a technician for Porsche. We charge about $249 for an alignment. The tech gets 3 hours.Thats front camber,castor,and toe and rear camber and toe.The car leaves with a perfect alignment pretty much everytime.
Not saying a good alignment cant be done for $60...Id fill the car with fuel and request to the tech that you sit in the drivers seat while he aligns the suspension. Give him a $20 bill and ask him to take his time.
But since alot of cars and trucks now only have TOE settings, alignments can be done in minutes.Set the toe and let it go as they say! This can make one lazy when doing alignments!

 

Yup and for 249 bucks the alignment should be perfect and since its a porcshe its well worth it lol

 

I never said it was worth it, lol.
One thing I think worth mentioning. If you replace a tie rod whether it is inner,outer,left,or right. You NEED to get an alignment done afterwards. Having your toe out of whack will eat through some tires QUICK.
If you end up replacing another tie rod later down the road, youll need to do another alignment again.
I say replace them all at the same time and get it aligned. Youll save time and money in the long run.