How do I know if the tie rods are bad? Am I supposed to moved them with my hand.....?

 

well, the outer are ball joints, if you can move them freely, then its time. The inners should be able to move but if you move them they should stay put aka not fall down.

 

ordering them tomorrow.. any nice place to do that?

 

I ordered my inner tie rods from Dave B.

Make sure you get new lock clips for them.

For the outers I used TRW from Advance Auto that freakin failed on me in about 8 months. Advance has lifetime warranty so exchanged them for Moogs and have not had an issue since.

Also, you will need an inner tie rod tool that u can rent from pep boys or autozone.

If this is your first time, I'd suggest getting the ball joint pushing tool rather than the pitch fork kind and most importantly patience to get the OEM wire tie on the inner tie rod boots.

All in all and easy job.

 

Regarding renting the inner tie rod tool - the tool from AutoZone did not work for me. Wasn't able to get any meaningful torque out of it without it slipping off. Advance Auto didn't have a tool to rent. Pep Boys didn't have a tool to buy or rent either. I luckily was able to borrow the working tool from a tech at Firestone who didn't even know me - paid him 20 bucks though.

The tool I think is made by Lisle...it has some plates that lock inside a hollow cylinder that you throw your 1/2" breaker bar in. Worked perfectly.

kukx30de, did you actually use the AutoZone tool to get the inners off or your own tool?

 

Get MOOG parts and rent the tool from O'Reilly's...

 

I rented the tool from pepboys. It was the Lisle tool.

However as I have seen with tools like this one, it has multiple attachements and the dodos who work at the store dont make sure that everything that goes out comes back.

I went to 2 pepboys since they are very close to my house, 1 had the tool with 5 attachments and the other only had 2.

If you wont have the right fitting it wont work

I do have a friend who got the one from Autozone. Havent used it personally.

 

Also, fyi.. incase you dont get the tool at all.

You can buy it at harbor freight for like 35 dollars... If you use their 20% coupon you can get it for under $30 ... Good tool to have if you keep working on your car and your friends! Helps stock the beer well!

whoops... did know they jacked the price upto 50 bucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96558

 

does anyone knows the MOOG part # fro the outer tie rods?

 

here ya go.
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...S_770313164___

double up... buy online pickup in store. You should be able to add some stuff and get the 20 off 100. Also i think ebates or mrrebates.com has a 5% cash back when u shop advanceautoparts.com

good luck!

 

Thanks buying them tonight....

 

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1812835

$10 off $25....