2wd Rack and pinon

Kevin zellweger · October 4, 2003

Hi all

I went and bought new tires for my truck and the guy told me that they would not do the alingment because the inner tie rod ends are shot (85000 KM) to me it seems very unlikely. i have extended warrenty so I brought to my dealer and they checked it and said they were fine and the play was normal. they also charged 38 bucks to check it. so I brought it back for the alingment and he still told me and all the other mechanics agreed that they were worn and should be replaced. so the dealer sent the mechanic again and the dealer said it was fine. so they did the alingment. Has anyone else had the tie-rod ends wear out so quickly. and how do you check them the right way for wear. I need to know who is beening the Bulls^&%er here. please no remarks to the following but i bring the truck to the dealer for the oil changes and the so called checks they do. i go bakc and check it better than the rest of them. perhaps i am ranting but any respnoses would be appreiciated thank you.

asepgrad98 · October 4, 2003

If there is perceptable movement it is not normal in the sense that new trucks do not have that condition. The tires may wear faster because the toe alignment measurement will go more negative when the truck is in motion. I would replace the tirerods before the alignment warranty runs out to avoid tire wear.

Jailkeeper · October 4, 2003

Alignment shops are notorious for diagnosing tie rods and ball joints as being "worn out". It's an easy way for them to make extra money because most people will not doubt their word and won't get a second opinion.

frdfandc · October 4, 2003

Inner tie rod ends can fail, but usually it on vehicles that are lifted or are used off road alot (farming,4 wheeling, etc.) You have to think of the way an inner tie rod end moves. It does move up and down with the suspension, but most of the movement is horizontal when you turn the steering wheel left and right. lets see.......... 85,000 KM is approx 57,000 miles (give or take a few miles). I haven't seen too many inner tie rod ends go bad with that kind of mileage. I would have to say that if there was any play, it would be in the outer tie rod ends instead.

Tucson_02Silverado · October 5, 2003

There is still a LOT of shops that cheat customers with some sort of ploy. One shop I used to trust would claim every time I went in that the performance struts, I had bought from them and installed by them mind you, were bad and in need of immediate replacement. I show them their receipt which they f"dup in the first place to say all replacement parts and labor of no charge as long as I was the owner of that vehicle. They then start backstepping on the claim that it wasn't bad and it must have been oil from some other source. I said let's go right out and see. They wipe off the oil that sprayed all over the struts down and say see it's not the struts after all. So I ask were is it coming from? they claim engine. Not a spot of oil in the engine bay. I tell them the oil must have come from the struts like they said, and since there are no other cars they are working on, I'll wait why they replace both front struts and align the car. Three months later, they pull the same routine and again I get another set of struts and an alignment. By the way the struts were Blisteins. I asked them straight to their face if they were ashamed of trying to bilk customers. They just claim that struts are a tricky thing. Funny a month later the shop has a banner of under new management. I guess $2000 worth on parts and labor in three months with $0.00 on the invoice didn't look too good.

Some Sears shops would pull the front end is bad so they won't warrant the new tires, but for $500.00 they could repair the front end. That one I got two weeks after I had just had the 14 year old wagon complete front end rebuilt with new MOOG parts and Energy Suspension bushings.

Another shop actually cut up my new Mallory Prowire set. Funny when I did a slight arm overhead stretch, shoulder holster with gun and two hi-cap 40SW mags peeks out a bit, and I'm saying how ever could that be I just installed those last Saturday cut to fit....a long silence...then '... uh we must've damaged them making the other repairs we'll replace those no charge...it's lunch what resturant do like to eat at? Ride? So I had to wait a half hour after a free lunch, but a new Mallory Prowire set was on, even looking a bit better than the job I had done.

There a bunch other crappy tricks. I have to always check things out after someone else works on my vehicle. By now I have almost two complete emergency tool kits built from mechanics leaving their tools.

I'm not trying to make it stereotypical, it's just the bad ones severly out number the good ones.

asepgrad98 · October 5, 2003

I brought to my dealer and they checked it and said they were fine and the play was normal.

all this shop bashing doesnt have anything to do with his problem. Even the dealer said there is play. they should be replaced. the end

sjspor · October 6, 2003

Okay, lets get down to the basics, are your tires wearing funny? Do you feel play or slop in the steering (other than the intermediate shaft knock at low speeds)? Any vibration or other uglys going on? If the answer is no, then the wear can't be too bad.

Now as bad as this sounds, it may be time for a 3rd. shop to look at it, get out your phone book and find a shop that ends in frame and axle. It will most likely be in the worst part of town. If you see cop cars and ambulances in the shop, thats the place you want to look at your truck.

My 2WD has 47,000 miles on it, and the front end has'nt given me any problems, yet.

I not had any front end work on the last 3 truck I've owned in the last 12 years, and I have used the same place.

rcj_houston · October 6, 2003

This is the exact reason I demand to see my old parts, no matter what work is being done. It takes alot of the "wow, did i get screwed?" out of it.

Why I am here, I have a 2003 Tahoe LS with only 7k miles on it. What is up with the "POP" when I am turning the steering wheel all the way to one side or the other.

Thanx in advance everyone!

Cheers

bdog2002 · October 7, 2003

Kevin I had mine replaced at 28K. I own a 2002 ext. and took into a shop to do an alingment. Sure enough they said my left inner and outer were worn out. I then made a trip the next day to the dealer and told them the story. They checked it out and sure enough they were shot. I got replaced under warranty and on top of that they aligned it for free. I do not know where chevy is getting thier parts made but ya its true, some of thier parts are cheap. Just make sure they take the time to check it out and if you still get the run around, try another dealer.

CapitalTruck · May 2, 2007

I just went to get an alignment on my 2004 2wd Ext. Cab. The said the inner tie rods were shot. I have 60k on the truck. They were replaced under warranty at about 27k. I guess this is about an every 30k service on these things. However, just to be proper I told them not to replace them, that I would do them myself. I bought some new ACDelco inners and outers (since you have to remove the outers to do the inners). I'm going to have another shop put them on next week, then go back for the alignment. I was going to do them myself, but man, the last time I did outer tie rods it was a PIA, I can't imagine the inners would be a cakewalk.

az'03Silverado · May 3, 2007

I had one wear out at 45000mi. I had a rattle in the front end and the dealer replaced it under my extended warranty. Fixed the problem.

forgottenmemory · August 13, 2007

I know we have two different animals, but since its 2wdrive , you prolly dont beat the hell out of it. I owned a 89 chevy 2wd that i owned for well over 100k and never replaced any of the tie rod ends..