ericantonio

I tried to get an alignment last week after putting on a 2" coil spacer up front on my 2WD '95. They came back and said they couldn't do it cause I need "driver side inner tie rod and passenger side wheel bearing replaced. I saw them actually wiggling the tire when it was up and saw it moving around. Don't know why I haven't even inspected them but when I got home, I was able to wiggle that driver side inner/outer tie rod so they weren't trying to pass one over me (but they did only quote outer tie rod and I can tell the inner one is worn out also).

So first thing first.

I might as well replace front inner/outer left/right tie rods. Are there any special tools I may need? My friend has a pickle fork I can use and I can probably do it at his driveway. Any good tips for a first timer?

I see I have to count the rotations on the outer tie rods. Got that.

How about the connector piece that go in between the inner and outer tie rods? Do they go bad? Can I use my old ones?

Do I count the turns on the connector piece too for when I put it into the inner tie rods?

In case anyone is wondering, inner tie rods, front left/right inner/outer wheel bearings price for labor/parts in Southern California was quoted me just shy of $800 (without the inner tie rod which they probably would have told me I needed when they are in the middle of it).

Rockauto prices are very affordable for those pieces so I wanna do it myself.

GhostriderI

Some of these are going to sound dumb to say, but IMHO
1. Take your time,
2. Don't get frustrated,
3. Use common since safety (ex: if your using a hammer use eye protection),
4. Jack stands would be helpful.

I would take a piece of 3/4 to 1" masking the make a couple (no more than 3) wraps around the tie-rod end at the adjuster (both sides of adjuster if replacing both inner, outer/and or adjuster of that unit) drop it unscrew the tie-rod match to new piece (keeping knuckle aligned) match tape point and reinstall I have gotten these part +/- up to 3 threads different so counting is some times way off, if done right this can get you to within 1/2 turn of original settings and yes adjusters can go bad, not often though

While you have the wheel down for the bearings also look at the brake system (shoes, caliper, rubber hoses...)

hope these help

ericantonio

Thanks so much! Yeah, I don't really get frustrated. I get more "challenged" like "oh yeah, you aren't gonna beat me, I'll work smarter not harder".

I changed the pads not too long ago but they were the cheapest I can get at the time cause when I bought it,who knows when it was replaced and I just wanted to get a new set of pads.

Thanks for the tape trick, I was thinking of doing something similar. I'll probably do a lot of measuring for sanity.

What looks great is that these tie rods are right up front and nothing really in the way.

GhostriderI

Keep us updates as to how it goes