i took my old z28 rims/tires up to firestone today. wanted the tires mounted to my red v6 (cause they like new) and i wanted an alighnment. BUT they told me that they need to replace both tie rod ends ($235)because my front tires wiggle a little bit. so i left, with my tires mounted but no alighnment [:@].

can there be some (little) wiggle in the front tires? should i just bite the bullet and have them put in? whats the easiest way to tell them if there bad???

 

firestone can ***** themselves, my gf just went in for a $300 flat tire from them [:@] and unfortunately I was working in a basement lab at the hospital so my phone didnt work so she couldnt get ahold of me to avoid getting royally screwed.

how much wiggle do u have? there shouldnt be much, if the wheel actually feels loose then there is aproblem, but if you jack up the car and try to wiggle it and it just barely moves due to the force of ur push then ur alright.

I found this for u, i personally wouldnt pay them that much to do something like that. if they are bad u could try for it urself. best thing to do is to go to another competing shop and ask them what they think, and then give them firestones price and see if they will beat it.

http://www2.partstrain.com/store/?Nt...891+4294966986

 

The easiest way to tell they are bad is you have a little wiggle in your front tires. It is about the simplest repair to do on the front suspension. I have done them in a driveway in less then 30 minutes. There is no real reason to try to align a front end with a little wiggle in it. Your car will wander and follow the road as long as there is play in the front end.
Parts are not expensive. A quick ebay search finds
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/93-94...QQcmdZViewItem

 

personally i would look for someone that specializes in either OEM parts or chevy parts, maybe even a dealer (although they like to bend u over too.....). for some reason im not trusting those ebay ones, but thats just me

 

I would imagin the Ebay parts are right inline with the cheaper parts Specter Search. But don't kid yourself. China made is China made. If some US company puts in a nice box and offers a warranty its still the same tierod. For my own cars I would get the Moog. Infact after installing a few hundred of these things IMO in many cases the Moog parts are a knotch above the OEM. Remember GM does not make tierod end. They are made by the lowest bidder.

 

Jack the front end up and put on stands both tires in the air and either have someone just rock the steering wheel right to left alittle each way and look at steeing linkage for any slop? and another fact there are actually four tie rods! an inner left and outer left as well as the right side! there simple to replace, if you do it yourself get a tie rod puller! autozone loans them out! and pop em loose at both ends, measure the distance (threads) at each side of the adjusting sleeve! Oh yeah replace the sleeve too, and screw the outer into one side of the sleeve and inner to the other side and reinstall, that way your toe end will still be the same as it was with the old rods, then have it aligned! each tie rod is around 25 to 35 dollars a piece and 10 for the sleeve each, also check the idler arm, and centerlink, i just replaced all my steering components for around 250 dollars, have a thrust alignment as well centers up the wheel as well as front to rear tracking, good luck! you can do it! firestone just tried to jack ya around! thinking you would pay them, Ha tell them to take hike. [sm=icon_beat.gif]