Tie Rods, Enkeis, Pep Boys Sucks, I wanna Scream

ZombieSix · May 21, 2012

Ok so i finally pick up some Evo 8 Enkeis for my car, they are pristine and powder coated gold, i take them to pep boys to get balanced put on the car, and get an alignment done because my steering wheel sits like an inch to the right. So after 4 hours (they said 2 tops) they call me and tell me they cant align the tires because the tie rods are both bad, Inner and outter on both sides. they also cant mount the rims on my GSX because they don't have the right lug nuts and mine wont work, right now i am rocking stock GST 5 spoke rims with stock GST lugs. I aksed if they had any for sale that would work, they did not know, i walked around and found some tuner lugs and said thesee should work right? he said i dont know and it was already too late anyway beacuse they took my car off the lift. They also took the little weights off which were powder coated and put new weights on that are ugly silver, so i have basically a spot on each rim ya know and i have these ghetto ass silver weights. #### MY LIFE. THESE THINGS WERE PRISTINE GOLD POWDERCOAT. I dont have a Jack here at my apartment and my brother in law whos garage i use for like everything is out of town for the week so i cant go try and mount em myself right now. Thats not the end of it.

So im driving home and my car is making a ####ing CLICKING noise from my driver side front tire like CLICK and i guess it does a rotation then CLICK, and im so ####ing angry i could scream because it wasnt doing that when i dropped it off. so i think they broke my shit.

Questions to you Gurus.
How do i know if my tie rods are bad EXACTLY
Can i replace them on my own
How Much does it cost
What kind of LUG NUTS do i need for my Enkei's

DID THEY DO TO MY CAR TO MAKE IT CLICK

Thanks in advance

psycho · May 21, 2012

You need a lugnut like this:

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Dorman p/n: 611-117

Rockauto has them for ~$2 each.

97gst_spyder · May 21, 2012

NEVER use tuner lugs on a factory mitsu wheel. They WILL work loose over time...

If your running factory 5 spoke GST wheels, you already have the correct lugs. They are the same from 1989-2012+....

Who the #### powder coats a wheel with the weights on there?!? External wheel weights are a part of life. No way around it. The only other option is to have someone use sticky weights behind the face of the wheel.

ZombieSix · May 21, 2012

Those are stock Lugs for Evo 8s Right? Do you know of a set of 20 that comes with 4 locks? Or should i just use OEM.

gsxtreme1987 · May 21, 2012

It seems like everyone i know that goes to sears, pepboys or other local tire shops, has bad tie rods or ball joints.

Half the time these idiots are just trying to make a bigger sale. Check if your tie rods really are bad and if they are.. it is a easy fix. Don't pay pepboys to do it.

And i would only go to "tuner" shops that have alignment racks for an alignment. Never trusted these shops.

mits3kgt320tt · May 21, 2012

The easiest (not the best way) to check tie rods is by jacking the front of the car up and shaking the tie side to side. The best way would be if you could get jackstands under the control arms to take the suspension weight off of it. If it doesn't feel solid shaking it side to side then chances are 1 or more tie rods have play. Sometimes you can see them moving up and down when you shake and sometimes having someone hold the inner/outer while shaking will get rid of the play. If they are holding the outer and it feels snug then chances are thats the bad one. Like everyone else said, you need the small shank lug nuts for any factory wheel. I help run a tire shop and anyone in the tire business should be able to look at those wheels and tell you what you need. The clicking could be numerous things, unforuntelty. When you have it jacked up just spin the wheel and see if you can locate the noise. As far as expense, you can get some pretty cheap tie rods from parts store, but it is a "get what you pay for" scenario. Outer tie rods are cake to change and if you are careful, you can mark it and get it close. Regardless, if you take any tie rods off, you need to have it aligned somewhere. And, as far as taking the weights off, they had to. You have to remove all weights to rebalance a tire, whoever powder coated those wheels with them on there needs to be beaten.
Matt

ZombieSix · May 21, 2012

Thanks for the replies,

Ok so ill order some of those stock lugs that should solve that, I found Inner and outter tie rods for sale on rock auto looks like 9 bucks each for outter and 11 for outter? That sound bout right? Once i can jack it up ill do what you said to see if ic an find any play.

Where should i get an alignment at then? firestone complete auto care? i wont go to merchants ever again they are all idiots too.

my dreamt dsm · May 21, 2012

It's pretty easy to change the tie rods. I did it myself, pretty much self explanatory. If you're not to sure. I"m sure google or youtube vids have tons of info. I paid like 30ish for my tie rods.

mits3kgt320tt · May 21, 2012

ZombieSix said:
Thanks for the replies,

Ok so ill order some of those stock lugs that should solve that, I found Inner and outter tie rods for sale on rock auto looks like 9 bucks each for outter and 11 for outter? That sound bout right? Once i can jack it up ill do what you said to see if ic an find any play.

Where should i get an alignment at then? firestone complete auto care? i wont go to merchants ever again they are all idiots too.

To be honest, ask around the town. See who does good work. Typically, if a shop is going to screw someone they are going to screw over lots of people and soon their business. If you hear quite a few good things about someplace typically you are safe. What I do at my shop is get the car up on the rack, if it has bad parts get the customer and take them out and show them. That way you have an idea of how bad the issue is. Most tire shops are franchised and independantly owned/operated. You may go to a pep boys, or merchants, or anyone else the next town over and you may find the nicest and most intelligent people there.
Matt

Steve91 · May 21, 2012

I bet the clicking noise is a weight on the inner lip of the wheel contacting the strut, not sure if you put the enkeis on or not but check if a wheel weight in the inner lip of the wheel is contacting something

my dreamt dsm · May 21, 2012

I would go to a mom or pops owned. They have more to loose so they will often be tighter on their work.

Tha Fella Dylan · May 21, 2012

my dreamt dsm said:
I would go to a mom or pops owned. They have more to loose so they will often be tighter on their work.

X2 on that. I've learned my lesson with that.

yhype · May 21, 2012

You can also just balance a tire by putting weights on the inner edge and leave the outter edge nice and clean...x3 taking your car to mom & pop style shop as they will make sure to take care of their customers more so.

mattasi · May 21, 2012

The dude that powdercoated the wheels with the weights on there.. :applause:

...Anyways sounds like a new powdercoat is in order. Or just rock it for a while, while you think of a new color

AQuinonez90 · May 21, 2012

most important of all, be patient LOL

bNasty · May 21, 2012

gsxtreme1987 said:
It seems like everyone i know that goes to sears, pepboys or other local tire shops, has bad tie rods or ball joints.

Half the time these idiots are just trying to make a bigger sale. Check if your tie rods really are bad and if they are.. it is a easy fix. Don't pay pepboys to do it.

And i would only go to "tuner" shops that have alignment racks for an alignment. Never trusted these shops.

I work at sears and people dont understand that if you have any play in your inner or outer tie rods we absolutely can not do the alignment. I cant control the fact that there is play in a customer's inner and outer tie rods.

Doubleot · May 21, 2012

I have Evo 9 Enkies on my car with stock 2g lugs, never had an issue. Its been over a year too.

Also, the part about the wheel weights, that's your bad and who ever powder coated the wheels with weights on.

As most have said, its fairly simple to change tie rods. Just do it yourself or take it to a well known shop.

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Tie Rods, Enkeis, Pep Boys Sucks, I wanna Scream

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