2G Bad Tie Rod

[GSXGirl1]

Ok so last year when I bought this car the alignment was off and of course during the inspection they said the inner tie rod on the driver side was bad and the ball joint on the passenger side was bad so they were replaced and I got it aligned but the thing is it never fully aligned!!! it was slightly pulled the the left, I never drove the car much till the beginning of this year well upon another inspection theY tell me the tie rod is bad again! what could be causing this? I avoid as many pot holes as I can and if I can't avoid one I slowly roll over it! now the alignment has drastically turned to the left I've only drove it twice since I was told about the tie rod I try to take my boyfriends car as much as I can till I can get the car fixed!

 

[bryanwheat]

Alignment isn't the only thing that will cause the car to pull. If you have one tire that is slightly bigger diameter on the front, than it will pull. As far as what caused the tie rod to go bad again, likely it was a cheap part, or they are just trying to make some money off of you replacing a part that isn't broken.

 

[GSXGirl1]

My car has all new tires, They didn't change the tie rod I had someone I knew that knows and has worked on dsm's fix it because I don't trust shops at all!

 

[1995silvergst]

Brand is everything in suspension parts! How did they diagnose these bad parts? If you plan on replacing any ball joint type parts I would go with Moog or oem as I have used both with great success. When getting an alignment it is imperative you get the before and after specs to see where it was and what they put it to. By chance is your car lowered? Is there a camber kit installed? When replacing an outer tie rod end the brands should match, meaning if you take an oem end off and count the amount of turns it takes to remove it. Then you thread a trw brand on the same turns your alignment will be off because the two ends are manufactured at different lengths. I have re-built my entire system in three cars 95-98 and every time I used an (auto parts store brand) they do not hold spec. There is specific tests to perform to see if these parts are in fact bad, start with the 12o' clock to 6o' clock and 3o' clock to 9o' clock test if there is play in it you know something is out of spec.

 

[GSXGirl1]

I'm not sure if it's lowered the guy i bought it from didn't have much info to tell me about it but I don't recall seeing a camber kit, I watched the guys inspect the wheel from a waiting room all I seen was them standing there forever but I couldn't tell if it were moving

 

[1995silvergst]

Just curious does it leak power steering fluid? Chances of an inner tie rod going out twice is rare, chances of it being a pot hole that caused it also rare. The inner seals are designed for auto transmission fluid dextron 2 specifically. If (cheap parts) are used the seals do not hold up to power steering fluid only ATF fluid. Good parts are designed with seals that will hold both. Learned this the hard way and replaced my steering rack twice . If you can jack the front of the car up and with the steering locked, tires off the ground, apply some force to both sides one at a time at the top and bottom of the tire and side to side of the tire and see if it has any play.

 

[boarderlib]

They told you the same side inner tie rod was bad again? It's possible they could be referring to the tie rod end ( which is a much more frequently replaced part). If they were referring to the inner, it sounds like they are trying to take you for a ride because you're a girl. The tire shops in my area like to try and pull that stuff with my wife. That's why I always take our cars in for alignments, and tire work. They all know I'll make them show me why said part is bad, and if its not I'll throw a bullsh*t flag on them.

 

[GSXGirl1]

Sorry for the late replies guys, too much going on! but the part came from o'reilly's so it could be that possibly I got the more expensive one though not sure if that matter's

 

[Tyeler18]

Do you have your alignment spec sheets from the original alignment?

The control arm has an offset bushing that adds caster to try and counter road crown. It's actually way too much caster and will cause it to pull left. If you flip the bushing it will correct the issue though.