raph130 said:$600!! jesus. noooo a clutch job would cost that much for parts AND labor. your getting ripped off. this is something you can do yourself easily.
rent or buy a tool to pop the balljoints out. you wont need an alignment if you mark on the threads where the tie rod was. both a tie rod end and ball joint cost $30 each. whats wrong with your tie rods? they are solid metal. unless its bent you dont need another one.
still to do all in parts if $120. $480 for labor??? thats insane. what is that $50/hr for over 9 hours of work? that should take no more than 1 hour by a good mechanic. where i live mechanics charge $35/hr. its very simple to change balljoints and tie rods. please have a friend you. you will be proud.
also i dont think inner tie rod ends are replable. they are built into the rack. you would need a new rack.
I'm sorry to slam your backyard mechanic's method of alignment, but you said the word ruler. In the world of computers and precision instruments, angles are measured by as much as a thousandth of a degree/inch (the more common for your everyday alignment being a hundredth). So if your ruler can measure at the least a hundredth of an inch and be dead on......raph130 said:$90 for a ball joint? what kind of mechanic did u go to? go to autozone or napa. it take literally a min to pop out a ball joint once you have the tires off and maybe the caliper for more room. me and my friend change his rack out for a manual one and had to use new different kind tie rods because the originals dont work for some reason. never even got it aligned and it goes straight and doesn't pull to any side whatsoever. we used a ruler to measure how far apart the tie rods were.
The special tool you are referring to is a giant tube with various C-clip looking inserts. It is only used with an impact gun and makes it very easy and a snap, however it isn't necessary but rather a luxury. They only things you really need are a punch/chisel or a hex wrench, depending on what type of tie rod fastener is on the tie rod to hold it in place. The other tool, no other than at least a monkey or crescent wrench. To knock a ball joint out, it can be as easy as taking a small sledge hammer to it and beating downwards on it. But, I suggest you rent a press to pop it back into the lower control arm. It isn't needed, but makes it a lot easier, just watch where you swing the hammer if you don't use it though.90mustangGT said:That is way too much money. The prices are too high and 4hrs, does that include lunch?
The ball joints can be hammered out and in. The inner tie rods requires a specail tool, but not that specail.n Shop around.
JesseR said:i did mine in less than 1 hour on a sunday morning before going to church. its childs play. sorry but its true
raph130 said:whats wrong with your tie rods? they are solid metal. unless its bent you dont need another one.
You don't want to go cheap on a balljoint, these things have a heck of a lot of sideways thrust and endure A LOT of force during a turn. Moog is a good company and not a cheap one so their quality isn't poor. Basically if you can walk in to autozone or advanced or whatever and pick one up with their usual lifetime warranty, then you should be set if obviously, the part should fail.Paully's5.0 said:Well I have been looking at it seems that it's just easier to get a new rack from napa, and be close to the same price as buying two new inner tie rods.
My roomy actually has a balljoint press, so thats cool.
Now just need to look around for a decent ball joint. Mustangsunlimied has them for $25.00, then I have seen some moog ones for $50.00, then of course the ones quoted at $97.84. Would the 25.00 ones be just fine?
If it moves, it wears - simple enough of a concept.raph130 said:tie rods dont get worn out. ball joints do. im the 3rd owner of my notchback. theres 170,000 miles on the body and suspension. no rust no dents perfect paint. rack and ball joints and tie rods never touched and still no problems.
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