Did I get screwed? (tie rods)

well I dont know whether to believe him or not, because my steering wheel used to shake at speeds above 70... that is why I had the tie rods replaced, but now it doesnt do that anymore (it does shake a little bit, but I think that is due to the inner tie rods or a bad rack)
 
By the way the stock ends do have grease fittings so he is lying about that too. He's lying about everything except changing the ball joints which they definately are non-stock replacements. This is probably why your shake went away, if your ball joints were bad it would have affected your front geometry as much as any tie rod. I agree though if you know your inners are bad, just throw in a quality reman rack since Ford doesn't make new ones anymore. Make sure you buy on quality not price since a rack is one of those things you'd prefer not to have to do again even if they warranty it. The time, the hassle, the alignment. Not a 15 minute deal like an alt.
 
I definitely would, but I don't think he will do anything about it. He already told me over the phone that they are brand new. Im just never going there again. When I do the rack and suspension, I will test the tie rods and see whats up.
 
:rlaugh: OMG dude grow some balls and go over to that shop and grab the owner by the hair and put his head under the car and say LOOK AT THAT.. that is not new.. Did he change your muffler bearings and the headlight fluid while he was under there?

I dont mean to poke fun but if that was my car I would have fire coming out of my ears and nose id be so pissed. You are just takin it in the rear by this shop and giving them a reason to do it to someone else. At least throw a brick through their front window and have a sense knowing that ALL your money wont go into his pocket.

There is no ****in way that is a new tie rod (the rusty greasy stocker), i did my tierod ends 2 years ago and they still look new, My car is a DD btw so it sees rain and all that other chit.
 
Those tie rod ends are only $25 at pepboys.
First one looks new, socond looks like it's 20 years old.

Cheap ones from chain parts stores will rust literally in days after a rain storm, i know from experience, so doesn't mean so much.
But the black grease stains on the second one seem extreme.

next time, come here, ask for the tools and methods for such a project, and do it yourself. Unfortunately the ball joints aren't for everyone to change.
 
ok ok, I will go there tomorrow. I guess I will never know if they are actually new, because like 2000xp8 said, the cheap one could have rusted. But it definitely shouldn't be all greasy on the outside. I did learn a major lesson and I will be doing everything myself from now on... next up is control arm bushings, struts/shocks, springs, and a rack.
 
xpeteyjtx said:
ok ok, I will go there tomorrow. I guess I will never know if they are actually new, because like 2000xp8 said, the cheap one could have rusted. But it definitely shouldn't be all greasy on the outside. I did learn a major lesson and I will be doing everything myself from now on... next up is control arm bushings, struts/shocks, springs, and a rack.

No you do know, That rusted/greased one is NOT NEW, no friggin way. The stockers also had grease fittings. BTW my old ones I replaced were 13 years old and they didnt look as bad as that "supposed new one". If i were you I would go tear that shop manager a new one. call up your local news station before hand and bring them along to film the event. News stations eat this stuff up. In the end even if you dont get anything out of it, at least his shop will be plasterd all over the place and BAD P.R. is no good for business! then if that doesnt work call the better business bureau ect ect ect.

ORR..... you could always toss a brick through his window :) make sure its a brick tho, cuz its very hard if not impossible to fingerprint one :) I would use this method, works everytime and its instant satisfaction.
 
Hey smokin, that sounds like fun haha, but I'm only going to get news stations involved if he doesn't do anything about it. I have time on my hands this summer, so I will definitely try to make him look bad every chance I get.
 
You just learned two lessons now, control arm bushings are hard as hell to do on your own (not to mention, not cost effective), just like ball joints.
BUT, if you just buy ford motorsport control arms, you get them both brand new, and those aren't all that hard to do.
 
You need a press to get the bushings out. It's really just easiest to spend $189 for the set of front arms, and to swap them out, since they come with bushing and ball joints.
 
xpeteyjtx said:
Well I already have the new ball joints on there and bushings only cost like $50... what kind of press? anything specific? can a ball joint press work?

I'm not really sure, but i do know that some people plain old can't get the bushings out, period.
I guess you can try.

And having them stripped and repainted, will go way beyond the cost of new ones.