If anyone could let me know an answer that would be great and I'd really appreciate it...

So I have two bad tie rods in my 1997 kouk. Where I took my car to get my fuel line replaced - the guy had told me this. Does the car only have 2 in the first place and if I don't get it fixed what problems am I looking at later and how much? like basically what does it mean to have two bad tie rods. The guy was kinda short with me and mean so I didn't ask lol.. Thanks!

 

Yah as soon as I hit 60 it shakes. I knew I had this problem like 2 years ago when I went to get an alignment but they said that wouldn't do anything and told me about the tie rods..and I've had new tires since like 09 but they still seem in really good shape so how urgent that I get it fixed lol

 

Yah its actually at the mechanic right now getting my new starter put in. So I looked online and theyre kinda cheap for the ends right? if they replace both and its like an hour job I guess it would be like around or less than $400 parts and labor? Does that sound about right?

 

well, this is why God made men lol but thanks for all your help!

 

$400 for two tie rods! wow lol. Parts for the inner and outers should be maybe $80. It takes me about an hour to do em both...alignment is required after though.

 

i would definitely get with someone here in the forum.. you can buy nice aftermarket parts and a couple of cases of beer and have 10 people lined up to help you... oh and you might spend 150 bucks.

 

Tie rod ends: $20ish depending on brand for stock replacements
Inner Tie rods $25 for stock replacements

Your steering is as follows: Rack and pinion in the middle. On either end are the Innter Tie Rods and screwed to the ends of the inner tie rods are the outer tie rods.

When the outer tie rods go bad the little boot on the stud that is attached to your knuckle may be ripped, every once in a while it may not rip[ but still be bad but this being a 240sx chances are its going to be ripped.

An easy way to tell if your outer tie rods are bad: Jack up the front of the car and grab hold of your wheels and jiggle the wheel up and down then left and right and look at the steering wheel. If you feel your wheel move even the slightest bit but the steering wheel dosnt move then the outer tie rods are bad. If thats the case look under the car to inspect the boots. If the are ripped theres another clue to seeing if they are bad.

If you want to get your hands dirty you can go the extra mile and removed the front wheels and disconnect the tie rod ends from the knuckle. Its very simple. The tie rod is attached to the botton of the knuckle by 1 nut and a collar pin. Bend the tabs on the collar pin and remove it with a pair of pliers then loosen the nut holding the tie rod end in place. Once the nut is removed take a hammer (Preferably a copper hammer) and hit the KNUCKLE with the hammer pretty hard until the tie rod end dislodges and comes loose you you cna pull it out with your hand. DO NOT HIT THE TIE ROD END OR THE THREADED STUD POKEING OUT OF THE KNUCKLED or you will ruin the threads and if that tie rod end isnt bad you will have a hard time putting the nut back on.

Once the tie rod end is free wiggle the stud around that is attached to the tie rod end. if it is anything but stiff then the tie rod end is bad and needs to be replaced.

Now the the wheel is off and the tie rod is disconnected you can inspec the inner tie rod as well. The inner tie rod has a boot on each side covering the joint witch is packed with grease. if this boot is ripped then it exposes the joint to the elements and causes the grease to wear away thus causeing the tie rod to go bad. Next grab the inner tie rod and try to move it about. again if it is anything but stiff then it is also bad and need to be replaced. it is also an easy job but im not going to get into explaining it because i have already made this reply long enough.

I hope this helps you and saves you some money.

 

Also. To answer your question. Having bad inner or outer tie rods can ruin your tire ware and compromise your handling and like mat said it will shake sometimes rather violently at certain speeds. Bad tie rods will also render an alignment impossible so if someone did an alignment on your car THEN told you your tie rods are bad then they didnt actually aline your car or they did it with your tie rod ends being bad witch is pointless because the bad tie rod ends will just bugger up your front end alignment anyway.

 

and just to add, the absolute worst case situation is that the tie rod end will eventually break apart and you will have no control over the direction of your wheel.
This would happen when it is shaking the worst. so just imagine your wheel turning sideways at 60 mph.
yeah, it sucks.

 

!!! $400 for tie rods !!! Dude...its not that hard of a fix. Grab some from Advance or Napa or where ever and do it yourself. The Inners are a bigger pain due to their retaining clip/washer dealio, so if you wanna try just the outers first, find out if that was your issue...and if not, do the inners. Its always a good idea to learn about why your 240 is not working as you'd like and feel even better when you fix it yourself. Good luck.

-Royce