DannyH

My mechanic tells me that he will not align my '99 XJ because it has a worn trac bar and tie rod end. He tells me that because of this it will not hold an alignment until these items are replaced.

Any truth to this?

Hakeeb

worn tie rod ends he is telling you the truth. worn trac bar I am not sure about.

mentalbreakdown00

any play in a front end steering system will make an alignment effort worth nill

jeff2285

it needs to be fixed anyways

DannyH

Thanks: I figured there was at least some truth to this one.

Crapper is that I need new tires too, and it stinks I have to replace this stuff first.

mentalbreakdown00

tell me about it, I am saving up for upper and lower arms, axle bushings, steering, and ball joints, plus need tires......

Spunkmeyer

Understand the frustration.... just console yourself knowing that without a good alignment you'd likely screw up the tread wear on those new tires in short order.

DannyH

Just Emptying Every Penny over here too.


Consoling away. Just wish it didn't cost so damn much to feel good about it.

s14unimog

maybe he meant the track bar tie rod end? Did he specify which tie rod ends need to be replaced? They're not THAT expensive are they?

I wish most mechanics would bring you back there to physically show you the damaged components some times. I think people would leave their shop feeling better about the "repairs". See if he'll just show you.

DannyH

Yeah - the one at the Pitman arm (I think).

mentalbreakdown00

I do this to my customers daily. I run my own repair shop.

Never heard that one danny, though it is made by MOPAR so it will always need Mo Parts

garb.man

Just one bad part will throw the whole thing out of whack, it would be near impossible to get and keep everything (allignment values) in spec with one tie rod, balljoint, etc being bad . Only option, get good parts on there, get it alligned and running true, esp if you have new tires!

DannyH

Darn... Oh well. I'm getting some nice MOOG stuff, so hopefully it will be a bit beefed up anyways.


Good one!

Bustedknuckle

A bad alignment will chew through tires prematurely.

Ask if he offers any sort or warranty on the alignment. We offer 12 month/12k miles on all of ours. That way when you go wheeling and knock it all out of whack (as I always do), it can be reset for free. Some places are now offering 2-3 year plans.

Cnwxj

He's doing you a favor! At 180+ per tire you'll save money in the long run.