All four tie rods were all jammed up when I had a guy doing my alignment today. He tried everything but they couldnt be adjusted. I either live with the bad toe up front or pay 1700 for parts/labor to replace the steering rack and tie rods.. Guess I'll be dealing with my tires getting eaten up

 

Find a different shop. You dont need a new rack unless its damaged somehow.

 

Definitely get another opinion on that one.

 

He's the only guy I know of who does alignments. He tried with a bunch of tools to get it loose and it was rusted and jammed or something

 

i would definitely look around for another place. might have a place with a long drive.. but hey. they might be able to fix it and charge you less..

 

How can I find a place? Like have any of you guys had a similar problem?

 

Use the internet...to search around your area....yellowpages . com is a good start.

 

I only know of two places in my city that do alignments when you have rims that aren't a factory option

 

Don't tell other places that your rims aren't the originals. Since yours are OEM Acura, they won't even know the difference.

 

the thing is they have certain sizes in their computer and if you're rim size isn't in their database then they say they can't adjust it for camber and toe. I went thru that process 2 months ago with my dad's tsx

 

a guy or a guy at a shop fuxed it? i kinda thought if you pay for someone to perform a service and they fucked it up, you're entitled to get fixed whatever the hell they fuxed.

and how big are your wheels. i mean bigger wheels get thinner tires so it's not like your 18s are astronomically larger than your stock 16s

 

^ I only have 17s. and it was a guy at a shop that my friend refered me to. He's supposed to be the best in town for lowered cars. I didn't pay him but he didn't mess it up, it was already jammed and I just didn't know it. I knew I had toe issues when my last tires didn't last very long but I waited to get an alignment til I got my new rims.

 

A rebuilt rack and pinion is ~$300

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...QA1262713.html

It sounds like maybe all you need is tie rod ends, which should be relatively cheap. When you say all 4, I presume you mean inner and outer. Those parts should all be available and could be changed on the car. I don't know what you mean by jammed up. Presumably the jam nuts are stuck? A good shop should be able to get them loose or just replace the inner and outer tie rod ends and rack boots.

 

ok thanks alot swalch. I think I'm gonna go ask around to find a place and tell them I can get the parts if I need them from that link

 

You could try taking it to your regular mechanic and having him try to break them loose. I'm assuming they're just seized together. Usually a little heat will break them loose. The guy that does alignments for me has a thing about never heating front end parts, so I always make sure everything breaks free before I send a car to him.

 

If a shop tells you that dont go there any way.

Put the stock wheels on if it makes a difference. But they dont need special tools or equipment to do an alignment on a car with different than OEM wheels. You think all oem wheels are the same?????? They cant adjust camber on our cars any way.

 

Dont waste your money on parts that arent needed. Find a good shop that can do alignments. Hell even if its a chevy dealer.

 

The alignment guy I spoke about works at a Ford dealer as a matter of fact. I've sent him bmws,vettes,vintage cadillacs,and lots of hondas and acuras. I don't think I've ever seen him make a mistake.

 

 

So should I just skip going to the local honda dealership and go to ford? i don't want to have the toe issue if it can be avoided

 

Total Function » 901.832.0067

It is a shop in Memphis. The best guys i have ever known and when it comes to imports you wont find a group of guys that know much more. The guy that owns it name is Jon but you can also ask for Jerry. Call them and talk to them about it. They can probably get you a good price. Tell them a member of MRS referred them to you.

they will shoot you straight and if you decided to drive to memphis they will take care of you

 

Oh thanks alot! I don't know if I want to drive to Memphis but asking them what to do would be great

 

dude i had the same exact problem...my mechanic jus pulled out the blow torch and heated them up for a second...They loosened right up after that

 

x2...it had to be done on both my GTI and my Civic.....the torch fixes everything

 

oh dang! Well I guess I don't need to make phone calls and go a million places. THANK YOU ACURAZINE!!! haha

and thanks L's TL and cubert for that info from personal experience. Guess I need to find somebody with a blow torch