Went to go get alignment at tires plus....they wouldnt do it, said 00 Impreza needed a inner tie rod end. Car drives straight and true down the road, no pulling or wandering, no excessive vibration. I took it in just to get the steering wheel straight. Whats up with this?
I just learned this in school, bad toe alignment wont make your car "pull" to one side or the other, it will just screw up your steering wheel straightness. If the alignment is off a lot than your car can wander slightly (travel out of lane in 200 to 300 feet when not holding on to the wheel). There are not really any symptoms except sloppy handling. The threads on the tie rod end might be stripped from hitting a pot hole or something.:dunno: If that helped at all. Jake
Take it to Jeff Forrse. You can find his contact info by searching around here. He won't rip you off and will do a much better job than most shops.
well toe will wear your tires.... and a combination of toe and caster and camber in the wrong combinations will cuase wander, tire wear, bad handling etc etc... tell me this... if toe wont cause the car to wander explain to me what would happen if you have 3* of - toe on the left side and 2* positive on the right side.... ps... setting the toe is usually par for the coursse to straighten the s/w too.... I can say that your inner tie rod on a subaru shouldnt have been worn out... jack the front end of the ground.. then grab either side of the left or right wheel.. shake quickly (not 14yr old boy masterbating quick) but short, steady shakes... if you hear a clunking or feel some play, then you can look further.. if not.. check other side.. Now if you do feel something clunking... then you have to see if its the outer or inner tie rod... usually having a 2nd person helps... get another person to shake the wheel and watch the tie rod end.. if you can see movement between it and the hub assembly then you have play.. you can also hold the very end of it and see if you can feel seperation/movement in your hand whilst it is being shaken... (if you do then its the outer tie rod) if not then pull down on the centre of the whole assembly whilst it is being shaken.. if the clunking stops then its probably the inner that has play... hope that helps... yes and Tires Plus does have a reputation... but not all... I sold my store to some guys thatown 6 Tires PLus stores... they seem very professional... but who knows about most their staff... pps... I dont give a rats arse what store tells you you need something, you ALWAYS ask to see it for yourself.... UNLESS that store / business / person ahs earned your trust.... I ALWAYS showed the customer before selling the job (unless they werent there in that case we would keep the old parts to show them)