Sherpa

Sherpa's got a new pair of shoes!!!

I purchased a set of Bridgestone Dueller AT Revos for Sherpa today and decided to have an alignment done at the same time. Unfortunately, the outer tie rods??? are siezed and cannot be adjusted. When the manager told the mechanic to put the alignment back the way it was, the right outer tie rod snapped. Now they are having to search all of Northern Virginia for a replacement. Fortunately, he is going to pay for the broken part, and the alignment isn't that far off. My caster was and still is off, but my camber and toe-in are not too bad, so I think he is going to get the new part put on, make sure it drives straight and the steering wheel is straight and give it back to me. He told me that caster doesn't adversely affect tire wear like camber and especially toe-in does, which makes sense to me. Does caster dictate how quickly the truck tries to return to a straight line? What is the main purpose of caster, and for camber and toe-in for that matter?

He mentioned the way to deal with a siezed tie rod is to remove the steering boot and get at it that way. Since he knows I am in a real hurry to get Sherpa back before I get travel to Florida for a month (hurricane recovery effort) I didn't ask him how much it would cost to have these parts replaced. Does anyone here have an idea of what is involved? Also, I am not sure I have the terminology correct, so if you get what I am meaning, but I am describing it incorrectly, please tell me what the correct parts are and how it all goes together. I am not that familiar with steering components and this aspect of suspension.

What I want/need is an explanation of what is wrong, how much you feel it would likely cost, and any alternatives that might exist.

Thanks for your comments!

-Scott

jimbo74

not sure on the setup, but tierods can be from $40 up to $100 and thats for general ytpe cars, not say a Benz or BMW..... it seriously takes about 15 minutes to replace if the tech knows what he is doing.... caster has nothing to do with tire wear, all it does have to do with is if your car pulls in a direction, its an offset for crowned roads.... camber and toe are what will mess up the tires... coincidentally they both can make the car pull....

Sherpa

Hello Revo, goodbye $881.81!

The shop was able to locate the broken part and replaced it for free. I am thinking it was a control arm, not a tie rod that broke. The left side eventually came free for them, so they didn't have to replace it. I know I should know more about what happened to my truck today, and I will later on, but things have been really crazy around here the last few days, thanks to my preparations to spend a month in Florida helping with the disaster recovery.

-S