Hi All,
Guess you can say I'm a newbie poster...I visit often just to read the threads. Maybe someone out there can help me with this.

My 4Runner is a 1998 Limited 2 wheel drive (I know, I know, but I'm primarily a city/highway driver) and I just took it in to Tires Plus for front wheel alignment. They told me they can't align it because the "Left Inner Tie Rod was bent" according to them. They wanted $277.00 to fix it - $196 for the part and $81 for labor. I said not yet!

Well, I slid under and took pics that I'm posting to get your opinion on this issue. To get the pics I'm lying on my belly (1 and 1/2 inch cornfed lift up front, Downeys in back) and facing the front of the truck.

The 1st pic is the Left (drivers) side.
The 2nd pic is the Right (passenger) side. It has a slight upward angle to it.

So which one is actually bent? To me, the Left looks correct and the Right looks awkward-- or is this something that can be loosened and corrected?

Thanks for your help and information as I am getting uneven tire ware and would like to correct the problem.

 

You are showing the outer tie rods in the the pic but u said "inner"

that they want to replace. Did u or they mean outer?

 

They said Inner tie rod end, so when I got home I searched for Inner tie rod ends in a couple of Toyota Parts websites and came up with lots of pictures of that part. That's why I took a picture of those.

Today, I went to into E-bay and searched tie rod ends and a lot of people advertise that same part as "Inner" tie rod ends. BUT, I also found a few pics of something else advertised as "Inner Tie Rod Ends" and here it is..

So is this what I should be looking for? I'm going outside to look inside the steering gear dust boots.

I do have a Haynes repair manual but it's not giving me much to work with.
Considering Alldata.

Thanks.

 

Yes, those are the inner in the green pic. If the shop does not know the difference I would run.

 

Thanks, BlueSR5. I might go ahead and join up with AllData for a year and get the lowdown on this (besides, I also need to change a gasket or 2). But first I'll prolly get a 2nd opinion on this inner tie rod before I spend any money.