Hello All.

So how hard is this to do for someone who is smarter than the average bear but has limited experience on cars? I can work a bike but cars seem somewhat foreign to me. I was just given the good news that the right side is loose (odd considering the car still handles like it did the first day, but now there's a problem after the dealership did the 45k service and an alignment) and there's no way I'm paying $250 for this. I imagine that either a service manual is needed, or at the very elast a nice pdf file showing how such a thing is done, to perform this task.

The way I figure it, this stuff isn't exactly on par with running a super-collider so I think I can take care of the problems.

 

Tie rod ends are not difficult. I'm assuming that you are talking about the ends here. You need a tool to disconnect the ball joint from the steering knuckle. Since you are replacing the ball joint, a "pickle fork" will do. Don't use a pickle fork to pull a ball joint that you plan on re-using. The tool will wreck the dust boot. To separate the ball joint, it's actually best to cut off the rubber boot so that you are working metal on metal. Loosen the nut of the ball joint, then stick the tool in between the ball joint and the knuckle, then smack the end of the tool good and hard with a hammer to drive it in until the stud pops out of the knuckle. One or two hits should do it. If the joint is really worn badly, you might wind up driving the tool all the way in. In that case, put a big end wrench in there to take up some of the space and try again.
When unthreading the end from the tie rod, count the turns and thread the new one on the exact number of turns. That should preserve your toe-in setting.
You can buy a tie-rod end for less than $20 and a pickle fork for less than $10. If you don't have jack stands, buy them. Don't try this using the car jack.