Thread: front right tie rod replacement

2008 3.8 standard

When I got new tires a week ago, the service guy said the drivers side front tie rod has some play in it and should be replaced soon. He demonstrated the play and to me it looked like it barely moved. got this car with 69,000 (rural) miles on it, in 5 years put on 40,000 city miles.

A hub bearing and tie rod were replaced 3 or 4 years ago, I think the same side. Replaced right front axle shaft and cooler pipes one year ago. Also replaced broken front sway bar and serpentine belt 3 years ago. It seems like the front axle is a problem area, or is this just normal? How urgent a problem is the play in the tie rod?

I notice a whining sound when I accelerate. I would suspect the belt but it still looks good. Any ideas? Could the whine be axle related?

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Any tie rod play is not good, picture the 2,000lbs of front end over the tires on the car and the amount of force it's putting on the parts. That small amount of play will just continue to get larger and cause more and more tire wear as the tire is allowed to move left and right on it's own as it finds grooves and bumps in the road.


Remove the belt and take it up the street and back really quick, if the noise is still there then you know it's something transmission related. If the noise is gone then it's likely the power steering that is making the whine sound.

Transmission/power steering whine is pretty common, if both fluids have never been changed you should start there but just know that it may never stop making the noise once it starts.

The only disagreement I have is with the Tranny fluid. If it has never been changed and car is now over 100k miles changing might actually cause the tranny to break down and need a rebuild sooner =/

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Originally Posted by nox

The only disagreement I have is with the Tranny fluid. If it has never been changed and car is now over 100k miles changing might actually cause the tranny to break down and need a rebuild sooner =/

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You'd be wrong on that. A fluid and filter change won't hurt anything. It's when you try to do a flush that will kill a transmission.

Transmission fluid is full of detergents, if clutches are breaking down, new detergent in addition particulate that can be in old fluid can cause slipping to get worse, even without a flush.

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