If you looking for information about tie rod replacement cost or price comparison, you are at the right place.
What’s a Tie Rod?
Tie rods are responsible for controlling your car’s wheels and overall alignment. Although very small in size, they make sure that your car goes in the direction that you’re steering it in. So, if there’s any glitch in your tie rods, you can bet that your car won’t drive the way it once did, or should.
Failure to repair faulty tie rods for a long period of time can mess with other aspects of the steering system, and eventually lead to costly damages. Often, the best way to minimize costs on tie rod repairs is to get them fixed as soon as possible.
How Much Does Tie Rod Replacement Cost?
Usually, the total cost of tie rod replacement is between $45 and $180, including parts and labor. Since replacing tie rods is a quick and easy process, labor normally costs about $25 to $80 depending on your car model and how easy or difficult it’s to replace the tie rods on it.
The components needed for the job, on the other hand, usually cost between $20 and $100, and are also determined by your car model. The more expensive a vehicle, the more expensive its components will be.
Tie Rod Replacement Benefits
Tie rods are crucial to making sure that your car drives smoothly, and once they have issues, your car simply won’t handle the same way again until you replace them. In the following section, we’ll be pointing out the symptoms which you should look out for to see if your tie rods are damaged, and how to keep them in good condition. This is very important because driving with faulty tie rods can compromise the safety of your vehicle as well. Making sure that your tie rods are always in good condition can go a long way to extending your vehicle’s life.
What’s the Function of Tie Rods?
Tie rods help to keep the tires of your car in alignment, which is a big plus if you consider how much you’ll be saving in tire replacement costs. So, maintaining your tie rods is actually a very smart way to save money as a car owner.
What Are the Symptoms of a Bad Tie Rod?
Want to know what signs you should look out for as indicators for faulty tie rods?
Read on so that you can spot the symptoms of tie rod damage early on and take action before they affect the rest of your car’s functionality:
- If your tires seem to wear out quicker than usual
- There’s misalignment with your car, and it keeps swerving to one side
- If the steering wheel wobbles when you drive
- Your vehicle is still misaligned even after you’ve had it aligned by a professional
We highly recommend that you have your tie rods – as well as the steering system- checked as soon as you notice any of these signs. Sure, your mechanic will most likely do a routine check of your tie rods the next time you take your car in for service anyway, but it’s best to replace them as soon as they act up just to be on the safe side.
You see, while replacing tie rods is a pretty straightforward maintenance task, it contributes a lot to your vehicle’s overall condition. And the good news is that replacing them won’t take up much of your time, and it’s a pretty affordable procedure as well, so there’s really no excuse to not fix your tie rods promptly. In fact, failure to repair your tie rods as soon as they start having issues can lead to serious damage to other related parts of your car, whose repair will cost you much more in the long run.
What’s Done During a Tie Rod Replacement?
- First, your mechanic will examine the vehicle to get to the root of the problem and make sure that there are no other contributing factors or something else that’s actually causing the issue. When your mechanic is certain that the tie rods are in need of replacement, he’ll then proceed to remove the road wheel.
- Naturally, he’ll then take out the old worn out tie rods and put in new ones, using specialized wrenches that are suited for this task.
- Once the new tie rods have been installed, the mechanic will then examine the suspension and steering systems to make sure that there are no additional problems that could make driving difficult in the near future. The thing is that damaged tie rods can cause certain components of these systems to wear out, so it’s important to make sure that the old tie rods have not left behind any damage that will cause you problems in the long run.
- Next, the mechanic will grease the new rods so that they can rotate effortlessly.
- Because faulty tie rods can actually compromise wheel alignment, the mechanic will finish the job by placing the wheels back on and then taking the car on a test drive to make sure that everything is all right.
How to Save Money When Replacing a Tie Rod
Fortunately, replacing tie rods is a super simple maintenance job that pretty much anyone can do. Still, you should have a bit of experience in replacing tie rods or you should at least consult with an experienced professional who can guide you through the process. But then again, replacing tie rods is ridiculously affordable, so it’s best to just pay for it instead of putting yourself through the trouble of doing it yourself.
The most important thing here is to get it done as soon as you start noticing problems with your car’s handling, because the more you wait, the more damage they’ll be inflicting on the related components of your car, which could be very costly to repair. So, fix it while it’s still early and save yourself a lot of money in the process.
How Much Does a Tie Rod Cost?
Replacing tie rods is a quick process, and tie rod costs vary according to vehicle model, as well as the price of the components needed, which can differ from one manufacturer to the other. Check out this handy table below for examples of tie rod replacement costs of the most popular car models.
In this guide you will find:
