Hi guys,

quick question: can you drive for a few days after replacing the outer tie rods WITHOUT getting an alignment right away? I'm getting the parts tomorrow, and have a short window of time to get them installed (I'll do the "same number of rotations" technique to make sure they are as close as possible to the original position). I won't be able to get it to a shop for alignment until the next week, so I'm probably looking at driving 250 - 300 miles total. I guess I can wait to install, but was hoping to take advantage of some warmer and dryer weather (I don't have a garage or driveway, just on-street parking). Thoughts?

 

Absolutely. We are talking tire wear and it all depends on how bad the alignment is to how much wear you experience. If you can park it with the wheels straight then stand way back and compare the front to rear you often times can see if they are severely out. Get it close and you will be fine for a short period of time.

 

old school way was to count threads on the old and new tie rod to get close enough for an alignment.

 

I've always taken black tape over the threads right up against the back of the old rod end (couple wraps around the threads on the tie rod) and then counted rotations when I took off the end. Usually gets you within the sweet spot, give or take, enough that it doesn't give any noticeable uneven wear on the tires...

 

Or measure from center of tie rod end to thread lock stop

 

Thanks for the ideas and advice. I did the "count the rotations" as well as wrap some tape at the end of the old ties. It pulled to the right before and still pulls to the right, so it's probably pretty close! I'll get it aligned next week.