i am going to have to rebuild some of my front suspension due to lots of play when i tried to get my tires aligned. my friends shop said it was a centerlink, inner and outer tierod arms. is this problem common? i have a 88 iroc but i am trying to keep this as cheap as possible to fix the problem being that im a poor college kid. haha. well in anycase i was thinkin it could be the bushings or something else between the tie rods and centerlink but i have no idea. its in pretty bad shape and pops when i turn the steering wheel all the way. any thoughts?

 

How much time or money do you want to invest? The question being the condition of all of the other steering (and suspension) components. Most likely if one or more linked parts are failing...others are sure to follow.

 

I spent about $700 to completely rebuild my front end. I replaced everything.

You could replace the tie rods and ball joints for about $150. That will definetelly help. If you replace the tie rods you will have to have an alignment. $49.99 here.

 

If the shop told you the centerlink and tie-rod ends were worn then the centerlink and tie-rod ends are probably worn. They are common wear items and there is nothing else in there that could wear, cause your problems and be easier/cheaper to replace. Shop around, get the parts you need, install them yourself then get it aligned.

 

This was my same $$ experience although, I also ended up replacing the upper strut mount's and the steering box which added an additional $400 to the end cost. That took care of the popping noise from the right front (bad upper strut mount bushing) and the wandering and steering wheel slop that my car had even after replacing all of the steering linkages, ball joints and bushings.