A few days ago, I went in for an alignment (noticed that the right front tire was wearing the outside. Waited a few days to go in because it wasn't pulling at all). The guy told me that my center link was bad, and I should wait to get it aligned after replacing it. But my steering doesn't feel like it has very much slop at all (I only noticed a little bit when I started looking for it.) Is there a way to know for sure if it needs replacing or were they just trying to take advantage of me?

 

Steering is SUPER easy to trouble shoot. Drive the front onto ramps, then have somebody turn the wheel back and forth slightly while you look at the linkage from underneath. Anything loose or that doesn't move solid needs replaced.

I recommend replacing all of the 28 year old steering linkage at the same time. This way it's all done and your not replacing it piece by piece every 2-3 months as each piece wears out. Its not really that expensive if you order from rock auto, summit, or jegs. The parts stores will cost you about $100 more. Always use moog.

 

If i don't have ramps, can I jack it up by the K member and do it that way?

 

With the age of your car, I would not waste my time trying to check the steering linkage. The best thing is to replace ALL the front steering parts. I had the same problem with the centerlink and just did the whole thing.

 

No, the ramps hold the tires as if the car is on the ground to show the looseness of the steering linkage. The ramps simply raise the car so you can see better. I'm sure you know somebody who could loan you a set of ramps. Wouldn't be bad to just buy a set to have. You many have to use a chunk of 2"x6" wood to make sure the front ground effect doesn't hit going onto the ramps.

If you raise the tires off the ground you probably won't see the looseness in the linkage.

Your best option is to replace all the linkage. It's old!

 

I personally don't use ramps, I usually put mine on jack stands and check for looseness. Grab each wheel and move it around. I try left to right, and also up/down with the steering wheel locked in place. Up/down is typically a lower ball joint or a loose wheel bearing (which takes a light touch to find). Side to side can include any of the ball joints along with the steering box, but you should be able to find it easily when you or a friend have it moving it back and forth.

Do not go under the car with just a jack, especially moving things around like that. Use jack stands and push on the car to make sure its stable before going underneath. When a jack fails they instantly drop and I know of a few times when that has happened. One guy got his head busted hard and another wasn't as lucky.

Edit: Get MOOG, TRW, or McQuay Norris parts and check them against the originals (if they haven't been replaced) because some of the after market are thinner and not as good of quality. Even the better brands have been known to change suppliers which is why it’s important to physically compare them. I agree with replacing everything if it is worn and you can source good parts.

 

Thanks for all the input guys! I would really love to not replace everything right now, I just had to spend all my money on a new set of tires, so the cheaper I can do this, the better. Ideally, I would just wait a few weeks and replace everything and then put the tires on and get it aligned, but this is my daily driver, and my tires could blow out any day now. But, I don't want to drive on my brand new tires with the car out of alignment. Any ideas here...

 

The center link and associated parts can fail as well. The shop can't really align anything if the wheels don't stay in the same place. IMO, if it's your daily driver invest in what it needs to drive safely.

 

Id take a tire blowout over a centerlink failure any day. Recently had the centerlink to pitman arm shaft separate going down the highway. That was an interesting ride to say the least

For best prices, check rock auto. The complete kit is inner/outer tie rods, sleeves, idler arm, centerlink, ball joints and upper strut mounts

 

The whole steering linkage, center link included, is a very common wear-out part.

It's also SUPER CHEEEEEEEEEEP; not even worth worrying about "is it bad" or not.

Repeat after me until you have it memorized:

"When in doubt, swap it out".



Best deal is to swap THE ENTIRE linkage all at once; center link, idler arm, all 4 rod ends, and adjuster sleeves. Mark the position of the idler arm on the "frame" so you can put it back EXACTLY where it was; take it ALL off the car as a unit; lay it on the ground; assemble the new stuff right next to it; set everything to the same adjustment; install it as a unit; drive it straight to the alignment rack.

However, bad steering won't generally cause one tire to wear on one edge. No way for it to do that. More likely, one tire wearing on the outside, is because that wheel has positive camber.

When you get it aligned, have them set it like I told you in your other thread.

Looks to me like it's time for you to get off the Internet and pick up a wrench instead of a mouse. The car won't get one whit better as long as you're sitting in front of a screen instead of on the business end of a tool.

 

Sofa, I really do appreciate your input on this and my other thread (no sarcasm intended). But the center link is not bad. As other members suggested, I shook the hell out of every piece of the steering linkage, and it is all TIGHT. And I was at an alignment shop the other day trying to solve another issue (sofa knows this from my other thread) and the tech also told me that everything was good as well.

I am also aware that a bad alignment is the cause of my tire wear woes, however, at this point I have not been able to find a shop that will align my car the way I would like it. I am still searching for one, and weighing in my mind the possible benefits of buying the (relatively inexpensive) tools that I would need to align the car myself. I do enjoy working on my car, but as a college student who does not have any money to speak of right now, I am subscribing to the philosophy of "make sure you actually have to spend money on this before you do" rather than "if in doubt, swap it out".