So recently I needed to get an alignment after a few too many run ins with potholes. Unfortunatley, I am not equiped to perform an alignment on my own. So I went to a nearby shop. Only cost $50. What a great deal I thought as I went home. However, later that day I started hearing a popping noise when I turned the wheel hard. It started getting progressively worse. After a bit of research it seemed like it might be a bad CV joint. Before I headed out to the dealer for a waranty claim I decided to check everything under the car myself first so I could be prepared if the dealer tried to pull any %$&@. Low and behold I found the problem: a loose bolt on my tie rod end ball joint where it connects to the steering knuckle. That thing was only being held on by the cotter pin (thank goodness they had the presence of mind to at least put that back in). If it would have came off at highway speeds I could very well have been in a very bad accident or worse.I was both very happy that it was something so minor and simple and EXTREMELTY @$!#%$& PISSED. I wanted to go the shop and extract my revenge. After realizing that vehicular manslaughter is a crime (not to mention the detrimental effect it would have on my insurance rates ) I decided against it and just gave them an angry phone call. I tightened it back up (although for what its worth I could not find out to what specs because there is an error in the Electronic Service Manual that causes it to give you the instructions on how to remove the ball joint from the knuckle instead of install it, but thats no excuse to not tighten it at all) and the sound is now gone.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what the moral of the story is. Just make sure you check any work done by your mechanic or something like that?

 

I'd still take it back and make them torque it to specs. I'd even try to get a refund or some kind of coupon out of it.

 

Don't know why they were messing around with the balljoint nut. Either they f'ed up and swapped the outer tie rod or they have no idea what they were doing. Beware of shady alignment shops. $50 may have seemed like a good idea, but if it weren't for the cotter pin you'd be in the hospital.