Inner Tie Rods - 3 of 4 need replacement at 28K miles

[John333]

Is it anywhere near normal to need to replace of 3 of 4 inner tie rods at 28K miles? Obviously, I plan to replace all four, but was curious if I should suspect an odometer turn back. I've put only the last 800 miles on the car, so I have a short history with it. Anyone tried the inner tie rods offered by BestPartsOnline.com?

 

[Bonkers]

Its one of the common warnings we have about these cars,
when they sit pretty for long periods of time soft components
(like door seals, hoses, and tie-rod bushings) dry out and
disintegrate. Youre not replacing tie rods on a 28k car, youre
replacing tie rods on a 17 year old car that spent most of its
life in (probably) hot, dry, desert Texas. Personally, its really
not a shock to me at all - tie rods and an alignment are drops
in a big bucket if thats all the trouble youve had. I think its
a good sign.

I dont know how good bestparts is, but generally I will buy
from JonB or Tator before rolling the dice on a 3rd party
wholesaler who may (or may not) get you a deal on what
could (or could not) be quality/correct parts. Plus guys like
Tator are specialist, they have the experience to say (for
example) "Bad tie rods? Thats because you have a fog light
out, we've seen it before... ectetra..." But if you are hell-
bent on saving $5 then I would swing more towards
Rockauto or Amazon - at least they have a decent returns
policy.

 

[John333]

Thanks for the reply. Certainly, makes a ton of sense. BestPartsOnline wants $20 ea for front inner tie rods, but doesn't offer the rears. JonB want $195 for rear inner tie rods and I didn't see any fronts on his site for a Gen2 GTS. For $20, I will probably buy them and check them out. If they are junk, no real loss. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Bonkers]

Jon is surley (especially on Mondays) but do yourself
a favor, call him direct, and discuss your situation. He
gets dozens of guys who just use him to get deeper
discounts with competitors (which is why he can be
gouchy, and why alot of guys do not like him,) but he
is still one of the most knowledgeable human beings
on the planet regarding vipers and their issues. He will
help so long as you dont screw with him.

Also, being an MD member youre not far out of Tators
range (South Salem NY) - if you have a trailer and a day
off, you cannot do better for yourself than to haul the
car up to him to fix. He'll absolutely get it sorted right,
but can also look the car over for other issues your un-
trained eyes may have missed.

Chuck is one of only three people i let work on my car.