850 front end work

Greetings. Just took my '95 850T in for its 60,000 km service (yes,
eight years old and only 36,000 miles). The mechanic is recommending
that the tie rod ends be replaced; including the necessary re-alignment
afterwards, he's quoting about $250 for the job.

I've already had the front end realigned once, after some very bumpy
bad-road driving at about 30K km.

Seems to me that 60,000 km is not very much, to need such a repair. Is
this plausible, or is he trying to rip me off? The steering is perfectly
straight at the moment.

cheers,

Henry

 

Not a Volvo, but my 1991 VW Golf needed its tie rods done at around 45000
kms (at 8 years old... it was my dads get to work 5kms away car for the most
part of its life) we think it was more of an age thing, the bearings were
done at the same time, and of course the alignment.

My families 1993 960 (with 137K Kms) needed a new steering rack at 128K Kms,
the tie rods were OK, but they would have been due at around 150K
apparantly. I don't think they were ever replaced.

 

Tie rod ends last just about forever, as long as they've been properly
manufactured and lubricated. If the boot fails, then water and dust get
in, and they quickly wear out. From personal experience, this type of
part seems to wear out much more quickly on cars that spend long periods
sitting.

Replacing tie rod ends requires resetting of the toe, part of a front
wheel alignment.

 

Thanks Mike. My car sits motionless from 30 November to 1 April (at
least; sometimes even longer, depending on the weather) every year; that
may well have something to do with it.

cheers,

Henry