Hurin

Hi All,

I've had my 2000 Z28 Camaro since it was new. Since then, I've had two kids and now I'm desperately trying to keep my beloved Camaro. One of the ways I have been doing this is by doing a few of my own simple repairs where I can. But so far my experience with doing my own repairs has been an alternator replacement (twice), and the front brakes (including replacing the caliper bracket and pins).

Now, I find myself needing to replace the driver's side outer tie rod end. The tire place said they couldn't do an alignment until it was replaced. But I didn't want to pay them $300 to do it! So here I am.

I realize I'm "cheaping out" here, but I have gotten ahold of a Duralast replacement tie rod end. And it comes with the thingamabob for applying grease with a grease gun. So, here are my questions. . .

• Does it come pre-lubricated? (so I don't need to buy a grease gun and do it now)
• If not, since my next stop after replacing the tie rod end will be the tire shop for new front tires and an alignment, is it reasonable to expect/request that they lube the tie rod end while they're aligning it?
• If no to both prior questions, any tips on procuring a grease gun, and applying the grease? Are they just dime-a-dozen and you just give it a squeeze until the boot expands?

Thanks for any info and help. I realize I've got a cheap part here and I respect that a lot of people will probably urge me to go with something better. But, as of this moment, this is all I can really afford and my goal is just to get it back on the road for a few more months until I can do it right/better in the future.

Thanks!

Hurin

Injuneer

If it has a zerk fitting, it needs to be greased.

I wouldn't count on an alignment shop checking to see if the fittings were adequately greased.

All you need is a mini grease gun using cartridges, available at most auto parts stores. Here's an example:

Grease Gun with 3 Oz. Grease

GaryDoug

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Hurin

Well, just put in the replacement tie rod end.

All went pretty smoothly. Now that I know what I'm doing, could easily get it done in half an hour (or less).

I'm not sure about how much grease I used. I gave the grease gun four or five pumps and I think I saw the boot plump slightly. But I started to feel some resistance and didn't want to overdo it. I hope that's okay.

Injuneer

Sounds OK. Just check it again in a couple months.