a couple months ago i had a run in with a curb(pun intended). after that, My steering wheel was sideways and the car pulled. Ok, alignment is off. Took it to get aligned(Midas), and he said he couldnt get the steering wheel completely straight(right side radio controls are at about 2'o clock) because the tie rod ends were bent. Now, are the tie rod ends the part that are visible behind the brake discs, (because these dont look bent), or are these locate towards the center of the car inside of that rubber boot like thing? I'm wondering this because Im thinking the guy at Midas just wanted me to pay for something extra I didnt need. BTW, I still havent taken care of the "problem" because if contemplating this. what insight do you guys have?

 

The inner tie rod is probably what was being referred to. Some of it is hidden inside the boot. It is the most likely thing to bend when encountering a curb the wrong way.

 

ok, thanks shoebox. So if this is bent, then some "slack" would be lost and it would keep the steering wheel from going straight on an alignment?

 

I also had a 3500 dollar run in with the curb. I ended up bending the frame. They never fixed the tie rods and now they're acting up. Now when I'm turning left it makes this real quite squeaking noise. I have no clue what the problem is. I wonder if it is the tie rods...and why are they so expensive to fix?