lower ball joint replacement and now tie rod is toast....rant

I decided to bring my truck in last fall to get my drivers side lower ball joint replaced. I didnt have the time at the time to do it myself. They had it in and out in a day. They put in Moog from what i recall....despite them being a junk. Either way i went with it.

Today i noticed that the outer tierod boot clamp is hanging. Seems like it was never put back on the damn boot so it has been sliding loose allowing crap to get in there. I have noticed things on that side dont seem as tight as they used to be as far as steering feel and when i hit bumps etc.

Being that it has been so long the shop basically is saying it probably came off by itself. Thats total bs. THere is no way that could happen. The boot isnt ripped. The tech didnt put it back on period. Thats the problem. THe shop didnt seem to give a rip. They offered to put the clamp back on which is pointless. I can do that in 2 seconds...besides my front end is all garbage now.

Anyway.......time to replace my inner and outer tie rod on that side. Looks to be an easy job and it isnt -30 degrees outside yet like it was when i had the ball joint replaced.

I suppose i should have gotten down there and inspected everything after they finished but again....it was 30 below..

Lesson learned.

Looking online and it appears i can get a new inner tierod for as litte as $6 at rock auto which i assume are garbage....and as much as $40. I guess id like to get oem if possible. Where do you all shop online to get good deals on oem parts?

 

Thanks. I will check it out. I figure someone knows where the good deals are or maybe there is a particular place that sells OEM parts that helps to support this forum/site. Id be all about supporting them. This place is such a great resource and i have learned so much here.

 

looks to be about $230 for a new inner and outer for the passenger side along with a new boot and clamps. Should a guy do both sides at the same time? My outer is fine but i suspect if i am doing the inner on the passenger side, i should do the outer too. Its cheap enough to replace at the same time.