Tie Rods, CV Boots, and Brakes

It’s been a while since my last post. That’s because I only had the van for one day before dropping it off at my trusty local mechanic for a thorough assessment. I basically gave them full trust to inspect the vehicle, tell me what would be necessary to get it running reliably for now and for the foreseeable future, and fix it. On one hand you could say that sounds like a bonehead move. On the other, what is the alternative? Certainly not me getting under the car and trying to figure it out.

After a little over two weeks in their custody, and $1,000 later, we’re back in action. At the end of the day, here’s everything we ended up doing:

• Install brand new tie rods (inner and outer) and CV boots on all four wheels

• Replace rear brake shoes

• Replace rear brake drums

• Replace rear wheel cylinders

• Wheel alignment

• Inspection

• Oil change

The feedback from the mechanic was that the van is otherwise mechanically sound, but did note that there’s a slight oil leak that doesn’t seem necessary to fix at this time.

But now that I have it back, I’ll be driving it around a lot and we shall see!