Front end is shot, have some questions...

Got new tires put on my car the other day and then took it to have alignment done cause my old ones were wearing funny. Got a call from the guy at the shop and here is the damage:
Both front struts (quoted me the monroe sensitrac 150 a piece)
Both sway bar links(quoted me 20 bucks a piece)
Left outer tie rod(quoted me 80 bucks)
and the kicker, the bushing is going out on my right control arm and the shop guy said that it cannot be pressed out to replace, he told me to get a new control arm from the dealership for 400 bucks or else find one in a junkyard. So im thinking to do all of this work myself and put fun parts back in. I dont have time or the facilities to check it all out myself until this weekend but i will check everything he told me, he was really nice though and even told me to do the work myself so i dont think he was trying to rip me off.

Heres my questions, any opinions and arguments wanted!!
1. Should i get the monroe struts or the kybs in the write up? i notice the monroes seem more expensive and the logic seems to follow you get what you pay for..

2. I noticed some people didnt think the addco swaybars made a difference, should i just get stock endlinks and be done with it?

3. Anybody got a passenger side control arm for the front?

Thanks, will be back when i find out more.

see how much gmpartsdirect. com or ebay lists. try your local junkyard. call the dealership and see if that control arm is riv only

The good news is, your car will feel like new once you get all of those things fixed.

oh i would go with the monroe struts, the moog sway bar links and outer tie rod. struts are easy jus beware of the 'ground' spring compressor(the ones that are not attached to the wall) i had one of them dam things come lose on me......it was not a fun time. i believe the jam nut that connects the outer to the inner is a 22mm jam nut, and the castle nut is an 18mm. jus make sure you have a big ass problem solver ( hammer) to knock the outer tie rod free from the steering knuckle. oh put sum anti seize on the threads of the inner tie rod once you have the outer off. your aligment tech will thank you. nothin like heating a tie rod up till its red to get the toe in!!!!!!!

ok, local junkyard says they have two controls arms for 100 bucks, partsdirect has new ones for 232 bucks, im gonna check out the condition of the junkyard ones and see if they know how many miles are on them already then decide if new is worth it...

found these moog end links at summit:
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+400381+317559+4294908256+4294924677+115+4294908237&autoview=sku
this is all i need with no other hardware or kit right?

here is the moog tie rod end:
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?Ntt=tie+rod+end&N=700+400381+4294908256+4294908237+4294924677+115+4294855917&Ntk=KeywordSearch
this all i need for the tie rod end, no other hardware?

struts:79.99 monroe sensitracs from oreilly's, lots cheaper then the ones from the alignment guy.
let me know what you think

don't get junkyard control arms, why bother, they are probably close to what you have now. Just get the new ones, you get new front and rear bushings plus ball joints! I just did mine and am very happy with the results.

As to the rest... I did my struts myself with monroes at $80 a piece. Sounds like a standard markup to me, they make money on labor AND parts at most shops.

Endlinks don't make any difference unless you have a bigger sway bar. Stock replacements or whatever will be just fine.

If your car is a '97, I'll buy your old control arms...

all the parts will come with what you need, the only thing it will not have have is of course the tools to do it. sometimes those damn sway bars a bitch to get off with a wrench and rachet. you will probably have to cut them off, but do one at time. tools you will need to to do the tie rod: a 22mm wrench, 18mm wrench or socket, HAMMER, A BIG ASS HAMMER if its a pain, and a set of snips to take cotter pin out. as far as the strurts go. a 21mm-24mm wrench and socket(to take the strut bolts off at the steering knuckle). a 10mm-15mm socket(to take the 3 nuts off the strut tower). if you never done struts then i would not attempt it you might kill your self, try take it to a small shop and see if they will switch them out for you. a case of beer will always help(no cheap ice house shyt either). while your doing all of that it will be a good idea to switch out the lower control arms too, because you have everything off already. now the tools for that, i dont know it varies. im sure somebody here has replaced them ask them if they remember. i have yet to do it myself or at work. good luck!

p.s go wit gmpartsdirect on the control arms you'll end up better in the long run.

I agree about having somebody else swap your struts out. There's a lot of spring tension in there. I did mine in my driveway with a rented spring compressor and never again. The good news is you can R&R the strut assemblies yourself and just carry the complete struts into a shop that has a proper strut spring compressor.

thanks for all the advice, think ill just get whatever for the end links and tie rod end, struts ive got lined up already.

the control arms concern me though, i want to get this all lined up for the weekend and do it in one shot but i cant afford two new control arms for at least a month from now, plus i dont think i could get them in from parts direct that fast, seems like everyone is assuming i should do both control arms and not just one? i can understand the logic but the money isnt there. would my new struts, links, and tie rod end be ok if i run on the old control arms for a while or will i just be ruining new parts.
thanks

how many miles on your Riv? I ran with bad control arm bushings for at least a year, unknowingly... Ride and handling improved drastically after I realized what the problem was. And 3 different alignment people missed them.

got new arms at the local junkyard for 100 a piece today, they only had 62000 miles on them, good enough fro me, the boots are still good on the ball joints so im just gonna clean em up and throw them in, total price for both arms new at partsdirect was 500+ and then a week or more wait for shipping them, i like the idea of new to but its just not in the cards...

my riv has 142000 miles on it, im pretty sure lots of this stuff has been broken for a while, i actually put a post up a couple of weeks ago asking if anyone thought i should tear my front end down but it didnt go ne where, well i guess i just got forced.

looking like the whole deal is gonna go down sunday, will let you know how sexy it feels after.

Greg. Please, please do yourself and this site a big favor. Take a digital camera and snap some shots as you tear it apart and put back together. This will help you remember how things fit, and it will give us a source of reference when someone needs to do tackle this job. Best of luck, hope all goes well!

I'd still like to buy your old arms, Greg. That way you can recoup some of your expenses. I plan on doing the poly bushings but need a core. Is yours '97+?

will for sure take some pictures, would love to help the site out.

got everything done, turns out there was nothing wront with my tie rod end, it was solid, put new struts in and sway bar links, sway bar links were literally gone, rusted away. rides a lot better and now i can get a good alignment done. took a few pics will post them up with some descriptions.