newsoobdude Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Noticed a clunk in the front end a little while back and recently noticed a minute jolt in the steering wheel when turning. Tie rod on the drivers side has a whole lotta slop in it so ordered up a replacement and plan on tackling that this weekend. Might get my wheel centered finally. Also discovered after replacing a bad battery (Optima is finally GONE :banana:)at the beginning of the year and then having my alternator go last month that I now have a parasitic drain through my hardwired radio . Not looking forward to figuring that one out as it's through the factory harness, might just bypass it and run completely seperate from the OEM harness. Power wire disconnected for the time being and battery on charger. Saving up for a Weber for my 82 BRAT as I'm tired of dealing with the Craptachi and I found a hookup to sneak me through the SMOG ************ checkpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I agree, it is easier to rewire power to your radio, compared to finding the short somewhere in the wiring harness. Shouldn't be difficult to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 you could grab the tie rod and feel a lot of play in it? inner or outer tie rod? i haven't seen a failed subaru tie rod yet, i kind of want to see what they feel like. how long did the Optima last? i have one, don't know how long i've had it but it's been quite awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 not trying to derail the thread but, check into the top-of-the-line battery from O'Reilly. It might be a good replacement for your Optima. They are absorbed glassmat with some kinda new silver based technology and they are true - sealed/no maintenance. I think made by DEKA. Might not be perfect for extremely cold weather, but down here, reserve capacity is more important than CCAs. Average lifespan for our batteries is only around 3 years or so! I've gotten free replacements a coupla times on the Autozone Gold level batteries, but the O'reilly ones are about the same price with better prorating after the 3 year full replacement. just fyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsoobdude Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 you could grab the tie rod and feel a lot of play in it? inner or outer tie rod? i haven't seen a failed subaru tie rod yet, i kind of want to see what they feel like. how long did the Optima last? i have one, don't know how long i've had it but it's been quite awhile. I jacked the front end of my car up and locked the steering column. Passenger side nice and tight, no movement. Drivers tire is able to move 2 inches side to side. While moving the tire I checked to see what was letting it move; inner tie rod is the culprit. Optima lasted not even 2 years, but my warranty is from my ORIGINAL red top that I got in 2005, even though that only lasted 6 months and was upgraded to a blue top they kept the warranty under the red top due to the upgrade/ exchange. 1 Lucky Texan, I've heard a LOT of good things about the O'Reilly battery and actually had one for the 86 that lasted a good 6 years as a back up and generator battery. My finances are kind of tight and I got hooked up on a new replacement battery from my father. If I had the cash, I'd get an Odyssey and call it a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsoobdude Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Well I pulled the inner boot off the tie rod and got a bunch of oil dumped on me. So much for just replacing the tie rod. Now I gotta get the funds together to replace the whole rack and have it done by Rainy Thursday but won't be able to order the rack for a couple weeks. Joy oh joy. Now to decide whether to go quick ratio or keep it stock. Also found my multimeter fried so so much for doing the wiring instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsoobdude Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Got the rack replaced and dealt with more fun (see my other thread) but finally got her ready for an alignment and will deal with the radio drain another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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