My son calls me yesterday. He's 18 and bought his first car, a 2005 Ram Quad Cab, last spring. He went to get it inspected and it failed because his driver side tie rod end was weak. They quoted him like 365 bucks to replace it, align it and reinspect. I said go to Mars (an old school auto parts place nearby) and buy both sides. We'll replace em and then have them align it and inspect it.
So I got home and he had the truck in the driveway, rear wheels chocked, front up on jackstands and front wheels off. I showed him how to use the fork to pound out the old ones. I reach for the new parts and notice that they're considerably beefier than the old ones. He says yeah, they asked me if I wanted regular or heavy duty. I asked what was the difference. The guy says the regular ones have a plastic bushing and the heavy duty has bronze. Ten dollars more. My son said to me, I don't know what bronze is but I know you wouldn't have bought plastic.
I was happy. At least I know he pays attention to what I say to him.
So I got home and he had the truck in the driveway, rear wheels chocked, front up on jackstands and front wheels off. I showed him how to use the fork to pound out the old ones. I reach for the new parts and notice that they're considerably beefier than the old ones. He says yeah, they asked me if I wanted regular or heavy duty. I asked what was the difference. The guy says the regular ones have a plastic bushing and the heavy duty has bronze. Ten dollars more. My son said to me, I don't know what bronze is but I know you wouldn't have bought plastic.
I was happy. At least I know he pays attention to what I say to him.