Ok, so my local dealership sent me their monthly email this morning and they are running a $49.99 special for a 4-wheel alignment...

I have had nearly $1000 worth of front suspension components in my trunk for longer than I would like to admit. I ordered them after replacing my worn out RTAB's, but have not had time to "get around to it." I don't drive the car much (I live 2.2 miles from work) and the bad RTAB's have ruined the rear tires anyway so I've just been driving around with the back-end out of alignment for several months.

One of the things holding me up was when I watched a few video's on youtube showed the entire tie-rod assembly being replaced. There is another joint at the steering rack attachment point that has a "ball joint" like component to it. I just ordered the replacement "ends" as I thought that would be sufficient, but after watching that video I couldn't help but want to replace the entire tie-rod.

What do you ZHP-specific guys think? I'm at 123k and plan to keep this car forever, and as a daily driver for a minimum of another 5-years, but, again, this car isn't driven much. I'm estimating hitting 150k at that 5 year mark (actually 4.5 years now). The car will then be 15 years old.

Should I call up ECS, ship them back the "ends" (if they will allow it, I received them in June), pay the re-stocking fee and have them send me the entire tie-rods (and probably boots too)?

Or will I be ok just replacing the ends?

I'll be doing CA's, FCAB's, end-links and tie-rods (or just the ends). Is there anything else I'm missing? RTAB's are done, is there anything else in the back I need to do (or up front) before I have an alignment done?

THANKS!