I swapped out the tie rods on my 98 EX yesterday and today took it to the dealership to have it aligned. They claim that it will not take the alignment due to the rod ends already being at their maximum adjustment. Wheels are toed WAY in. They claim it's because the rod ends were installed backwards (left and right reversed) but I'm SURE they are on correct (replaced old ones at identical orientation and compared to service manual photo).
Would reversing tie rods even have this effect?
A fix to this would be shorter tie rod ends...how do I find a set?

 

Were the new rod ends the same length as the old ones? There may be a difference manual vs. power steering.

Swapping left vs right, even if they were different, won't change the overall length. If they are different length left vs. right you'd need to be sure that you have one left one and one right one.

 

That's exactly right, here's a photo of the tie rod I have in front of me for a 2000. The joint is in line with the rod, and both Left and right are the same length, so it shouldn't matter what side they're on if they clear the rest of the suspension.

 

Mine are the same (even have the "idiot stamp" on them for L or R). As long as the bolt faces down, they appear to be in correctly. Looks like it's time to take it to a different mechanic. I don't think I'm comfortable with somebody working on my car who can't read the HUGE "L" stamped on a piece of steel.

 

what really bothers me about this is that the OP said he took it to a dealership! Not just any old mechanic!

 

Can you believe it?!

 

I can. Last time I took my car to a dealer it was for a bad wheel bearing replacement and they didn't press the new one in fully so when it lost preload the friggin thing almost came apart on the interstate. The time before that (different dealer) they overtensioned my timing belt and didn't burp my cooling system. Needless to say, I've sworn dealers off completely and spent some of the money saved on good tools.

My mechanic friends say that essentially all of the good mechanics have migrated over to mercades, BMW, or audi.

 

thats kinda scary. Someone could be seriously hurt with shoddy workmanship like that. I've always worked on my own cars to save money. I guess now I have one more reason to increase my tool collection. haha

 

Yeah mechanics like to think that cars are so complicated that a normal person will just mess everything up.

Truth is cars are just nuts and bolts, a big puzzle basically. Not all that complicated to fix things these days with all the info available on the internet.

I'd trust my hands more than some mechanic in a hurry to get the car done and not double checking his work. When you do it yourself you take the time to do things right.

 

Ok, this just got even better. The mechanic called me back (after I skipped the appointment to take it back to him this morning) and further theorized that they were in not backwards, but upside-down. Yes, he thinks the castle nut should be on top, not the underside of the assembly. Still, it is absolutely beyond me how he can't even look at a service manual illustration. Astonishing.