1990 ford tempo gl problems (need advice asap)

[od_satan]

It started about a week ago there was a squeekin coming from the front end when i turned (thought it was my breaks) about 2 days after that it stopped and now the car shakes while going slow makes a wierd noise. when i checked the tire, the rims were hot!!! i jacked the car up and the tire wobbled right to left a lil (not like my lincoln where it wobbled all over) im wondering if its my brakes, brake pad or what it is im about to go take it in but dont know if its worth it.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Bearings. Swap a knuckle/bearing assembly on from a wrecker. The stupid spring loaded hub nut things are meant to be replaced every time you loosen them, but at $40 a piece from the Ford dealer, you'll probably inspect them for signs of severe corrosion/fatigue and keep them. Hub nuts need 200 ft/lb torque to tighten. Since most hobby market torque wrenches go up to 150 or 160, you'll probably just want to get someone who is 200lb to bounce on the end of a 1ft wrench handle.

[od_satan]

Took it into the local shop and had a free check. (also called my dad old school mechanic) they both said tie rod. local shop too a look free of charge within an hour called me back and said it was tie rod and the wobbling was wear because of the tire also now needed alinment (due to the squeaking while turning), brakes were fine. Total cost is $314 solid parts labor, alingment, new tire. Not sure if thats a good deal but seems resonable to me.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Ah, sounded like bearings for sure when you said the rim was getting hot. I'd have probably figured on hearing something more like creaking and knocking for tie rods.. Anyway, glad you got it sorted. Probably a reasonable price, I'd be awful to them for some jobs like this arguing that I should get a slight discount on labor 'coz both alignment and tie rod change flat rate involved loosening off the rods and re-tightening, and they should have done it in one go...

[s2man]

Yeah, I don't see how a loose tie-rod end would get the hub so hot as too heat up the rims.

I torque the hub nuts by leaning on my torque wrench and seeing how much I can apply. Then I put a piece of pipe on a breaker bar, measure the length of my torque wrench, and extrapolate where I should lean on the pipe with the same force to get the torque I need.

Edit: Sweet ride there, od_satan. I saw one of those in the mechanic's shop Monday, but it was a convertable. EPA 20mpg highway? I remember my dad being tickled, and the gas attendant shocked, when he pulled 16mpg highway with his Old's 98 (455 cid). He was NC'ing to get that.