"The shop told me that they couldn't straighten the steering wheel because the passenger side tie rod was out of threads, and . . . etc. The driver side tie rod had 2 1/2 inches of thread, the passenger side had 4 inches. They were going by the amount of threads that they could see without unscrewing the tie rod end to verify the true amount of threads on the rod that screws into the tie rod end."
Sad but true; The incompetence in the auto repair industry is astounding. There are some good shops but if you find one consider it a treasure. I hope you give them a piece of your mind and ask them for a refund for causing you so much time and aggrivation. Main thing is you got it fixed and we wish you many miles of happy carefree motoring and the best in 07.
I had a shop tell me the main computer in my 03 Vulcan was bad and needed replacing. I mentioned it to the guy behind the counter at Auto Zone and he said when I got home disconnect the negative battery terminal and leave it loose all night and it would re-set the computer to factory new.
Next morning I hooked it up, cranked up and let idle 15 min then went about my business and lo and behold my Taurus was healed, no more roughg idle, no surging and it has been running great for 6K miles.
I went back to the shop and said the $75. bucks you charged me for diagnostic was for naught and the man at Auto Zone did a better job FREE with a marvelous tool called E X P E R I E N C E. Wouldn't refund my money but said they'd give me a free oil change or credit it to future repairs. OK, better than nothing.