Originally Posted by PAhonda

Nobody can tell you when the ball joints will fail, so you are at risk of injuring yourself or others when driving this vehicle.

The boots are replaceable, so any ball joint that is still tight can get a new boot and grease. Loose ball joints like the tie-rod end should be replaced. If you go to the effort to replace the boots, then you are a few bolts away from doing the CV joint and just replacing the ball joint(s). Difficult call on what to do since your budget is tight.

DIY saves you money. I grew up in your region of the country, so removing any suspension stuff is potentially much harder as road salt causes rust making fasteners hard to remove. I bought my TSX in Cleveland, and when I had a Houston shop replace the clutch, the mechanic asked me where this car came from. He told me a few 12mm bolts are now 11mm!

Originally Posted by dtnieberding

Update: I tried again to replace the tie-rod, but I couldn't get the nut off. Soaked it in catalyst (PB Blaster), but would not budge. My impact wrench and torch disappeared (stolen?). So I couldn't apply heat or use the impact wrench. I gave up and took it to a shop. For $137, it got replaced. At that point, I was confident it was safe to drive, but it still shakes a bit on the highway.

The following day, much more severe problems occurred. So I rented a car for 6 days. Then I bought a 2010 Civic, in perfect shape. The Accord is still running and I have it for sale. Hopefully someone can save it from the junkyard.