New Tein tie rod inners and outers w/ spacers are here along with Megan Racing silicone dust boots. I don't ever want to deal with ripped boots again, so this should cover it!
I've never done a tie rod install before, but I've done my research and it seems quite straightforward. I was first a little daunted to tackle this since it looks like a very delicate piece of equipment to work on, but after looking at other install guides, it doesn't look difficult at all!
As a side note, I was going to get SPL outers, as they have bump steer adjustment and also have a nice teflon coating, so that you don't ever have to worry about the join failing. I then noticed that the other part which I just purchased, the GKTech roll center correction kit comes with bumpsteer correction and it gives the car a s*** ton more angle, so there really isn't any need for the SPL outers other than the teflon coating. The SPL outers cost about $250 whereas the Tein tie rod combo costs $225, so I say I made the wisest choice. The GKTech part is on backorder, but I'll install everything at once.
(these pictures aren't mine, but it gives me an idea on how to install this part)
I also bought new Hella headlights. I previously had Ebay headlights (from previous owners terrible decision) and they were giving my old eyes trouble seeing at night when I went to touge on desolate roads. The only time I could really see well was with the brights on. The light focus on the Ebay lights were terrible and I knew that the Hella headlights would be a nice major upgrade. I was on the fence between Hella, Raybrig, or another brand called Trucklite (which are LED and super f**king nice). I decided all the others were too expensive and I have other things to spend my money on.
In other news, I got my car back from the shop and I guess my timing was just too high, possibly from the CAS. I'm still wondering how accurate this is, since usually the CAS only messes up if you f*** with it or the cams, which I haven't. Now though, I was out a couple nights ago, testing out my new headlights and went to about 6k rpms, spinning tires in the wet, when suddenly after I backed off, my car was sputtering. I thought I might have popped a vacuum hoes, but then I smelled coolant, uh oh. I pull over, shut the car off, as I see a little steam near the headlights. Pop the hood and see my turbo area steaming a little. I've seen the turbo do this if I do a hard shutoff without cooling down, so I don't know if that area is actually my problem, but I didn't have a clear idea of what actually was causing the leak, as it was raining outside.
I got the car towed back home and have yet to touch it again. I'll give more news on what the actual problem is, but I'm hoping it's a combo of vacuum and coolant hose somewhere popping. Let's pray it's not the headgasket, cause then I'm building this motherf***er with pistons, new turbo, new clutch and wpc coatings.