I brought my car into Firestone for new tires and they came back with my front outer tie rods are loose. They said I should replace them because the bolts will keep loosening. I have never heard of them being loose ( he repeated loose when I asked if they were bad or loose) so can this be or are they just tacking on stupid stuff? I do not have any steering problems or wobbling when I drive. The car actually drives beautiful with no loose play at all.

if you dont have any tread wear problems then should be fine, if you do then get em replaced.

you or a friend should crawl under it and take a look.

They become worn and that is considered loose. If you take the weight of the car off the wheels and shake them you will be able to feel play right to left. This cannot be felt while the car is on the ground. This play will alter the alignment and thereby cause uneven rapid tire wear. It can also get to the point of being a safety issue and should you hit a pothole or something similar they can snap off and cause loss of control of the vehicle.

Loose is bad. If they have too much up/down or side to side movement they are loose. Loose tie rod ends will cause the alignment to be out of specification & wear tires. You may not notice any problems (woble, streering wheel off center...)& may still have loose or worn parts.

Take your car to another shop you trust and get a second opinion. Then come back with more info.

in shop terms loose, means that theres play in the tie rod end the tie rod end is basically a ball and socket...when they age they become dry and they wear,most of the time u are used to the way your car drives and steers so u dont notice this happening(is not an overnight thing it takes months or years to happen)....but....if they are loose this could be a dangerous condition if it breaks or comes apart u will loose steering control of your car...go get a second opinion from someone u trust and if they say the same thing...get them changed...its not a very expensive repair,and takes a half hour a side to do