[Jack Houpe]

My answer is yes to the first two questions and I would bet there are many big truck parts suppliers that have them. I've worked on old Porsche's over they years and one of their early ideas to save weight was to go to aluminum everywhere they can to lighten the car for speed and the tie rods was no exception, aluminum and steel will not last long and they wear quickly not saying Newells have aluminum tie rods, just an example that tire wear, drivability, and bump steer are all indications of loose tie rods. Its not that easy to move them around on a small car I can't imagine how they jerk them around on a bus like ours. 

Nice garage space, we are discussing building one for our coach after seeing Tom's garage I fell in lust.