[Hocrest]

1) Inner tie Rod ends are about $52 ea SRP from Subaru, I seem to recall paying about $35 for the repair and then $30 for the alignment.

2)They are the valve cover gaskets, not that complicated for any 1/2 decent mechanic, but it can be difficult to work in the cramped space alongside the engine.

3) To remove the belt that runs the PS and Alt, you need to loosen the nut in the center of the idler pulley, and then use the bolt between that pulley and the Alt to move the idler pulley. I think there is a "How To" somewhere that has photos and better descriptions...

When the belt is off turn the PS pulley, the idler pulley and the Alt pulley, they should both turn fairly freely. If not there is something wrong with that device.

It's not a good sign that your smelling burning rubber????

It sounds like you could also be mis-hearing it. It could be the PS Pump sucking air through a bad O-Ring. Do a search for that, there are a lot of posts on that topic.