Who makes the best tie rods these days?

[jagdriver727]

Title says it all. We used to swear by MOOG but over the years they made more and more stuff overseas and quality went down the tubes.

If they’re all just going to wear out in 80k anyways I see no reason not to get the cheapest white-box economy parts available.

 

[bdcardinal]

I think a lot of it is application specific. You really can't go wrong with OEM from the dealer or trusted source.

I am kind of up in the air right now with my truck. It really needs a front end reubuild. Like you, I would normally have gone with Moog for everything. I would also consider ACDelco, but I want to OE ACDelco, not the cheaper ones made to compete with store brands.

 

[jagdriver727]

I think a lot of it is application specific. You really can't go wrong with OEM from the dealer or trusted source.

I am kind of up in the air right now with my truck. It really needs a front end reubuild. Like you, I would normally have gone with Moog for everything. I would also consider ACDelco, but I want to OE ACDelco, not the cheaper ones made to compete with store brands.

Right now I’m shopping for my Ranger, which makes me strongly lean toward Motorcraft. I’d prefer greasable parts, but the factory ones weren’t and they lasted upwards of 260k miles so it may not make any difference.

 

[kschachn]

Greaseable ones are a joke in my opinion. Good sealed ones last far longer.

 

[Trav]

Title says it all. We used to swear by MOOG but over the years they made more and more stuff overseas and quality went down the tubes.

If they’re all just going to wear out in 80k anyways I see no reason not to get the cheapest white-box economy parts available.

OE or Proforged. There are others depending on what your drive, 555 Lemforderer, TRW (some), Delco OE, for trucks there are specialty manufacturers like Kryptonite but they can be expensive.
Stay away from Moog, Mevotech, chain store brands (Napa usually carries decent stuff) and most others.

 

[Dave9]

Title says it all. We used to swear by MOOG but over the years they made more and more stuff overseas and quality went down the tubes.

If they’re all just going to wear out in 80k anyways I see no reason not to get the cheapest white-box economy parts available.

Getting only 80K out of the best you "know of" is not a reason to assume that the lowest end also magically last that long, more like some only last a year or two, and when they fail unexpectedly, BAD THINGS can happen.

You are not making any sense whatsoever, especially on a tie rod which is usually not expensive (unless it's certain OEM parts), hardly worth penny pinching on considering labor even if you DIY.

There is a certain minimum cost to make a decent quality widget, unless we want to just throw our hands up in the air and declare that the Chinese government is subsidizing higher quality car parts for us than we're paying for, because they can't sleep at night otherwise.

 

[lenbata]

Sankei 555 brand made in Japan.

 

[jalikaria24]

greaseable ones are kinda annoying. sounds good at first but annoying to always grease

 

[dlundblad]

Proforged seems very good. Trav recommended them and I couldn’t be happier.

I’ve had mine on my truck for 2 winters and the coating (e coating?) has held up quite well in comparison to the AC Delco control arms.

 

[BrianF]

Well my experience is very narrow and subjective. I got 6 years, 125,000km out of the factory sealed outers on my trailblazer before they failed catastrophically. That was 2012.

Replaced them with Moog greasable ones. Greased twice a year and inspected several times over the years. **** near as tight as they were new. Boots still in great shape and they have 8years and almost 130,000km on them.

 

[buck91]

Just replaced a bunch of front end stuff on my 2011 with Moog. All North American manufactured and mostly made in USA. I agree that frequent greasing is a pain but using a high quality grease will help. I plan to grease spring and fall with valvoline synpower. Time will tell how it all holds up.

I know the greasable stuff is t sealed as well but these new style boots do seem to be a world improved over the old style. Again, time will tell.

 

[el Nuke]

My Chargers have been eating sway bar end links and asking for seconds, regardless of the brand/line. That is until I got some Mevotech Tough Terrain or something like that. I think they’re meant for off-road applications, at least they are built like it, but they do have the grease fittings and little dust boots to cover them.

Speaking of boots, the grease cover boots around the joints are nice. They have little grease exit holes and allow you to flush the grease out every time to replace with fresh stuff. Nice and thick, definitely take some abuse.

I got some of the moly grease recommended for suspension components and keep them greased with fresh grease every oil change or so.

So far they’ve done better than the previous ones I’ve tried, so I’m sticking with them on my Chargers for now.

If the vehicle in question is hard on the suspension components, check out these Mevotech Tough Terrain parts. If not, IDK, start at the top of the list and try one until you find a winner. That’s pretty much what I had to do, even though I would have preferred NOT to.

 

[Dino01]

Depends on the car, for my Benz I’d use nothing but Lemforder

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Greaseable ones are a joke in my opinion. Good sealed ones last far longer.

That's been my experience with greaseable u joints. Nothing beats a sealed spicer.