life expectancy of steering/suspension parts

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Hello and kinda curious so thought I would ask. What would you folks here say is the average lifespan of steering components like inner and outer tie rods, and ball joints ans suspension parts like stabilizer links and sway bar bushings and a arm bushings? Was surprised that my friends 01' civic LX rear struts were worn out with more mileage than mine has. How long would you say struts and shocks usually last also?

thanks


adam
 
It 100% depends on the area and conditions.
In Germany i rarely replaced a shock,ball joint,tie rod or anything else from wear,it happens but very infrequently.
Wheel bearings,brakes and similar parts with high rotation speeds take a lot of abuse.
The roads are for the most part like high speed billiard tables.

In Massachusetts i cant keep them in long at all,a few years and they are shot to pieces in the SUV.
Huge pot holes and salt beat them to death.
 
I had a shake in the steering wheel on my truck that I was trying to get to the bottom of for the better part of a year.

It has 372,000 miles on it and all the suspension and steering bushings, tierod ends, and ball joints are original. They were all still good according to several suspension/alignment places I took it to last fall hoping to find some worn out component. Several places did not believe me that they were original (although its easy enough to confirm with the ball joints as only the factory has them riveted in). The truck has lived its entire life in New England.

The shake ended up being caused by the pitman arm, for what it's worth.

Go figure.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
It 100% depends on the area and conditions.
In Germany i rarely replaced a shock,ball joint,tie rod or anything else from wear,it happens but very infrequently.
Wheel bearings,brakes and similar parts with high rotation speeds take a lot of abuse.
The roads are for the most part like high speed billiard tables.

In Massachusetts i cant keep them in long at all,a few years and they are shot to pieces in the SUV.
Huge pot holes and salt beat them to death.
+1 as should be expected from a professional!!!
 
It also depends a lot on how you drive. My dad and I have cars which are the same platform (BMW E39) although they are quite different (mine's a sport package 6cyl w/ stick, his a non-sport 8cyl w/ auto). I like to drive harder than he does and his bushings and ball joints are lasting longer than mine by mileage whenever we've compared like pieces.

I put more stress on these components more often so they wear faster.
 
Camry had the struts and plates replaced at 160,000, rear struts and plates at 210,000. Original rack and pinion. two half axles with boots somewhere in that 213,000 miles and 19 years
 
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