Moog or Beck/Arnley tie rod ends?

[Gokhan]

Originally Posted By: mclasser
After 200K miles, the tie rod ends on my Accord need replacement. Rock Auto has Moog and Beck/Arnley available with a few dollars difference. Some reviews say Moog isn't what it used to be and their quality's gone down. B/A is OEM for many parts and seems to have decent, albeit less reviews available. Moog comes with a Zerk fitting but don't know about B/A.

What do you guys think?

Neither. Made-in-Japan OEM tie-rod ends are only $45.

 

[Gokhan]

For the inner tie-rod ends, I would go aftermarket though because OEMs cost a fortune for those. You should probably replace those as well because they are more than likely to be worn if the outer tie-rod ends are worn. Make sure to put plenty of lithium moly grease (my favorite is Valvoline Full Synthetic grease) on the inner tie-rod ends before you reinstall the boots. You get much quicker and tighter steering handling if you do that. The pink grease supplied in the kit is usually not of high quality and obviously doesn't have moly (because it's not of black color).

 

[Gokhan]

Crucial: Before you reinstall the inner/outer tie-rod ends, check to see if the steering wheel is exactly centered in the sense that you get exactly the same number of turns from the center to the left lock as from the center to the right lock. Even if it's somehow off by 1/3 turn, steering and handling won't be correct and you need to remove the steering wheel with a steering-wheel-removal tool and recenter it so that you get exactly equal number of turns. Once you check and/or adjust that, reinstall the inner/outer tie rods with the steering wheel positioned exactly at the center.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
Some people pump so much grease in them and destroy the sealing ability of the boot. I never had a problem with the boot or ever had to replace a greasable joint. When the joint begins to swell, you stop pumping the grease in.

There is no boot. Only a rubber 'dust cover' that keeps the boulders, trees and squirrels out of the joint. It just lays over the joint, doesn't attach to it at all.

 

[Gokhan]

For the question of aftermarket brand again, chances are that it doesn't matter. For the outer ones, I would probably go with the OEM, as they are relatively cheap, and for the inner ones, I would go with whatever aftermarket the auto store is selling. Or go aftermarket for all to save money but don't forget to replace both the inner and outer ones -- four of them in total.