Opinions on Moog tie rods?

[Aelfwine]

I want to replace my tie rod ends, outer and inner. What you guys think about Moog? Good or bad experiences? Maybe I should spend a little extra for a different brand? They are like 36 for the inners and 40 for the outers at Rockauto.

 

[WhiskeyRiver]

I want to replace my tie rod ends, outer and inner. What you guys think about Moog? Good or bad experiences? Maybe I should spend a little extra for a different brand? They are like 36 for the inners and 40 for the outers at Rockauto.

I do a lot of work for a chain of auto repair shops. Those guys are very very good at what they do. When it comes to front end parts, they won't use anything but Moog.

A couple of years ago I had the entire front end on my workhorse '01 Town Car rebuilt with Motorcraft parts. Upper/Lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, idler arm, A-frame bushings, sway bar bushings.... The whole shebang. I insisted on the genuine Ford parts but the shop wanted to install Moog parts. The lower ball joints started to fail after only 12,000 miles. The shop then replaced all four ball joints with Moog parts. 20,000 miles on the Moog parts and it's solid as a rock.

I don't have any practical experience with Moog parts for 4Runners, but if I need any I'd do Moog in a New York minute.

WR

 

[jman11788]

I want to replace my tie rod ends, outer and inner. What you guys think about Moog? Good or bad experiences? Maybe I should spend a little extra for a different brand? They are like 36 for the inners and 40 for the outers at Rockauto.

My Moog tie rod ends went bad from a lot of wheeling. If you don't wheel you should be alright with them. Tie rods are known to go bad on yotas from experience.

 

[nissanh]

I will never buy cheap suspension/steering parts. I personally know 555 parts are crap and will last 10-15K miles.
I am sorry to tell you this, most FORD OEM parts are made in china and they'll fail. TOYOTA on the other hand make their own parts only in Japan and assemble it around the world. They keep their higher standards. Take a look at 1997 ford explorder and 1997 4runner. I don't see a single 1997 explorder on the freeways now.

 

[BrianSD_42]

My Moog tie rod ends went bad from a lot of wheeling. If you don't wheel you should be alright with them. Tie rods are known to go bad on yotas from experience.

The problem with your statement is you say off roading killed your Moog tie rods.

What????? I've owned my 4Runner for 12 years and its now at 200,000 miles. I've gone on 20+ actual offroad 4WD day/weekend trips during that time and my -original- Toyota OEM tie rods only became loose around 200k miles.

If you want a part that will last you 10+ years get the Toyota part.

If you want to save a few bucks in exchange for a part that will last 2-3 years, maybe, then get an aftermarket cheapo part.

Its really that simple.