anybody using the autozone tie rods and what not in their front ends? I need new tie rods as the ball joints in mine are worn and the adjuster sleeves are rusted well beyond adjustment. Im back off to colege next week and i need to get new ones ASAP. My toe out is rediculous and im munching up my tires at breakneck speed.

P.S. Moogs would be nice. know any national chains that carry them?

 

i think you're confused tie rod ends aren't ball joints, 2 seperate and differant parts. the sleeves are a seperate part and you have an inner and outter tie rod end. i wouldn't buy anything from auto zone unless you mind it breaking or needing replaced again soon. check napa, parts plus use to have good stuff but the store here closed long time ago.

 

i heard the napas break, too. Thanks for the heads up, ive never used autozone stuff before so i wouldnt know how their stuff is. Porbably all made in china, anyhow. My sleeves andtie rod ends are rusted completly together so i already knew i need to pay over $100 to get sleevs, ball joints and the tie rd ends temselves. Shouldve been more clear. Anyhow, i dont want a repeat of what happened with my s-10 when i only got charged for labor only because they couldnt get the sleeves to budge. Never got it aligned, couldnt get it done myself, and the wheels are still horribly toed out.

I donno... maybe ill just replace the stwo tie rod ends + sleeves that came from a junk yard. those are the worst.

 

Well I was in NAPA the other day, their front end stuff (I happened to be needing a center link) is Dana. Perfectly good stuff.

"I heard" the Earth is flat once too. I don't go around repeating it to people buying airline tickets as they research travel plans like it's some kind of fact.

Like ede said, lots of the mom & pop type parts stors carry Moog. You can even get it on the net, www.carparts.com has it for instance. NAPA carries Dana which is fine. TRW is just as good too. If you open the boxes and look at the parts, you'd be surprised how much those 3 mfrs simply buy & re-box each others parts. All 3 of them are also OEM suppliers to all the domestic & import car mfrs.

Also like ede said, the things you're looking for aren't ball joints, thery're tie rod ends. Ball joints aren't part of the steering, they're part of the suspension (although like any other suspension part, they do affect the steering). If you are calling parts stores and saying anything about ball joints, they're looking up something else besides what you need, that costs a whole lot more than tie rod ends. Stop using those words and people will be more able to help you.

I would not use an AutoZone anything that my life depends on like steering parts; "I heard" that chinesium isn't a very strong metal.

 

Autozone parts are junk for the most part. How many fuel pumps do you have to buy to get one to work from Autozone? Too many. Autozone is ok for easy stuff like plugs and wires or maybe car soap, oil, pcv valves, filters, but I wouldn't trust them for anything major like steering components or brakes... They buy bottom of the line stuff and sell it at bottom of the line prices. There's a REASON why Autozone stuff is so cheap...

 

Autozone sells Mcquay-Norris steering parts. Better tell these race car drivers they are in danger!

http://www.huntracing.com/spec_racer_parts.htm

 

Autozone sells McQuay-Norris steering parts. Better tell Dana Corp that they are dealing in death parts.

http://www.dana.com/automotive_aftermarket/products/

 

Better stay away from those Autozone parts! They sell McQuay-Norris steering parts. Deathtrap stuff!

LOL! Just having fun, guys!

http://www.autosense.ca/autosensesit...Ride%20Control

 

I have several times

 

Oh yeah, bottom line is that McQuay-Norris is made by Dana.

 

last time i used auto zone front end parts i rebuilt front end on a 70 or 71 nova. in 3 months he brings it back with a very bad squeek, like metal to metal, like a control arm bushing. knowing they've been replace i have hard time believeing it. start taking everything apart and it's the ball joints that squeek. no idea why or what happened but figured i did a job twice for the money from one. he bought the parts not me or i'd went to local napa store where i usually go. never again will i stick autozone front end parts in any car i put a wrench to. i can't remember who's name was on them now but i beleive they were made in china.

 

I have Mcquay norris stuff on my 86, it seems ok, I went with the problem solver ball joints(moog), just for peace of mind. I don't want to watch my wheel, strut etc fly off the car. Checker (shucks, kragen) had to order the moog stuff, only took a day.

 

Made In China the symbol of quality in automotive parts!

 

Um.............

 

Uh.........

 

That guy probably gave you the "budget" version parts they sell. The ones that cost half as much. I see NAPA does the same thing. has a budget set, and a quality set that costs double. The budget set has a 1 year warranty. The high price set has a lifetime warranty.

 

it could be they have several levels of quality, i know lot of places do. i know when he took the ball joints back they never questioned anything and "cheerfully" gave a full refund.

 

bottom line is if i really want to do it right everything steering (and some suspention) should be replaced. It has a good amount of play and it binds and makes noises despite being well lubricated as well as some other things but its gonna be the tie rod ends and sleeves for now to replace the rusted junk yard parts i have from the previous owner. I never knew that napa carried dana components. I thought they were cheapo stuff. Anyhow, ill run down to napa and get this squared away. Thanx for all the help!

 

i got ball joints from advance auto, i think they were trw

and my idler is from autozone, everything seems ok so far, although as soon as i get it running again its going back to the alignment guy, cuz it is wearing hella hard on the outside endge of the passenger front tire

 

While I was in NAPA the other day, I was reminded about their 2 levels of front end parts, so I decided to see if there was any reason I would want to spend $125 on a center link instead of $45... I had them open both boxes and pull them out... lo and behold, they were absolutely identical in every detail, right down to the logo and part # forged in them. Needless to say, I bought the $45 one. What a scam.

I've seen all sorts of things in boxes at AutoZone. There's no guarantee that what you get this time will be the same as what you got last time in many of the product lines they carry. Many of thier suppliers simply buy their parts from the lowest bidder, box them up, and make their cataloging service available to stores like AutoZone. That's what most of those brands are: just a database, not a manufacturer of anything. Same thing at PB, or CSK, or Advance, or any of the other chains. Some things are just fine, others are the lowest garbage in the world; if you care what you are getting, you just have to open the box and check every part you get from them.

The auto replacement parts business is a very tough way to make a living nowadays, and people who will buy the cheapest thing that fits are the main reason why. They're the overwhelming majority of consumers out there. Think about what you are telling the industry the next time you buy an inferior part just because you aren't willing to pay the difference to get a good one. That just encourages further scamming on the public by profit-hungry conglomerates.

 

Picked up some MOOGs from napa today and put 'em in, which was nothing short of hell becaus the old ones where so difficult to get out. My pickle fork is a good 1/4 in shorter and all mashed up from all the pounding but it got the old ones out. Love the large decrease in play in the steering.

 

Going to NAPA is no assurance of quality...some of their stuff is great, other stuff is crap, the same as anywhere else. The only thing you guarantee by buying NAPA parts is that you paid way too much...higher than dealer parts in some cases! NAPA is the last resort for me. BTW I have had great luck with AutoZone McQuay-Norris stuff.

 

i didnt pay that much for the moogs. Comprable in price to the mcquay-norris stuff. I did think the dana components were outlandish, though. Wouldve cost over 270 dollars for tie rod ends and sleeves. And yes, i too seldom use napa.

 

Just a side note, Summit Racing carries Moog, too. If you have a part #, go to summitracing.com, put in "MOG-" (without quotes) and then the part # to get a price.

 

I usually get my suspension/steering stuff from carparts. Moog is good stuff