Aftermarket rear tie rod ends?
 

Hello Guys,

I've been trying to get an alignment for my C5, and when the car got on the rig, the guy looked at how tight where the tie rods. There is a pretty bad loose on all 4 wheels. He said I have to replace all my tie rods (inner and outer in the front, outer in the back).

I have called my local speedshop (Perry Auto, Carl has a very good reputation here) and he recommended Mevotech stuff. He said quality should be similar to moog for a lot less money.

Problem is, nobody seems to make rear tie rods end for our car aside of the stealership, who wants 500$ for them.

I am doing a lot of track with this car, so I want something of higher quality than the ones that were with the car and got loose after a meager summer of abuse.

I've read that the front and the rear are interchangeable, aside of their length (not enough thread). Anyone has experience with using aftermarket fronts in the back? Perhaps the aftermarket ones are longer?

If else, anyone makes this part?

Thanks!

Here are a few ideas that will hopefully work for you:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1997-2004.html
https://www.mamotorworks.com/Corvett...-link-642103-1
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...XIzfwkJZi2heoh
There is also one called the SPL PRO Rear Outer Tie Rod Ends that is supposed to be a heavy duty unit but I’m not familiar with this.
I believe the GM part number is 88955488, and they appear to be about $100 each. I would suggest checking with Gene Culley at Cultrag on this.
Ecklers, Mid-America and Cultrag are all forum vendors.
Good luck with this. :thumbs:

I bought complete new ones for my car (not just ends) and have them installed. Wasn't a cheap deal. I didn't get anything fancy, just replacement parts. But I didn't auto-X either.

Hmmmm... I'll see if anyone sell these in canada. I was hoping to get them quickly so I could get an aligment done before the last track day of the season (october 8th), but looks like it ain't happening.

They're not difficult to install. I didn't do mine because I had them done the day after I got out of back surgery. But it's not a big deal. Grab the parts and put em on. Set the toe and you're golden. Nothing else changes on the alignment.

Oh, I was intending to do a whole alignment to get more camber on all 4 wheels. The problem is that my rods are very loose and there was no point doing the alignment at this point. I am going to replace it on all 4 wheels, when have an alignment done.

I'm a long time believer in the old time axiom, "You get what you pay for". Therefore, I would question why the Mevotech parts are so much cheaper than the parts from the "major" brands, especially in a price competitive market, like replacement automotive parts.

Sorry but I'm not going to agree here. If you grab a manual HVAC blend door actuator and grab one for a dual zone climate control and open them, you will see that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for a difference in price. But the Dual Zone one costs more than twice as much. They are specifically manufactured to not be interchangeable, though I did exactly that and machined new gears for the ones I had just so they're not getting the money.

It's called gouging. And it's pretty prevalent in the auto parts business.

Agreed. I have seen quite a lot of snake oil in every expensive hobby. Guns is my winter hobby, and its the exact same thing.

Have you ever purchased snap-on tools? A friend of mine owned a tool business with his father a while ago. He was opening tools and fixing them. Plenty of better tools for a lot less money.

Paying for a brand name is a thing.

:iagree: Because some people equate price with value.

OK, believe what you want, but after I retired from full time work, in the precision optics industry, I had a part-time gig, for a little "pocket money". I drove a delivery truck for the neighborhood Advance Auto Parts store. With respect to suspension parts, we sold Moog and we sold the "white box", (ie. "house brand", "el cheapo", "lasts for a few months months" stuff). And the wholesale counter guy wasn't shy about telling the customers that the Moog part was indeed 2-X the cost of the "white box", but will last for a LONG time, whereas the "white boxer" might last a year, at best. FWIW, the shops that didn't want irate customers coming back, bought Moog. The used car wholesalers that we dealt with, who just wanted to get it off their lots, with a 90 day warranty, went with the "white box" stuff....

Your car, your money, your safety, your choice......

No argument with your example. I buy Moog parts because they are very high quality. My point is that high cost does not always mean "the best". If parts are manufactured to the same specification and are less money (not cheapest) then I will use them.

precisely my point of view

Also, many times price, which gets confused with quality, is more due to the small-scale production than it is to better quality. Just because something is mass produced and done at a low cost does not mean that it is automatically lower quality then one that is handmade and expensive as hell. Handmade can be very nice, but machine-made can be even nicer. You just have to decide which is which. The same goes for parts or tools or any other thing we buy. And don't even get me started on Snap-on tools.

Sure. Here is my thoughts on this. First, my track budget is about 6k-8k CAD per year, so unlike most people I can see on this forum, I cannot use the approach "the best or nothing" since I simply cannot affoard it. If I can spend my money on something that is 80% as good, for say, 40% of the price, I'll jump on it.

Factor in that Mevotech factory is a few kilometers from the reputable speedshop (who I have been always satisfied with so far) who recommended these parts. That means that my canadian pesos are a lot more valuable to them than they are to the proud MURICAN Moog compagny, who are using actual money.

Then, add the import tax, american and canadian sales tax to it.

Once you are factoring in the exchange rate, transport price, the massive marketing budget of Moog and the 58 layer of taxes, you end up with a much higher price than what is actually spent on making the part.

So, the recommendation of my speedshop and these factors to me are safe enough bets that these will be good enough. Also, these are not crap made in china, but made here, in montreal. To me, that is good enough.

If these parts end up being cheaper than I thought they were, I'll replace them with Moog. I inspect my car weekly, and I am running on mostly low speed tracks. If I see premature wear or any indication of something not right, I'll just replace those with Moog.

I got the Eckler's rear the rod ends, and I am not very impressed with them. They seem to be parts from/for another car that have been adapted to work with the C5. The stud taper is correct, but the stud is too long--I had to add two more washers underneath the included washer to get the castle nut to actually align with the cotter pin hole; otherwise it would thread on too far. It works but looks/feels a little sketchy. Add that to the fact that there's nothing retaining the grease boot on the bottom, so it can slide around (easier for water/dirt to get in) and if I were to do it again, I'd buy OEM.

Thank you, that is very useful information.

I just received my Mevotech tie rods yesterday. The quality of the finish isn't exactly perfect (the paint isn't top shape), however, the machining looks excellent and the rubber parts are very nice.