kcoen

Hello, I have a 96 civic and am going to get the front end set with new tie rods, and ball joints. My question is, does anybody have experience buying cheap ebay kits like this, or would I just be better off buying a brand name for around double the price? Thanks!

kcoen

Also does anybody know if the PartsMaster brand tie rods/balljoints are the same as MOOG just with out the warranty and fancy box. Here is a link that leads me to believe that they are the same a MOOG or is just a typo.

94EG8

All of it's junk, ebay, parts store, and moog. If you want something that actually lasts more than 6 months buy OEM Honda do it once and never touch it again. The only aftermarket you may find that should be half decent is Sankei/555.

Btw, you never know what you're going to get in a Moog box, it's mostly, if not all, rebranded from other manufacturers. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's complete junk.

kcoen

The last moog that I bought was senkei 555. I am not opposed to buying OEM its just a cost thing they want $100 for just one upper control arm. What I was asking was if the $88 kit on ebay was even up to par with some of the cheaper name brand parts and if anyone has experience with the PartsMaster from partsgeek.com. Also my civic has around 129k on what appears to be stock parts. The reason I want to change them is because the steering rack boots are torn and while I was replacing and getting an alingment I would just do the whole front end. As for the the tie rods, I can grab them and twist them, no play but not tight like new. Does that mean that they need replacing? Thanks!

tubejim101

I would keep using your OEM tie rods. Just replace the bellows. Get the OEM bellows. I bought some part store ones, but the size was off. Also, make sure you have your stearing wheel straight, before you hook-up the air line.

I think the rack boots (bellows) are torn, because when the guys do the alignments, they just twist the heck out of them.

94EG8

I've seen that before for Toyota tie rod ends.

Unless your time is worth nothing and you're buying lifetime warranty the OEM stuff is absolutely worth the extra money. I've done the aftermarket thing before with these, never again.

If there's no play in anything don't replace it. The OEM stuff will last for a very long time. I got around 267,000 miles out of my OEM upper balljoints and inner and outer tie rod ends before I finally junked my '94 civic due to rust issues, still no play. Replaced the lower balljoints at around 186,000 miles. That's pretty good life on front end parts that were beat to death over frost heaved roads since new.

kcoen

Thanks for the replys. Is there a proper way to tell if any of this stuff is bad without taking to a shop. I have read countless ways about checking but they seem to apply more to load bearing ball joints etc. I can grab onto the my tie rod ends and with my hand and move them, there is no slop like its dry but is not tight. Is that bad tie rods?

94EG8

If you can't get the stud to move in and out (around is fine) it's ok. When I worked for Honda we used to just grab them from underneath and push up, if you couldn't get any play out of it, it was fine. For the lower ball joints pry between the LCA and knuckle with a large bar, if there is any play replace the ball joint. For the uppers jack the car up enough to take most of the weight off the front wheel, grab the top of the wheel and try to move it in and out, if there's play/clunking replace the upper control arms.

That's a normal good used tie rod end. The only time they're extremely tight is when they're brand new.