Hi guys. I've been noticing some bad wear on the inside as well as the outside right front tire. Its worse on the inside though. Anyways I was going to get it aligned today but the guy said I had a bad tie rod with a cracked boot that was making the wheel easy to shift from side to side as he tested it.

My question is would that broken tie rod boot end have caused the wear on my tire like that? I used cheap Ebay tie rod ends so I guess that's why it cracked. I won't be buying those again. I could have overtightened them though and forgot to use grease on them (do you have to use grease?)

And another thing I'm going to AdvanceAuto to replace them, the ones I am getting are $16.99, would you trust this part?

Here they are,

They seem dependable,

"Driveworks chassis parts help to eliminate front-end vibration, shimmy and unsafe handling. Driveworks chassis parts meet OE specifications, help ensure improved steering response and reduce tire wear.

Product Features:
Forged housing from specific materials provides strength and durability to prevent breakage
Coated technology provides a smooth and durable surface to prevent corrosion and rust
Premium Polychloroprene rubber boots are fitted with grease relief valves to prevent contamination
A slotted nut and cotter pin for a more secure installation
Product Application(s):"

 

In theory, the broken boot will let dust/dirt in and the part will wear much faster than if the boot had not been broken. In general, you grease parts that have zerk fittings and those without are greased "for life", which only means that you have no ability to grease them.

After you replaced the tie rod ends, did you ever have an alignment done? It's nearly impossible to replace the tie rod ends and not have to do an alignment afterward.

If you can jack up the front end, you can do your own check. With the front end in the air, grab one of the front wheels at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and push with one hand and pull with the other. Do this repeatedly. If there's any looseness as claimed, you'll feel, see and/or hear it. If needed, have your lovely assistant (blond, brunette or redhead - your choice) help locate the problem. I had one guy at the tire shop tell me it was tie rod ends and when I looked at it, I found it was the idler arm.

My general philosophy when it comes to parts is to use the "old school" stuff with a good name - Moog, Wagner, etc. Ever since these big chains popped up, just about the only thing you can find locally is cheap stuff from some name that hasn't been in the business for long and all they do is try to hit a price point. So, I go online and buy Honda OEM from the discounted Honda parts dealers or get Moog from places like Rock Auto, Summit Racing, etc. I bought Honda OEM ball joints for $17, so the price can be reasonable. The downside is you'll have to wait a bit.

I look at it this way: When I do the work, I save at least an hour of shop time, which is about $100 where I live. I'm willing to put some or all of the savings in the cost of labor towards buying parts of higher quality. I don't want to have to do the job again in two years. $17 vs. $34 isn't that big of a cost difference to me. I also would prefer to "buy local" but when all they sell is low quality stuff, then I'm forced to shop online to get what I want.

 

I would only trust OEM or Moog for this part. I went through this before and my auto zone tie rods lasted only 10,000 miles, whereas the OEM or MOOG would last 200k+.

 

Glad to see that someone else has validated at least part of my experience. I didn't want to come off as a parts snob, but there is a lot of junk out there these days. I've avoided cheap stuff because I have a general idea of what it would cost to make a part and if something is a lot less than the OEM or the good brands , there's a reason.

 

Just looked and OEM is $55 a piece, way too high, and MOOG is like $40.

I've always had good luck with Advance Auto's stuff, I think I'm just gonna bite the missile and get them. They look better than the one's I had before and to me they look better than the MOOG's. The MOOG's have the same boot design as my old ones which cracked easily...

So i'm not supposed to put grease on the boots when I install the tie rods or am I?

 

No I never had it aligned. Thanks for the word of advice though, good to know. That's probably where my problem lies. The tie rod ends are barely a year old now but I never aligned it after I installed them.

The Ebay tie rods I installed and indeed most tie rods I've seen for sale have a 1 year warranty on them. I contacted the retailer on Ebay who I bought the broken ones from and they said that I would have to send them the broken part before I could get a replacement. I figured that is not feasible because I do not want to wait for shipping and processing. I will still redeem the warranty though and maybe resell them on ebay.

 

May want to make sure the inner tie rods arent worn out as well. There are two tie rods per wheel..one inner and one outer. Its sometimes difficult to determine which is worn out. and always get an alignment when replacing tie rods or any steering component.

 

When you replace the outer, take the inner and raise it up as high as it can go and let it go, if it falls you need to replace it.