tenchu

Anyone have experience with them? My outer tie rods are shot and i'm in the market to replace. My commercial account can get these for about $40 both sides, vs $100 from Lexus. Everything I've replaced on the car so far has been OEM Lexus with the exception of plugs and wires, but i'm wondering if its safe to save the $60 for these tie rods.

Keep in mind, if these will last me a year+ i'd pretty much be happy, lifetime warranty so I could always just swap them, and i'm a mechanic at a Nissan dealership so even if I had to re-do the alignment every time it wouldn't be a huge hassle. But if these are going to take a dump on me in 3 months, or make the car ride like dirt, i'm not interested, after all, this is a Lexus... Not a Nissan :P

S30ZG

iTrader: (5)

Off topic but I have some NAPA-spec tie-rods for sale.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-rods-nib.html

Throw me and offer if your interested, just want them gone.

emarknot

might get a year..........theres a reason why they are lifetime warranty.

you should know this, working at a dealership.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

He's got a '90.
I tend to feel better with the OEM that you get from your dealer. Hit up one of the many Lexus parts sellers on this site like Carson, Sewell, etc.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

look how long the originals lasted, do the next owner a favor and use OEM, it might be one of us>>>>>>>

tenchu

Yes, I know they aren't the quality of OEM, but 9/10 they work just fine, and last a while.

emarknot

im all about saving money. but sometimes you should just spend the extra money for quality. especially when its an important part.

and if you can avoid doing it again in a year, piece of mind is well worth the couple extra dollars.

but It is your car, do what you need to do.

deanshark

Well, it sounds like you already made up your mind if you're defending them like this. Personally I would go with OEM b/c even though the Duralast are lifetime warranty, and you can change them yourself, you still would need to spend money on another alignment if they do crap out within a year or however long. Plus, what happens if it fails and dislodges itself, falls out, your steering fails, and you crash your car into a tree, or worse, into a minivan full of a family with kids just out on thier vacation minding thier own business. Was it worth saving a few bucks? NO, it wasn't. Piece of mind goes a long way on steering and suspension parts. If it was just some plug wires, or something not so important, I would say go for the Duralast. But tierods I would have to say go with OEM.

tenchu

Thats the only thing i'd be worried about. Highly unlikely, but as you said, not worth saving a few bucks. My mind wasn't/isn't made up either way, I was just hoping to find someone here who had actual first hand experience with this exact brand part on the exact same model car, not just "I heard" or "My buddies Escort" bs, you know?

Oh, and I do my own alignment, its nice having access to a (few) alignment machines

sethjon

Everyone gets so hung up on OEM parts. Does anyone actually think that Lexus makes the parts? I say, buy them. If they don't last 15 years like Lexus parts they will last 10. Sounds good to me. Also remember that these parts are made to spec. AS long as they machine them correctly to fit in they will work fine.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

I've not had a "lifetime warrantied" part last more than 3 years and many times it was 10-16 months. After doing the drill on past cars, I avoid them now. Fittings with low tolerances, sloppy threading, casting burrs, improperly sized gaskets/O-rings, not torqued properly leading to gasket failures...ugh.

Nothing like hearing your mechanic say, he had to modify a supposed OEM spec part before he put it on. Have had to have threads chased, burrs removed so that fittings would seat flat. It is no wonder instead of using a spec gasket, the sloppy tube of squeeze gasket material needs to be used to get a good seal. All

Life is a lesson.This is where I was saying in another thread, cheap to buy doesn't mean cheap to maintain. The car my have a value of peanuts but the parts used were and are not cheap even 20 years later. Do it right the first time so that it lasts, that is long term $ savings.