Tie Rod Ends...more questions...

[RhainyC]

My mom, bless her heart is going to help us get the parts for my truck. Now I have a couple of simple questions.

Should I buy greasable tie rod ends or not?

One listing for Radius arm bushings are listed as Thermoplastic in a Moog listing, is this the Polyurathane? (sorry to be so dense, but it has been a long time since I wrenched on anything)

Which is the best and worst manufacturer of parts out of the following:

Moog
Duralast
Spicer
McQuay/Norris
Beck/Arnley
Rare Parts
Motorcraft

I can find almost all the parts from Moog, but not the centerlink/draglink. I used to use Moog parts on my race car many years ago...but am not sure how they stack up today.

Thanks in advance folks, as always I can depend on you all for the best in info! You Rock!

 

[MAKG]

Should you buy greaseable TREs? Are you going to grease them? That determines the answer.

TREs are not difficult to replace, so I prefer to just get a cheap one and replace it more often. The price difference can be very substantial. As for other linkage parts, you can very easily get those at the junkyard.

Terminology is always problematic for Ford steering. There is no center link; that's A-arm steering. The "drag link" is really a tie rod. Make sure you look at diagrams to make sure you're getting what you want.

Moog parts are just fine, but they are quite pricey.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I agree TRE's are pretty easy to change, I put a set of basic store brand (Carquest) ones on my Ranger about a year ago and I love them. They are regreasable, most replacements are. I haven't put a ton of miles on it yet, but it still goes down the road great or at least a lot better than it did with the factory originals that were almost ready to fall apart.

For radius arm bushings and most other suspension stuff I would go with name brand, it isn't as easy to inspect and is much, much more of a pain to replace. Moog is good, some of the premium parts from parts stores are in fact Moog.

I would think thermoplastic would mean poly, the stock ones are just rubber which I wouldn't condsider a thermoplastic. Poly will stiffen up the ride a little but should last longer.