Rear tie rod ends

[Fab4mr2]

Price is one thing and overall quality is another. Yes, the center section of the oem rear tie rod is hollow as it would have been cost prohibitive to make it differently. Just because Toyota charges a lot for some parts doesn't make them particularly bad. Try coating the inner and outer rod ends with an anti-sieze coating when installing them and you won't have an issue with them seizing up. You also made it sound like the inner and outer sections are lousy as well and that is not true at all. In fact they are quite good, and the inner section is much better than the version that twos-r-us sells, which will start to wear much more quickly. I can't count the times I have read posts from people claiming how bad the Toyota inner rod ends are, trying to say that they are solid rubber, which is complete bullocks. It's an actual spherical swivel joint, and a quit good one at that. Unfortunately, a lot of the people putting them down are often trying to boost sales for inferior replacement parts, or a previous owner has substituted a very poor replacement part for the original. Few owners today have had one of these cars long enough to actually know what is original and what is not, which make issues like this arise on a regular basis.

As a rule I have virtually always used oem parts for all of my MKI's. After having owned a few MGB's long ago, and having found that aftermarket parts were actually quite good for that car, I found it to be just the opposite for the MKI, and unfortunately, that hasn't changed much over the years. For starters the oem spark plug wires are exceptionally good, and I've only found one or two better, and of course more expensive. Aftermarket caps and rotors are definitely inferior. Aftermarket strut mounts and engine mounts are very obviously made of inferior design as well. I would be happy to switch at any time to save a buck, as maintaining these cars to a high standard can be expensive. That being said, I rarely find a non-oem part that i like significantly better than an oem part, and when I do though it is usually a high end aftermarket item that costs even more than the original. But everyone has their own standards, and can live with compromises more so than others. Unfortunately, that is also what holds back the used prices on our cars. A lot of them are poorly maintained, holding values down, and on the other hand a lot of potential buyers don't see the value in a properly maintained version.

[Deadly_smell]

I made some earlier in the year which work fine and are of good quality and strength, details are at the bottom of this link: http://www.mr2mk1club.com/showthread...2-today/page78
The parts list is Toyota Tercel ball joints, citroen AX steering arm adjuster rods, and a quality rod end fitted with a weather boot, and a couple of left and right handed nuts. Total cost for the pair works out at about £75 ish.

I understand and agree that it is better to use OEM, after all the part was designed to do what it does on the specific car it's fitted to, by the manufacturer who doesn't want failures or low quality associated with their brand. But I just like having a go at making stuff whether it works out better or not (there is a lot of or nots over the years).

[sTuArT]

Found my rear tie rod adjusters to be seized last weekend and no amount of wd40 or heat could set them free.

Toyota are quoting £311.15 for both complete tie rods 3 parts, L & R inc clamps and bolts etc. The price includes tax and 10% club discount.

[superwhite90]

What a bargain! £311!!

[sTuArT]

So I bit the bullet and bought some rear suspension parts from Mr.T. It's a lot of money but I suppose it's good that they still make parts for our 30yr old cars.

Old


New


There are 3 parts: Suspension arm, Track rod & Tie rod end. It's now packed with copper grease so should last another 28 years. Imagine the mk1 when it's 56 years young



The bushes on the suspension arm where it meets the chassis were very soft and needed replacing.

Before


After


I've replaced a lot of parts on the suspension this year and having the Steering Geometry / Wheel Alignment done today was the icing on the cake

[mk1 dal]

In for a penny in for a Pound i say , nice work mate if you want the job right and to spec you have to spend the money .